CWL

Hi All

I'm after a bike I can jump onto after work and do a few miles, possibly more during the weekend. I use to ride a road bike but turned to mountain biking for the last 10 years. I enjoy riding on roads and I want a tarmac bike thats a bit more robust as the roads I'll be riding on will be not so perfect country lanes.

I love the look of the Kona Dew Drop and wondering if its suitablefor my needs.

mlts22 

Here is the question: How rough are the country lanes? Would the solid fork of a road bike beat you up too much, especially on a long ride? If this is the case, perhaps a bike with a suspension fork might be your answer, even if the fork had a small amount of travel.

This is something that few can answer here unless they know the area. Some country lanes, a road bike would be fine though bumpy. Others, it would just fatigue the rider due to the bump chatter.

When in doubt, rent a generic road bike, run the routes you do for a day, see if it can handle it. If it is fatiguing, then consider something with a front suspension.

dynaryder

Dews can take some pretty wide tires. Unless the country lanes are seriously tore up,you should be fine. We have alot of crap roads here in DC,and I have a touch of carpel tunnel,but I get along just fine with rigid bikes.

CWL

Hi thanks for the replies.

Sorry I say the roads are rough but not as bad as the impression I gave. I'll be riding on back roads in Cumbria, the roads are mainly smooth but quite often dotted with pot holes and large cracks in the road caused by heavy vehicles (Also poor maintenance)!!!

I want a bike that is comfortable, fast and able to take a few (Unavoidable) pot holes and thought the Dew would be good. I use to ride a road bike on 18c tyre and I'm pretty sure I'll destroy a road bike after riding a mountain bike for a number of years. The Dew comes with 37C and I was thinking of fitting 28C, a good compromise between comfort and speed.

toribitter

Given the Dew Drop and Dew Deluxe are exactly the same price, would the drop bars on the Drop be worth the lower spec compared with the Deluxe?

Differences in bold

Dew Drop:
Frame sizes: C45cm, C49cm, C52cm, C54cm, C56cm, C58cm, C60cm, C62cm
Frame tubing: Kona 7005 Aluminium Butted
Fork: Kona P2 700C
Headset: TH
Crankarms: FSA Alpha Drive (45-54=170, 56-62=175mm)
Chainrings: 48/38/28
Bottom Bracket: RPM 7420
Pedals: Wellgo LU-A9 / Xerama SP-500
Chain: KMC Z-72
Freewheel: Shimano HG40 (11-34, 8spd)
Front Derailleur: Shimano 2203
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore
Shifters: Shimano 2203
Handlebar: Kona Sweeper (31.8mm x 620mm Wide)
Stem: Kona Road (6�� , 45-49=75, 52-56=90, 58-62=100mm)
Grips: Velo Wrap Gel
Brakes: Shimano R505 Disc
Brake Levers: Shimano 2203
Front hub: Formula Disc
Rear hub: Shimano M475 Disc
Spokes: Sandvik Stainless 15g fr/14g rr
Tyres: Continental CountryRide 700x37C
Rims: Rigida ZAC-19SL
Saddle: Kona Comfort
Seatpost: Kona Road
Seat clamp: Kona QR
Colour: Metallic Black or Matte Black
Extras: Kona Bell

Dew Deluxe:
Frame sizes: C45cm, C49cm, C52cm, C54cm, C56cm, C58cm, C60cm, C62cm
Frame tubing: Kona 7005 Aluminum Butted
Fork: Kona P2 700C
Headset: TH
Crankarms: FSA Alpha Drive (45-54=170, 56-60=175mm)
Chainrings: 48/38/28
Bottom Bracket: RPM 7420
Pedals: Wellgo LU-A9 / Xerama SP-500
Chain: Shimano HG40
Freewheel: Shimano HG40 (11-34, 8spd)
Front Derailleur: Shimano Altus
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Deore
Shifters: Shimano Acera
Handlebar: Kona XC/BC Riser (31.8mm x 620mm Wide)
Stem: Kona Road (6�� , 45-49=75, 52-56=90, 58-62=100mm)
Grips: Kona Race Light
Brakes: Shimano 486 Hydraulic Disc 6"
Brake Levers: Shimano 486 Hydraulic Disc
Front hub: Formula Disc
Rear hub: Shimano M475 Disc
Spokes: Sandvik Stainless 15g fr/14g rr
Tyres: Continental CountryRide 700x37C
Rims: Rigida ZAC 2000
Saddle: Kona Comfort
Seatpost: Kona Road
Seat clamp: Kona QR
Colour: Matte Black
Extras: Kona Bell

I would consider the Kona Jake but its not available locally unfortunately.

CCrew

The Drops shifters are at about the basement of the parts tree.. But the drop bars will give you a lot more hand positions for longer rides.

wunderkind

Even at the bottom of the parts tree, a Shimano ST2200 shifter is 2X the price of a top-tier Deore XT shifter. Something to think about.....

Drop bars and its affiliated components are expensive. Hence you see Kona compromise on other parts with the '10 Dew Drop. The 2009 DD was better equipped. Acera/Altus are cheap mtb components. Just a step above wally-mart Tourney equipped mtbs.