Mountain Biking - Kona Kahuna Deluxe

I was just wondering if anybody had any trail experience with this bike. I have finally decided to go F/S and I have been test riding many bikes lately. The last bike on my list to ride is the Kahuna delux on saturday.
The bottom line is that I want a strong bike that is under 30lbs and is going to last me a while. Also a bike that has the biggest bang for the buck as far a components. The best 2 that I have found so far are the NRS3 and the Kahuna Delux (<$1,200). In that price range, Trek and Gary fisher are lagging behind. I liked the way all of them felt though, so it is a very hard decision for me.
I do XC and technical riding mainly but many areas of the trails I ride can get hairy (roots, rocks, 2 ft drops, many hills).
Any imput would be great. I trust everyones opinions here and take them all very seriously. Thanx

Recently I have bought a Garry Fisher, I too was having problems deciding between Trek, Garry Fisher and Kona. I decided against buying a Kona because due to its restrictive warranty. Its better to pay a bir more up front and be assured that you are backed up by a reliable warranty. Whatever all bikes you mentioned are ok

All of Kona's bikes are top-notch. I prefer their suspension design to that of Gary Fisher's. The new Liquid's from Trek seem promising, but they are not as hardcore as the Kona's line of bikes.

L8R

Kona Dawg...?
More of an "all Mountain" bike, or the Jekyl with a lefty max?

Well, I bought the Kahuna delux on Saturday. What a sweeeeet ride! They ended up giving me 10% off the price because they were supposed to let me know if they sold there 18" so that I wouldn't have to drive down. Well, they forgot to call me and I went anyway. All they had left was a 16" and a 20".
I was very upset, but test rode the 20" anyways. It seemed to fit me fine, which I thought was strange. I am 5'11" with about a 32 inseam and I still had approx. 1"-1 1/2" with shoes on from the top tube. Come to find out, Kona does the measurement from the BB to the seatpost entry and not the top tube. Anyways, the bike just felt right so I bought it. I thought it had
the best component spec. for the price out of all the rigs I reviewed. Thanks to all of you who answered all my questions ranging from Full susp. to hardtail upgrades.

I do have one more question though.
I can not find anything on the BR-M475 disc brakes. They were out of manuals at the LBS, so I figured I could find some info on-line. Well, I haven't found anything. I know that they are not top of the line disc brakes, but they are my first and I have no idea how to adjust them. I had to remove the front wheel to get the bike home and when I put the wheel back on, I can't get the roters to stop rubbing. I figure that it is an alignment issue and I just have to do some minor tweaking. Do any of you know where I can get some information on installation and adjusting these disc brakes? Thanx everyone

Originally posted by Scooby Snax
Kona Dawg...?
More of an "all Mountain" bike, or the Jekyl with a lefty max?

I'm just not ready to put any faith in a lefty...

Originally posted by a2psyklnut
All of Kona's bikes are top-notch. I prefer their suspension design to that of Gary Fisher's.


Yea, but Kona's suspension "design" is used by like 20 other companies.

Originally posted by KleinMp99
Yea, but Kona's suspension "design" is used by like 20 other companies.

If functionality comes at the cost of originality, so be it.