Kona Hoss 2005
 

Im thinking about going to a Hoss instead of my modified V3 but a couple of things bother me.......

1: Are the shimano disks as bad as people say or is it just people riding them outside their intended use?

2: The fork is low end marzocchi, a dirt jam comp. My dual crown RST delta HL uses the same sort of
spring/damping mechanism as the marzocchi (coil/mcu) but has "air damping". Is the marzocchi going
to be a step up or sideways? Dont just knock the RST if you have'nt ridden it.

3: The Alex rims, I cant find any reviews on mtb.com, are they going to stand my fat a$$ bouncing them
off rocks and down stairs? My zac 19's wont so I tend not to do it.

4: My wife will kill me, again. (not your problem)

*bump*

They just need to be adjusted well.

I've got a Hoss '05.

1) Mine came with Hayes hydraulic disc brakes. I'm in the UK, though, where (once the exchange rate is taken into account), Konas are almost twice as expensive as they are in the US. I guess maybe they upspec them, over here, because of that.

2) I've not had a problem with the fork. That said, I'm not overweight, and I can see that its softness might be a problem for the 'larger' rider.

3) The rims are good. I use my Hoss to commute in London. I've hit enough kerbs (going on or off), both head on, and sideways, and the worst I've had is a few scratches. I've also been hit by cars a couple of times: the second time the front wheel took a direct hit. A few spokes needed tightening, but the rim was undamaged.

4) Find a LBS that'll take the wife in exchange for the Hoss. Problem solved.

Thats the brakes?

Im on a 2005 hoss but conisdering I scrapped the fork, brakes, rotors, deraillers, shifters, wheels, and seat...here is my take...

The Alex wheels didnt hold up. they would come out of true every 20 miles or 3 rides. I bought some Sun Rhynolite XL's with XT hubs and have not trued in 200 miles riding the same trails as the Alex DM-24's

The stock fork didnt work for me in my parking lot test ride so I swapped it out for a Black with handlebar lock out...

Stock seat was pretty awful as well...replaced it with a specialized body geometry road bike seat with cromo rails.

The bike has held up to my abuse although it is now a very well equipped hardtail that I have roughly $1800 into. I was going over my bike today and I notice my cranks have some wobble...not sure if my splines on the BB are wasted or or the bearings or if I am obrounding the BB tube as I hammer this thing up hills and it sometimes talks back (I would too if some 300+lb animal was cranking on me with brute force)

I def recommend this bike but I think after I hit my goal mileage on this bike the frame will be tired and time for an upgrade.

Thanks for the feedback critter, $1800! thats one expensive Hoss.