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Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 3:30 pm
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
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2022 9:52 pm
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

Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 11:07 am
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.

Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 11:51 am
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.
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 3:21 pm
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.....
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:14 pm
by faustus
What size you after?
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:55 pm
by Max Effort
faustus wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:14 pm
What size you after?
A medium.
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 5:03 pm
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
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:28 pm
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.
Re: Kona Unit X any good?
Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2022 4:04 pm
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

