Originally Posted by
Sierra_rider
Is that the model that's on closeout on Jenson? If so, I think it's a decent spec for the price. It's at least Shimano 11 speed. IMO, any of the forks are going to suck at that price range. If he's used to riding a bike with old school geo, just the updated frame geo might make the fork acceptable for his use. If not, I've seen some killer deals recently on Fox forks...the only caveat is IDK what the fork selection is like for a 27.5" wheel.
Yes it is.
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Before I saw that deal, I had him test ride a few bikes at a bike shop when I was dropping off the Klein to get some work done on it. One of the bikes he rode was ironically a Big Honzo. I had him try a large because he's 5'9", but at 15 yrs old he should still be growing. I'm 5'11" and ride a size large Trek Stache. I'm on the fence about ordering and what size to order if I do, but I'm getting impatient with trying to find something used.
My son typically rides with me and we stick to cross country type riding with some rough rocky stuff and roots, but no big jumps or steep downhill routes. Some of the trails can get soft, so I was thinking he'd appreciate the wide tires on the Kona. There's no way of knowing what type of riding he might do once he gets a little more independent.