Touring - New 05 touring bike from Kona

I am new to this forum and would like to say hello to everyone who participates. I was in one of my LBS today checking out some specs and prices on cyclecross frames. The manager ( I think ), informed me of a new touring bike that Kona will release in October called the Sutra....You can see this bike and the specs on their web site www.konaworld.com The guy at the LBS said that this bike has an adjustable wheel base
( by 2-3 cm ) , so you can adjust the bike to your needs. I am looking for an all around bike and this bike looks like it might fit the bill. Please look at this bike and give me all of your thoughts. Some of the things that I am not sure about are the Avid road disk brakes, Dedaccial COM 12.5 frame, Mavic A317 wheels. The bike that I buy must be a good commuter, and medium duty touring bike. I have looked at the Trek 520, but
didnt like its super sluggishness ( unloaded anyway ), and the Cannondale T2000 ( which is in the running for my purchase) The MSRP on the Sutra is 1299.00 US. The high tech aspect of disk brakes, and STI shifters
doesnt bother me because I have no desire to tour third world or anything close to it. I am 6' 4'' and weigh
225lbs, so the frame material and design is a concern also. Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this bike. Cheers, Tony

Nice compact geometry. You might be limited to disc specific pannier racks, but that's no big deal.
I'm not so sure about the adjustable wheelbase as your LBS claims....as far as how that is achieved....by using track-style dropouts (trackends)? If so, I'd be concerned with axle slippage under load. On top of that, the disc caliper must be adjustable....
If that's the case, there are just too many components that can slip out of adjustment.

Fixer, I believe you are right on the track styled dropouts. I dont think that I would be moving my rear wheel around anyway. I believe my panniers would stay on 99 percent of the time anyway. Once the rear wheel is tightened, it shouldnt move, should it? If the wheel did slip some, I would think that you could easily find its original position by the marks on the drop outs, or lets say all the way to the back, like I would probably have mine. Also, can I find disk specific panniers in the same quality as regular panniers? Did you look at the web site? What is your over all opinions on the components and frame material?

Upon closer look at the photo of this Kona, it looks like the entire dropout/derailleur hanger/disc assembly is adjustable fore and aft, similar in concept to this adjustable Gios roadframe dropout:

http://www.excelsports.com/images/compactpro_a1.jpg

Strike that axle/disc caliper slippage comment I made earlier.

holy crap! those Gios drops are super hot. sorry, I'm prone to sudden outbursts early in the morning.

tim

Specialized came out with the Seqouia, and now everyobdy makes one.The Sutra looks to be the latest clone. It may be a great bike, I don't know. But there are a bunch of simlar ones you can compare it to. Being so tall, frame flex is a potential problem. I think you may be onto something with that Cannondale. Make sure your test rides include a hill, get out of the saddle, and accelerate. If you can feel frame flex (mushiness) that would not be good.

Well, if you do have horizontal dropouts, you do need to be careful of the type of skewar/QR that you use, certain ones will hold better than others. Be careful if you go with those fancy Ti ones, some of them tend not to be as strong. Keep the dropouts clean and the skewar tight too. My Lemond has horizontal dropouts and I have had the skewar slip on me, but that was more of my own fault than the bike's. (forget to tighten it all the way.. etc)..

jay