KONA HONZO
My first:
FULL BIKE BUILD
29"er
This little steed came into my life through my own hands. At that point in time where I learned my Rincon would need its fourth re-build, I opted to go for a different kind of build. Rather than just replace a few components, I decided to start from a brand new frame and build up a new rig from scratch. Needless to say, the thinkery-side of my mind loved it, and the ridey-side of my mind ended up giddy once it was all put together. That and it all timed up nicely to be a little birthday present to myself.
| Year | 2019 |
| Make | Kona |
| Model | Honzo |
| Frame Size | L |
| Wheel Size | 29" |
| Gearing | 1 x 12 |
| Drivetrain | SRAM GX Eagle |
| Brake Type | Hydraulic Disc |
| Brakes | SRAM Guide RSC |
| Fork | Rockshox Judy - 120mm |
| Rims | Race Face AR25 Offset |
| Hubs | DT Swiss 370 |
| Tires | Schwalbe Big Apple Plus |
The Build
I wanted to call this The Birth, but figured it'd be a little weird. Either way, this is the story of how I built this rig.
The Frame/Bike Type
First, I had to figure out what kind of bike I wanted. As you can imagine, I wanted to be able to have my cake and eat it too. That means I wanted it to have the characteristics of a road bike (big gearing range, high top speed, versatile, and light), but also be able to rip and shred like a mountain bike (durable, strong, good at climbing).
This did not make the search very easy. Why? Because bikes are usually pretty niche and built for specific purposes. So what I had molded my Rincon into, a one-size-fits-all for damn near most needs, would be a tough find for this new build. But, being a stubborn person, I didn't let that stop me.
Writing this up a year+ after the fact, I can't remember how I landed on the Kona Honzo. But with the help of my bike buddies' recommendations, and some hemming and hawing, that's what I found. I think the real seller was the color. Oooooooooh baby that sweet Green Bay Packers Green :-)
The first frame I got looked great, but there was a kink in the headset. That wasn't going to work. Thankfully, the seller was super cool about it, and I was able to swapit out for one that was a good build, and the build-up started from there.
Operation Parts and Tools
A frame is good and all, but there's a looooot more to a bike that's needed. With that, it was time to get everything else! Knowing me, I was very impatient to get everything in and get everything put together. It was so exciting, like a big-kid version of LEGOs!
But slowly, everything started rolling in. I assembled what I had to, and slowly this new ride started to look like a bike. Pinkbike put me in touch with sellers for the frame, drivetrain, and brakes. Ebay supplied the wheelset (from France) and rims. Then a bunch of smaller stuff like stem, handlebars, grips, and others were acquired at the local bike shop (shoutout to Cyclepath, Universal Cycles, and River City Bicycles).
The seatpost was a bit of a bummer. I got a 200mm dropper that I wanted to put on the Transition. But, I got it, put it in, and the stem length was too long for the Patrol to make it make sense. So, instead, I threw it into this build! Fit's great and is way overkill, but super cool!
Pieces in place, it was time to put the jigsaw puzzle all together!
Slowly but surely, things were all coming together, and I was learning a good bit in the process. I'd never done much with drivetrains, but this time I fully installed and aligned (that was the hard part) the entire drivetrain, from rear cassette, rear derailleur, crank, and getting everything zeroed in. Quite the process, but awesome to be able to do it all myself!
After a bunch of tinkering, tuning, building, and working on this bad boy, it was done! It took way longer than I imagined or wanted, but that first ride, on a brand new bike, one that I'd built completely on my own, HOT DAYUM that was satisfying!!!
After moving to Germany, this rig went through a bit of an overhaul. The first brakeset I'd gotten for this rig was a downhill-rated brake system. So, to put that on a bike that would more utilize that setup, I swapped brakesets between the Honzo and Patrol. That was quite the project, but I timed it up with the first Covid Quarantine, so both bike were torn down to the frames to get them back up and running.
In all, this was really an awesome experience. Being a tinkerer, the process of putting all the parts big and small together was really satisfying. Being the project manager, being able to pick and choose what parts to throw on was pretty rewarding. Then, being the bike rider, after everything was assembled and installed, being able to saddle up and take this bike out for its first ride was unbelievable rewarding. Having everything work like buttah on the first try, oh baby.
Intro to Bike Touring
My best buddy Zack has been on my case to join him on one of his cross-country, cross-region, cross-continent bike trours for a good while. Something like that is quite the big ask. I would LOVE to have a trip like that, but:
- Road biking is not really my thing
- I'm not sure my knees could handle multiple weeks on the saddle
- MY ASS WOULD BREAK if it had to sit on a bike seat day after day after day for weeks on end
Well, as a brief intro, my old roommate Lutz invited me to join him for a quick weekend tour down in the South-Central region of Germany along the Burgenstraße. Go check out my post Wrapping Up 2020, and jump down to "Biking the Burgenstraße" to check out the specifics on the trip.
The specifics on bike touring though, I'll cover here. And I gotta say, that is quite the awesome way to travel. Just rolling along on two wheels, having that as your method to get from place to place, going over long distances, exploring new places on beautiful days. Really an awesome way to go!
Peak awesomeness were the points in time where we were on a path splitting through some farm fields, the sun was shining down, the skies were blue, and there was a slight breeze. All I could hear was my bike humming along the pavement and the wind slowly blowing past my ears. It was truly blissful and peaceful.
Germany is honestly an impeccable place to do such a thing. There are paved paths criss-crossing across nearly the whole country. To make it even easier, there are even guided/posted routes all over the place, and the route we hit was one of those specially-signed routes. This, despite a few turned-around signs, was such an awesome way to ride, knowing your route was clearly laid out ahead of you.
As I mentioned in my short list of issues above, I was interested to see how my body held up. But, despite 2.5 days of pedaling, my knees didn't do too bad. They were a little sore for a couple days afterwards, but held up pretty well.
Overall, definitely want to do another short trip at some point. Not sure if my body would be able to handle a full 6-8 weeks of this - that long on a bike saddle is torture. But, Zack, work with me on a shorter time frame, and I might be able to swing something to ride through the world with you!
Original Publish Date: January 3rd, 2021