Kona 08

Carbonboy · 20 Jul 2007

sacado de mtbaction

KONA DEBUTS '08 LINEUP AT WINTER PARK, COLORADO

Winter Park--one of Colorado's most vertical ski areas, has thrown its hat into the freeride arena with an ambitious technical trail network that includes natural and constructed stunts. This year, Winter Park hosted the Crankworks Festival--which served as a perfect backdrop for Kona's 2008 launch. The good news was that the Kona people were golden and riding was great. The bad news was that Kona's star attraction, the dual-action "Magic Link" suspension, was a no-show. It seems that Kona's factory delayed production of the first-run Magic Link-equipped Coilairs, so we had to make do with a technical presentation and a flash-animated video file of the system. The last thing we expected from Kona was another novel suspension design, but we freely admit that Magic Link seems promising.

Magic link

MAGIC LINK
Kona's magic Link is a novel way to cause a long-travel rear suspension to reduce its stroke and firm up when pedaling--and convert to a much more supple ride, with significantly more travel when the chassis contacts a bump--all without dials or funky hydraulic damping devices. If you want to see it for yourself, watch the flash-animated magic Link presentation Click Here

Magic Link is a four-inch lever near the bottom bracket. The lower end of the vertical link pivots on the frame. The shock connects to the upper end of the link and the swingarm pivot s near the center of the link. Essentially, when the link is in the forward position, the shock travel is reduced to six inches and the damping and spring rates increase in the initial travel. When the Link swings to the rear, the suspension stroke increases to seven and a half inches and becomes softer in all respects.

Because the swingarm pivot is attached to the link, chain tension (pedaling pressure) drives the link forward. Braking, rolling over a bump, or smacking a log drives the swingarm rearward and drags the link back to the long-travel position. To keep the Magic Link honest, an adjustable spring causes the Magic link to default to the forward pedaling position. Tuning the Magic Link's spring tension (there is a dial for this task) lets the Kona rider choose maximum pedaling firmness or any degree of smooth bump-soaking suspension action. Kona officials say that the initial setup is to tension the spring until the Magic Link hovers a few millimeters from full forward. The advantage of the Magic Link system is that its dual-action is independent of shock choice, so it will give Kona a lot of latitude to offer the system across the price range of its big-hit trailbike models.

Magic Link will be featured on three Coilair models for 2008.

Coilair

Signature bikes are so very Kona--but most have been named after key employees like: "Jake the Snake," "Paddywagon," "Dr. Dew," "Stinky"--or for outside contractors, as in the "Kona Lisa." The new "Bass," like the Cowan is named after a freestylist--the extraordinary Paul Basagoitia. The Bass has four inches of suspension travel with A Marzocchi Dirt Jumper fork paired with Fox's venerable DHX5-Air shock. For $2250, the Bass is within reach of serious jumpers--and it could double as a 4-Cross racer.

Bass

Kona's female-specific offerings grow one stronger with the "Four Lisa" dual-suspension cross-country racer. Its Scandium/aluminum frame has four inches of travel on both ends with a proportionally shorter top tube, slightly shorter and higher cockpit--and the obligatory, Barbie Pink-and-cream color scheme. The Four Lisa looks sharp and would look awfully good posing alongside a Kula Lisa Hardtail and Lisa RD Road Racing bike in the closet, um, garage.

Four Lisa

Kona's '08 bikes will begin to appear as early as this September, with the Magic Link Coilair showing up as the first snowflakes stick to the ground this winter.
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Bikersindo · 20 Jul 2007

no lo veo claro, el punto de apoyo del amortiguador, tambien amortigua? **** que raro,,,pero si viene de Kona debe de ser weno

jon_44 · 20 Jul 2007

Son bonitas si señor... Ya veremos haber como va ese sistema de amortiguacion...

Gracias por la info tio!!

Zubi · 20 Jul 2007

Muy interesante este nuevo sistema de suspensión (el link lo explica de forma muy clara).

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