Interesting. Looks like the Kore brakes would offer more torque at the bosses considering the wire attach points are parallel to or slightly below the pads unlike the Avid Shorty 4s. They also appear to attach at a greater horizontal distance to the bosses than the Shorty 4s which means a longer torque arm. I'm thinking that this should improve braking performance.

I'm getting it Thursday, but I have the bill and made a down payment on it, so it did happen.:p

The 2008.5 has all the parts of the 2008 model (Gossamer crankset, Deore front hub, Maxxis tires) but the frame (red) and brakes Kore of the 2009.

The Kore brakes look very powerful, they have an "old school" powerful geometry, with all the benefits of new brakes (weight, adjustability) of newer brakes.

There are still two other things I'm thinking about:
-Should I have changed the cassette from the stock 12-25 to a 11-32? I worried that I'll lack some gears on steep climbs (with moderate load).
-I'm not sure if I should get removable fenders (Zefal clip-on) or real fenders (Planet Bike)?

Nice! I'm jealous. Everyone knows red bikes are faster, and yours will stop too. :thumb:

I'd say get real fenders cause they'll protect more of the bike and you when its nasty out.

I just changed my cassette to an 11-32 in preparation for a century ride that had some steep climbs, but now that it's over I intend to change it back, because the 12-25 cassette is much smoother (tighter spacing) on my daily ride. So I guess the question is, how steep are your normal climbs?

If you do go with the 11-32 cassette, you'd also need to change the derailleur. The Tiagra can't quite handle the 32-tooth cog.

Belated reply
 

I'm not sure how I missed this thread but I found a reference to it and saw kwrides has his bike.

Congratulations.

For my two bit review I'll note that I've kept the bike all stock for now. I like to have a little wear on my components before I swap them out.

First impressions:
The bike is very stable. This is my first road bar bike and I was unsure how well suited I would be in that position after years of riding a mountain bike. So far so good.

The stock tires run between 50-75 psi, I run them at 75 because I wanted smoother running. The treads pick up stones very well. I'm glad I have fenders (which are a Flinger brand). Overall this isn't the fastest bike I've ridden but hope kw or someone else can try a few different tire and fork combinations to speed the bike up. On the plus side this bike is more plush than I expected and my arthritus thanks it muchly. I went with the Jake because I want to swap in a good snow tire and the cyclocross frames have more width on average than the road frames.

The shorty brakes aren't my favourite until I'm downtown, then they show their purpose by keeping me as upright as possible and paying attention to traffic.

For now I am running platforms and am sitting on the edge of going to a clipless. My foot is very short and very wide so I must have custom shoes made for me. So what I am saying is I might hold off until spring - when I have some wear on the parts.

I'm running a no-name cheapie rack that I simply can't remember. Right now I'm looking for a spot to hold a U-lock but might have to settle for a coil mounted on the top tube. I'm extremely picky about adding accessories on a bike. Next up is a seat.

As for the X factor, the bike not bad. It is not as fast as a Gary Fisher Mendota, with geometry for not designed for a short legged guy who needs the mid sized frame. The 09 ***** Tonk set up looks enticing and I wished I had waited to take it for a ride before buying. If it is good I might swap to a kona retro road fork with Continental Ultrasport 700x28c or Gatorskins for the Jake. Not too thin as I am 215 and fairly aggressive through the bumps. I'm going to borrow a digital camera and will have some new pictures soon.

Thanks for the congratulations everyone. I was really bummed waiting so long to get it, but now that I have it, I'm really enjoing the bike.

I'm looking forward to seeing that 2008.5 and the new 2009s.

Andy_K - I noticed in the pic below that you are using some type of blanket or padding to lean your bike up against. My office has one of the lousy racks like this, so I have to lean up against a side (fenders and rack don't fit the little slots): http://www.rfcity.org/library/tour/images/bikerack1.JPG

I bought a top tube protector like the bike messengers use and it works great to let me lean the top tube against anything I want. NOTE: I don't think it would fit the downtube like you're doing in the pick I bought mine off ebay for about 10 bucks with priority shipping if you're interested.

I put an SRAM 11-28 cassette on mine, which gives a nice range and means you don't have to change the derailleur. I've been meaning to get a picture of my Jake for a while now. I'm going camping with it tomorrow, so I'll get a snap of it all loaded up for the thread.

And to the people talking about brake pads, I'll second (or third or whatever) the Kool Stop dual-compound pads. They work great.

Thanks for the tip, kw. The piece of foam I'm using in the pciture predates me. Someone else put it there but rarely (if ever) uses it. There are a few of these abandoned pads on this rack (you can see another in the background of the picture) along with a dozen or so abandoned locks (two of which are also visible in the picture).

We recently got a new rack closer to the door and so I've been going without protection so to speak since that went in. I'll look for the top tube protector you mentioned.

So how is the bike? Hadn't seen a post on it.

I had an '07 Jake that I sold on Craigslist a few months back because I had just built up a Cross Check, and couldn't justify (to my fiancé) having both bikes. I never liked the Sora shifters on the '07, but with the '08 having Tiagra it looks like a great bike.

So here is a mini review for my new Jake. I have only ridden for 50 km so far.

Sizing

This is my first bike with drop bars. I was a little scared of the size at first. I'm 1,75 m with a 83 cm inseam and I got a 54 cm. I'm used to mountain bikes with ~590 mm top tubes with 120-135 mm stem, so getting a bike with a 551 mm top tube and a 100 mm stem was kind of weird, but it worked out well. I'm used to riding 175 mm cranks on my three other bikes, but the 172,5 mm cranks felt OK.

Parts

The bike is mostly equipped to my liking. Like I said previously, it is a 2008.5 model, so it's a 2009 frame with 2008 parts and Kore brakes. I have few gripes:

• The cassette is a 12-25. It is too closely spaced for my liking and the lowest gear is not low enough for me. I'll have to change it to a 11-32 (more on that later).
• The bottom part of the drops is too short (the almost horizontal part below the braking position). I can't even put my hands there because of this. Is it because it is a cyclo-cross handlebar? I don't know if I'll need to change it.
• The interrupted brake levers (or cross brake levers if you prefer) are too loose, even when tightened properly. I inserted a piece of tire tube between the lever and handlebar and they now hold like a charm. I shouldn't have to do that.
• The cable hangers that came with the Kore brakes were supposedly not strong enough; the salesperson said they broke when adjusting the brakes, so they replaced them (more on that later).

On a sidenote some changes were made to the bike:

• I replaced the Maxxis tire with some Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x28 tires. I kept the Maxxis in case I want to try them out. The Schwalbe were very hard to install, they kept unseating themselves. I even blew out a tube because of this.
• I had the shop replace the stock pedals with SPD pedals. They pulled off some PD-M505 off a JTS, but I think I overpaid for what they are worth.

I need to get some extras for commuting though:

• Fenders
• Rack (I borrowed the one from my gf's bike for now)
• Light mounts (for the lights I already have)
• Bicycle computer

Ride

The bike rides well. I didn't know what to expect as it is my first bike with drop handlebars (like I said previously). The bike handles well and the ride is smoother than with my Giant Iguana, even with narrower tires (700x28 vs 26x1.5). This bike feels very fast compared to my other bikes. The brakes are good, but I think the pads (Tektro) need some breaking in. For some unknown reason (pothole, bad assembly?), my front wheel is already out of true.

Service from the shop

For the initial sizing, all three salesperson I spoke to on three different occasions did the same thing: measure my inseam, look in their fitting guide and say the size I need. No one bothered to look at my height to see if it is proportional. I am lucky because I am proportional, but a friend of mine bought a bike from them and is not satisfied because he has short legs and long torso and he feels he got a too short bike with a long stem.

I mentioned to the first salesperson (when I was shopping around) that I might want to change the cassette from the stock 12-25 to a 11-32 (with corresponding Deore derailleur and longer chain) to get better gearing ratios and he said they would do it at no charge. The second salesperson (when I bought the bike) said I don't need to change the cassette, that the ratios are low enough with the triple crankset and (temporarily) convinced me. When I went to get my bike, I spoke to a third salesperson about the cassette, still not sure about the stock 12-25, but said it will be enough (like the second salesperson). I rode 40 km Friday, and I don't like the 12-25, so I am going to ask them to change it tomorrow.

When I bought it, they said it included a fitting of the bike. When I went to get my bike, the fitting consisted of adjusting the seat height and fore-aft position. The person (the third salesperson mentioned previously) adjusted the seat (1 cm to the front) so my knee would be in line with the pedal axle. From what I read, the knee in line with the pedal axle is a fitting myth as it does not work for everyone. The handlebar felt OK so nothing was done there. I rode for 5 km and it felt weird, so I pushed the seat back 1 cm (to it's centered position, like on my three other bicycles) and I felt normal on the bike.

When I inspected the bike on delivery, I noticed that the cable hangers were changed. The salesperson (#3) said that the original hangers (Kore) broke when adjusting because they were machined aluminium, so they changed them to a real nice black steel hanger (in the back) and a regular silver Dia-Compe steel hanger in the front. Why two different hangers? I'll ask at the shop tomorrow.

Conclusion

The Kona Jake is a great bike, but not excellent for the aforementioned reasons. For the service, the jury is still out on this one.

Thanks for the review fcormier. If you get a chance, I'd love to see a photo or 2 of the 2008.5.

It sounds like most of your issues are due to the LBS, with the exception of the brakes and the handlebars. I hope you get your LBS issues resolved quickly and easily.

FWIW - living in Superflat Houston, the problem is constant pedaling and headwinds...or, to be more frank - no hills :D. I can see where your experience with the cassette may be different in Montreal.

A recommendation on fitting tires...buy Soma Steel Core Tire Levers. These things are excellent and I honestly doubt you could snap one. I had snapped a few plastic levers in the past, but since I bought the Soma's, no issues. btw- I fit Marathon Supreme's in 700x32 on my Jake. I couldn't get them on easily by myself, so once I had that last 10% to go, I asked my wife to hold the tire stable while I used the Soma lever to get it in. I was worried I might have pinched a tube, so I did 10psi, check the seating, 30 psi, check the seating, etc.

I'm having trouble finding the weight of the Kona Jake. It's not listen on their website nor anywhere else I'm searching for. Does anyone know this statistic offhand?

The 2007 Kona weight list says 23,5 lbs for the Jake. There is no weight specified for 2008 and 2009, but it should be similar as the components and frame don't change that much.

Mine weighs 28 with pedals, rack, fenders, cage, computer and lights...not that that answers your question:D

Alright. I'm finally getting around to posting a pic of my Jake. This is from yesterday when I had it all loaded up for an overnighter. Changes from stock are Tiagra brifters and FD, SRAM 11-28 cassette, Shimano 324 pedals, the Brooks, brake pads and tires (Kool-Stop dual compound and Kenda Kwicks), added fenders and rack, and ditched the cross levers. No idea what it actually weighs, just that it was a ton loaded up. Rode nice and smooth though.

http://i469.photobucket.com/albums/r...5/e46b3b65.jpg

I test rode a Jake in that color. The blue paint was really pretty.

I went to the shop on Sunday one week ago, they said I needed to speak to the manager since I used my bike and he wasn't in, so I had to come back on Wednesday. I came back on Wednesday, asked a salesperson (#3) to speak to the manager about changing parts. We had an heated argument about changing the parts, he went to speak to the manager twice and on the second occasion, they agreed to change the cassette to an 11-32, the derailleur to a Deore and the chain (to get the correct length).

The gears are now perfect. Good range, ratios not too close, couldn't ask for more.

I checked and they are Tektro RL720, which are made for a 24,0 mm bar. My bar is a standard road bar, so it should be 15/16", which gives 23,8 mm in metric. Maybe it's why I had to put some tubes between the levers and the bar?

When I spoke to a bike mechanic there, he happened to know about it. The rear cable hanger is the original one. The front one broke and they could not get one identical to the rear one because it is an OEM part, so they installed a generic Dia-Compe cable hanger.

I got some Planet Bike Cascadia fenders for hybrid/touring bikes. I wanted the Hardcore model (lighter), but they did not have them in stock. I got a generic rack, the same one as on my other commuter as it does the job well, but for 700c wheels. I managed to get some light mounts for the lights that I have, so no need to get new lights, I can swap them from bike to bike. I also got a new computer. I was used to CatEye Enduro model, but the owner of my favorite LBS convinced me to get a Sigma and I couldn't be happier. I like the twist lock, less prone to breakage than the CatEye Enduro's clip (broke 2 out of 3).

Anybody else noticed that on the 2008 Jake? My friend has the same issue with his 2004 Devinci Caribou. I'll just leave it like that for now.

And here is a quick pic I took Saturday before my 100 km ride.
http://derf.dyndns.org/~derf/gallery...0847.sized.jpg

Does anyone have a Kona Jake 08 to sell?

Up to a trip to San Diego?

http://www.beyondbikes.com/bb/ItemMa...e&MatrixType=1

My 09: 2 weeks old. Weighed it at the bike shop and it came out to 24.5 lbs. I had the tires swapped to 25mm gator skins, everything else is stock. Once I get some cash I will be getting some clipless pedals and shoes, a better saddle, and hopefully have enough for a front light.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/argon818/3224001995/" title="My sexy ass bike posing in front of the hundreds maybe thousands of furries by Argon408, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/3224001995_d7c05273d5_o.jpg" width="1280" height="960" alt="My sexy ass bike posing in front of the hundreds maybe thousands of furries" /></a>

The brakes seem very weak. Anyone have suggestions for improving stopping power? What improvements and upgrades have all of you done to your Jakes? I would like to spend some money but know next to nothing about bikes and wouldn't know what to upgrade (crank, fork, post, handlebars?).

Html fail.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/argon81...01995/sizes/m/

Nice looking bike.. I like commuter setup.

Here's my Jake, it's set up a little differently now (better rack & panniers), I love it as a commuter.
http://borgish.com/photos/commuter2.jpg