What I was going to ask was...

kritter, my Hoss '05 came with Hayes hydraulic disc brakes, as standard. It was the '04 that had the Shimano mechanical brakes. Are they trying to rip you off by selling you an '04 bike at an '05 price?

But, having just checked the Kona website, I'm going to instead ask...

WTF? Over here in the UK, the '05 Hoss has Hayes hydraulic disc brakes as standard, so why have they stuck with Shimano mechanicals as standard for the '05 Hoss in the US?

Anybody know what the deal is with that? I felt a bit p*ssed off that (after currency conversion) a Kona is much more expensive in the UK than the US, but now I see that at least we're getting a slightly better equipped bike. Everything else seems the same, and the price difference couldn't be justified solely on the better brakes, but it's something.