The Greeeeeeen Hooorrrnnettt!!

Holy cow, that's a longggg rack! Was that a reaction to needing heel clearance? Or something else?

Nice bike, btw! I wish I could have talked myself into buying a Snake, but I was just too scared to leave it outside all day chained to a rack.

I had my 7 yr old at LBS looking at 20" bikes but what he *really* wanted was a 24" red Kona Jake. He was drooling like he *never* does. He would have fit on it too, I imagine, better than some 24" mtn bikes, even w/ step-through frame, that he tried. 6 Cs a bit much until he really gets the hang of shifting, though, it seems like...

I've only had my Jake two weeks but I'm loving it!

I think it would look sexy.

That is a long rack! FWIW, I haven't had any heal clearance issues with my Jake, and my pannier doesn't have heal cutouts.

Actually, it's not really a rack. It's my other project to develop a light hanger since my twowheelgear.com pannier sticks out so far over the rack. I have to wear a suit at work and that's the only pannier that seems to do the job of a garment bag. Keeps my clothes sort of wrinkle free-ish.



I don't have any clearance problems. Just want the superflashes to stick out. It's just some PVC pipe attached to a rack with zip ties.

That's not the stock fork on that model, is it?

Easton EC70X is the stock fork for the 2007 JTS. Haven't changed anything but the tires, brakes and pedals.

Keep those Jake pics coming. My bike didn't come in on Friday...hopefully Monday...

Well, my bike finally came in Thursday!

But, it was still completely boxed the way it came straight from Kona and not fully adjusted as the seller had promised. I did most of the assembly myself, but took it to the LBS yesterday to have them give everything the once over and true the wheels. I also picked up some PB Freddy fenders from them and asked them to install the fenders and my rack. I should have the finished bike Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

So, until I can post some pictures of mine, let's see some more Jakes and hear the love!

Just bought a JTS yesterday!

Well, I finally got my Jake in about a week ago. I've got 75 miles on it now, so thought I'd post some photo's. Sorry about the shadows and the mud on the bike





My 1st impressions are:

• I really like the bike. It fits me well and feels very sturdy.
• I'm surprised at how well the Tiagra stuff works, definitely better than I expected.
• I really like the stock handlebars and tape. REALLY like them.
  

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A few notes on additions to the bike

• I was worried that the Aluminum frame would be harsh after riding steel and carbon the last few years, but it isn't at all. It may be that I bought Schwalbe Marathon Supremes in 32, and they are smoothing out the ride, but it is a very smooth combination I would recommend.
• I love my OMM Red Rocks Rack. It is long enough to be able to accommodate a large pannier and not have heelstrike with my size 13/48 shoes.
• I love my Arkel Utility Basket. I started with a Bug backpack, but it wasn't big enough. The Utility Basket is big enough for my large laptop, clothes, a thermos, tools, phone, wallet, keys, etc. With more room to spare!
• I haven't yet made up my mind on the Crank Bros Pedals. The are quite bigger than the Shimano 520SPDs I used before, which is great for mashing at lights, but they are harder to get into. Several people have recommended that I cut part of the tread off my shoes to make clipping in easier, but I really don't want to take a knife to my expensive shoes. Maybe I'm just too stubborn...the are easier to clip out of than the SPDs though.
• I replaced the saddle with a Fizik Arione. My saddle of choice on all my bikes. I like it to point up a bit, but these pictures make it look more drastic than it really is.

I hear you about the shorty 4s. I had my LBS remove them after my last squeal fest in the rain when I could barely stop and add travel agents and Tektro RX5s with Kool Stop pads. I'm much happier. The travel agents work pretty well at taking up the cable pull from the STI levers. I would first try Kool Stop pads then if you aren't happy you can go with mini V brakes. I've heard the other Shorty models aren't much better and the Shorty 6 actually squeaks more. Another option that my LBS recommended was the Shimano BR 550. Both the RX5s and the BR550s use cartridge brake pads so they are a little easier to change out.

Looks like you went with the Quatto SL. I'm actually selling my Crank Brothers Quattro SL as well. I find the standard Crank Brothers egg beaters much easier to enter and exit. You might consider those before going Shimano. Looks like a great bike. I'm actually lamenting my double crank at this point and lusting after the Jake's triple. Guess I need to lose another 20 pounds.

I dont have a white garage door so concrete bricks is it.

JTS with front disc

Thanks for the brake advice. I've been thinking about trying some Kool Stops, and that's probably my cheapest place to start. Glad to hear they are working for you. Can you expand on what you mean when you say "travel agents"? I've never heard of these. Is it something to do with the difference when you go from canti to V? (BTW - I was going to try google, but "travel agent" doesn't quite work

You know, I was NOT happy that most of the bikes in my sub$1000 price range came with a triple, but now that I have it I realize it would have been a bad choice to swap to a compact double since this is a commuting specific setup and I never use the big ring. I think some day I may try to convert it to a 9-speed though.

Here is a sheldon page on brake compatibility. This is a primer on why you can't just use v brakes with STI levers. Here are a few reviews of the travel agent. I'm a little leary of it to be honest even though it is working fine presently. We've not had a ton of rain yet so my dirt level is definitely low. It doesn't seem like a permanent solution and I'll probably go to the BR 550s eventually. Here's a photo of the device from a bike shop web site. It takes the place of the "noodle" in a v-brake set up.

It's funny but if you check out the 2008 tri-cross you'll see that Specialized actually developed their own v-brake to work with STI shifters and ditched Avid shorty brakes for that year. I tried one out and was impressed. Couldn't afford the bike though. Not sure of the longevity of such a set up either. Oh well. Live and learn.

Jarery,

What fork do you have on yours? I've been thinking about the front disk for a while now....
It looks slick, too, as a bonus!

Its the carbon cross fork from Nashbar. Its gone through a LOT of abuse and its still going just fine.

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...20Road%20Forks

I'm the same way, don't love the triple, but I'm in the middle ring 99% of the time anyway. Once the Sora shifters finally give up the ghost (7,000 miles, all-weather, and still going strong) I will probably go to a 1x10 setup for ease of commuting, racing, and ease of wheelset swapping with my Van Dessel.

I just bought a 2008.5 Kona Jake. I'm getting it Thursday, I can't wait! I changed the pedals to Shimano PD-M505 and the tires to Scwalbe Marathon Plus 700x28, everything else is stock. I hesitated about changing the cassette to a 11-32 (with Deore derailleur), but stuck with the 12-25 cassette (for now at least).

For those curious about the 2008.5 model-year, it's a 2009 frame with 2008 parts and Kore brakes.

Pics or it didn't happen!

Same goes for you, pics or it didn't happen! (btw - what color are the 2009s?)

I somehow missed the updates on this thread until now. Great to see you've finally got yours on the road, kwrides.

I think I mentioned before that I put some black MTB Kool Stop pads on my Shortys. I wasn't thrilled at first, but today I'm happy with them. We'll see what I think of them after a winter of riding my Muirwoods with its disc brakes and then switching back to the Jake in the Spring.

I've been toying with the idea of putting a front disc brake on like Jarery's. Does that work with the standard STI and cross brake levers?

Just looked at the 2009 Jake on the Kona site (ride, BTW). It looks like they've downgraded the crankset to FSA Omega, and it claims an 8 speed cassette, although I question that because it still lists Tiagra shifters. The price is up to $899. They've dropped the Avid Shorty 4's which if I'm not mistaken used to be stock all the way up to the Major Jake. Now the Jake comes with "Kore Sport" while the JTS comes with "Kore Race" and MJ with "Kore Race Plus". I'll be looking now to see what those are.