Kona Unit X any good?

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Max Effort
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Joined: Wed Jun 26, 2019 4:16 pm

Kona Unit X any good?

Post by Max Effort »

Seriously thinking about buying myself a new Kona Unit X.
(See link below)
Has anyone here had any experience of them?
Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks for the help 😊 👍

https://konaworld.com/unit_x.cfm
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fatbikephil
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by fatbikephil »

Always thought they looked good - a guy used to ride one to work with 650 B plus wheels and really rated it. The only problem with that one on the pic is that its got 11 too many gears :grin:
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faustus
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by faustus »

Love mine. I had a 2018 frame that was a little small and got hold of a 2021 frameset, and the geometry (and sizing) is spot on for my needs, especially the head and seat tube angles, and the shorter chainstay length compared to the older model. It rides really nicely, it can be playful and pretty nimble, can be thrown down chunky terrain, but it can also do mile-munching very comfortably. It's fairly solid but not too much in feel and in weight. Mine's about 29lbs including bottle cage and hidden tools, but it doesn't ride heavy. It's something that came up in the bikepacking.com review (https://bikepacking.com/bikes/kona-unit-x-review/). It can take a 100mm fork but I can't see me ever doing that. I think it's pretty adaptable, it can be build light and fast, or loaded up pretty well for bikepacking. It's good value too, and I found the frame to be pretty well built and finished too, with mounts in all the right places.
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Alpinum
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by Alpinum »

I test rode two generations of Units and loved them.
Lovely balanced, right amount of stiffness, fun, fast. The newer gen geo suited me better.
Great bikes.

I once had a HeiHei DL and snapped the frame 2 x and Kona Europe support was okay too.
Max Effort
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by Max Effort »

Thanks for the replies.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any for sale anywhere in the UK! 🤬
I'm continuing my search.....
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faustus
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by faustus »

What size you after?
Max Effort
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by Max Effort »

faustus wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:14 pm What size you after?
A medium.
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faustus
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by faustus »

There's a decent looking 2021 medium on ebay for £900. It's the SS version, but you can get the dropouts for geared from Kona UK, just means you need to buy gears though still...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125121540311 ... MWEALw_wcB

EDIT: looks like it has the geared dropouts in already
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FLV
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by FLV »

I hated mine. Just felt wrong. I think it was the steep seatpost made the geo feel wrong for me, maybe.
The ride also felt dead and dull.

I really wanted to like it too.

Mine was the unit SS.
Max Effort
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Re: Kona Unit X any good?

Post by Max Effort »

I FOUND ONE!!
Those lovely people at Bike Tart have just what I wanted coming into their shop in a couple of weeks time, so I pounced on it!
Wooooooo Hoooooo!
Thanks for your help 😊👍
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