Mountain Biking - Kona Dawg?

I am looking at upgrading my 13 yr old kids bike from a Giant Warp DS3 to a Kona Dawg. He likes my Heckler but I am not about to get him a bike he will outgrow again in 1 year. He likes the big jumps, about 6 feet, but also likes to XC a bit. Unfortunately most XC bikes can't handle the drops he likes. Does anyone have experience with this particular bike and if so what are the pros and cons? I have looked at the MTBR site and the reviews look good, but I what to hear it from you guys who ride often.

I posted about this previous but I guess it was one of the posts lost in the crash. Here is how Kona works

The original Stinky was 5 inches. They felt this wasn't enough for a freeride bike so they raised it to 6 inches and gave birth to a new bike called the bear, based on the exact same 4 bar rocker system and just as burly but with less travel. This sat at 4 inches. They were not allowed to use the name bear (Marin bikes didn't appreciate the name steal) and renamed it to Dawg. However this still leaves a gap in the travel game. 4inch Dawg and 6 inch stinky (100% sexy coil over). This year they have the bike to fill that Gap. The Coiler fits in a 5 inches of travel with a coil over.

I would seriously consider looking at the coiler. It is a great bike with a strong base frame and 5inches of travel. This way he has something to grow into with the extra travel and it is still a coilover. It sounds like he is gonna be a "go big or go home" kind of kid so it is best to buy burlier rather than lighter. It is also short enough in the travel to really enjoy a good trail ride.

Cheers.

If he is 13 and already getting 6' of air I would suggest getting him a Stinky instead of the Dawg. The Stinky, any model, will last longer then the Dawg with the type of riding he is doing.

My wife rides a Bear (what the Dawg was before the name change) and I have a Stinky Primo. The Stinky is a lot beefier then the Dawg. The Dawg makes a good all purpose bike. It can handle drops jumps and can be used for long XC rides.

The Stinky is a bit heavier and it does handle the big stunts better but it can also be used to pedal around or on a XC ride.

If you are looking at an '04 modle then look at the Coiler.

If he likes the Santa Cruz then look at the Bullit.

I'd have to agree with dirtbikedude; get him something that will work for a wile (i.e. the stinky), but make sure he test rides it first because he may not like the feel. You also may want to just wait a year until he's 14-15 and get him a new bike then... I did all my major growing between 14 and 15 (12" in 11 months).

13 and doing that kind of stuff? Woww...

i just recently purchased my 03 Dawg. I hucked 5 foot drops but it was onto a rolling hill. I love my bike, but considering i came from a 10 yr old rigid, i would love any FS rig. Ive taken it to do some XC riding, mostly single track, some technicaly but fun none-theless. If you are looking to more DH/Freeride stuff, i would recoomend the stinky or something like that. It would be much better to invest in something built for 6ft+ drops.

BTW. here is my baby

http://web.syr.edu/~ayoung02/bike.jpg

how do you manage to sit on that bike with the seat tilted all the way down like that especially if you're doing xc:confused:

Originally posted by PeterG1185
how do you manage to sit on that bike with the seat tilted all the way down like that especially if you're doing xc:confused:

it feels good dude.

JK!!!. I fixed it since i took that picutre.

this looks like a 'post your Dawg' thread! :D

Post my Dawg thread? O.k. Here she is, she's a full bred Golden lab, she's not as plump as the picture makes her out to be. She rides the trails with us.

She's my best friend. Her name is Lady Sierra Morgan of Altera, or Sierra.

L8R

Originally posted by skdsl
this looks like a 'post your Dawg' thread! :D

How do you like riding with platforms? Do you use your bike more for freeride or XC?

Nice pics of the various Dawgs! I have however gotten a steal on a Stinky after the advice made more and more sense to me. Keep posting the Dawgs though! Thanks all!:D

they're actually Shimano DX clipless. I try to do a bit of everything, that's why I got the Dawg and not an XC bike. I need to get more air though.