Mountain Biking - what bike?

Hello,
Does anyone knows the difference between the Kona KAHUNA(2003) and the Kona KIKAPU(2004). And I was wondering if the disc brakes where any better than the v-brakes(for the price)? I was also wondering what shock was the best for the front shock and the rear shock. And what does the "wheel travel" means?

Thanks a lot!

The fork (front suspension) and the brakes are the main differences. The top tube of the Kahuna is slighly more sloped. I dont know how good Shimano disc brakes/hubs are but the fork on the Kikapu is better than the Kahuna one. What type of riding do you do?

Oh yeah, wheel travel or fork travel? Suspension forks have a specific amount of play or "travel" in them. The more travel you have, the more your fork will suppress obstacles and retract the front wheel. Some like 63mm forks and some like 130mm forks. If you do light XC and wont be doing 6 foot drops, 80mm is great. If you plan on bombing downhills or doing 10 foot drops then you need more travel, like 130mm+. It all depends on how and what you ride.

Travel is how much the wheel moves. It is how much the wheel will move from full droop (as far down as the wheel will go) to full compression (how far the wheel will move up).

Expect an XC bike to get no more than 80 - 90mm of travel. Trail bikes have an average of 5. Freeride bikes get away with 6, and DH bikes are 8+.

Front travel is generally matched to the rear travel. 80mm is great for regular XC, 130 is Trail Bike, anything more is freeride/dh. Right now I have 152 on my fork, and it's a bit small for my bike (8").

I do XC riding.

Thanks!