Bike Forums - Kona Jake lovefest

Quote:

Originally Posted by erg79 (Post 13852143)

Bump. I don't have a Jake, but I'm interested in one. Anyone have a recent model?

I really like the styling of the logo on the older frames pictured here. The new one looks like it's trying to be a road bike with the graphics, to me at least.

I have the brand new Kona Jake 2012.

You are right. The new design of Kona (actually it started since last year's model) is more "modernistic" or whatever it's called, approaching more of those Specialized, Trek, Felt sort of design, you know what I mean. But I am actually rider who likes those design and the reason I bought Kona Jake 2012.

Here's my impression:
Frame
The Kona Jake 2012 I bought had frame size that is actually 47cm, which I don't think is sold in USA where average height is much taller. I live in Japan and I am smaller of the average Japanese people, thus the reason I bought this frame size. Still, it's a bit big for 5'2 guy like me. My short legs didn't let me raise the saddle height enough to a comfortable posture level because when I do so, the pedals are too far that I can't pedal very good. While the guy on the bike shop was positive that the bike would perfectly fit me, I would say you might want to keep yourself noted that Kona geometry is a slightly bigger than you think.
However, that's just me because I am god damn short. I hate being short. It makes me look like a midget.

The frame itself seems to be tough. It was a bit stiff than I thought due to aluminum frame and fork, but it was actually the first sport bike that I bought, so I only have my friends' bicycle to compare it to, which was a hybrid bike and a road bike and I have little experience with them, which I felt was a little more "softer" (the road bike was carbon frame). However, I don't think it's that stiff neither. When the guy in the store told me that aluminum bikes are very stiff, I thought I was gonna have some ass problems, but I don't have such problems after riding it for approx 3 months.

Adding to this, the frame has eyelets for Rear Racks. I'm sure it is possible to place Front Racks too, but the range of options may become narrow because it does not have eyelets in middle of the fork. But I don't think I'll ever put front racks on this bike so it doesn't really matter. It also has eyelets for two bottle cage, one on the bottom tube and one on the seat tube.

What is interesting about this frame is that brake cables goes through the frame. Well there are a lot of frames today that has Brake cables through the frame, but I never expected that it would be on Kona Jake. The shifter cables are on the outside though, both front and rear being under the bottom tube.

I haven't put any fenders yet though. I don't need it in snow. There's rarely mud or pond. But I'll be needing it later on when the season changes so I'm thinking about SKS fenders. I'll be needing a rack for 325 mile touring I am planning in May. I'll get an update to this thread when that happens.

Drive Train
What was impressive, and part of the reason why I bought this bike was because of the impressive drive train compared to the prices, was the drive train. When I read that the bike had Tiagra Drive train, I thought it was completely normal bike of that price range until I read the specs carefully and noticed that the Rear Derailleur was actually SHIMANO 105!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually I was thinking about buying Cannondale CAADX Tiagra or Kona Jake, which was about the same price range. Reading this, I firmly decided Kona Jake. Cannondale CAADX actually has good fork suspension or something but I chose Kona Jake anyway. (I was noted afterwards that Cannondale CAADX Tiagra had SHIMANO SORA Front Derailleur, which shouldn't be much of a problem but since it's not written in the description as so, it might be a big let down after you get it.)

Tiagra Front Derailleur does not perform as well as I expected it would, but I guess that's how most Front Derailleurs are. When you change it to smaller gear, it would make huge "GATCHING!!!!" sound. When you change it to larger gear, you actually have to push the shifter further than when it clicks and it takes split seconds after that until the chain rests on the larger gear. I have tried adjusting it, but it didn't change at all, so I guess this is how it is.
On the other hand, 105 Rear Derailleur performs so nicely, but I think that's how it is for most Rear Derailleurs. It changes smoothly without much noise. I have no complaint whatsoever with Rear Derailleurs. Maybe for one thing, that the half-clear white plastic plate on the wheel sometimes hit the Rear Derailleur when the gear is on the largest one. I am not sure if this is because of the wheel or the rear hub, but I rarely put my gears on the highest, so it's not much of a problem. I tried adjusting Rear Derailleurs too, but it didn't make a difference or else the chain would change gears by itself at times.

Another good thing about the drive train is that it now has NEW TIAGRA group set (other than rear derailleur). Yes, it's no longer 4500. It's now Tiagra 4600. The reason this is such a big deal is because the New Tiagra group set is made for 10 speed!! That means if you want a upgrade, then you can, while the former Tiagra series only had 9 speed and when you upgrade, you had to upgrade the shifters, gears, and derailleurs.

What I felt was good was that it had the indicator of which gear I am on on the shifters. Not that I check it a lot, but I get the idea right before I start pedaling that I need to change gears first or not and how much force I should up on the pedals.

I hope the shifter cables came out of the stem of the whole lever system like the new 105 and up rather than on the side. I wanted to put handlebar bags, but the range of option is limited because of the cables. Otherwise, I need those "L shaped" adapter thingy to keep the cables from interfering with the handlebar bag.

Weight
I weighted the bicycle and it seems like it is about 11 kg. That's fairly heavy considering it's a cyclocross bike, but in this price range, I say it's absolutely normal, or actually better than normal. As a comparison, I heard Kona Jake The Snake is about 8.9 kg. I hoped the bike would weighted a bit less because I actually have to carry it to my room on the forth floor because I live in dormitory and I hear about a lot of people having their sport bike stolen around in my place (not because crime levels are high, but when it comes to umbrella and bicycles, it seems like Japanese Students don't really have much ethics there).

Wheels and Tires and clearance
The Wheels seems to be pretty good, but I don't really know about other wheels, so I can't really comment on this. It seems like the wheel is tough and good enough for a small rider like me.
I can't comment much about the Tires neither. I quickly replaced them with Snow Tire (Schwalbe Marathon Winter 700x35c on both front and rear) because there are thick sheet of ice here that would make it dangerous for winter ride. I later replaced them again with Nokain W240 700x40c because I was not very satisfied with how Schwalbe Marathon Winter 700x35c performed when it was snowing. However I was surprised how easily Nokian W240 700x40c tire fit on my bike with enough space for ice build-up. I absolutely have no complaint with tire clearance. It didn't seem any close to hit the front derailleur too. I never had flat tires so far.

Stem
I think the stem is a bit too short in my opinion...I guess it's because I bought 47cm size frame, but I want a little more tighter posture...but that's just me.

Brakes
Actually, I can't really say much about the performance of the brakes. It's still snowing and sheet of ice won't go away for another month I think. Braking all of the sudden would make the tires slip (even if they are snow tires) and I don't want breaking bones hitting hard ice.
They are Tektro Oryx brakes, but as far as I'm concerned, I think they perform better than I expected. I rarely use the front brake because using front brake on ice is a taboo. When I first got it, I thought the brakes suck, but after adjusting the brakes (because the guy in the shop won't adjust it the way I want it to), to good mechanical advantage, I gained enough braking ability I needed for safety.
Obviously, however, it sucks while snowing. That goes with any rim brakes though.

The brake levers are a bit too big for a small guy like me though. I wish there were smaller brake levers. SHIMANO! Make one!

Saddles and pedals
Saddle is not as uncomfortable as I expected, and I quickly got used to it except for one thing: crotch. I'm not a heavy guy (I only weight 49 kilos), so I probably don't have much pain as much as larger people do, but it does hurt a little when I ride about 100 kilos or so. I would likely replace them with a saddle with holes in the middle.
Pedals, well I don't have much complaint with it, but it does slip off frequently because it's cold here in where I live and it snows and my shoes suck too.

Although I have written tons of complaints about the Kona Jake 2012 above, I say it was very good otherwise. I ride it to college, to part-time job, for cycling and it does everything more than good. I mean people say you get what you pay, but I think I actually got a little more than what I've paid. So that's a good thing. The problems I have above is mainly because I am a very small guy. Larger people shouldn't have much problems with this bike.

I mainly bought this bike for commuting and touring, along with ability to ride it during winter where it snows and there are a thick layer of ice on the road everywhere. I think it does everything of that requirement so far. Overall, the ride is very comfortable. It was the first bike that I get a tilting posture and I was afraid I would be too uncomfortable with such posture that I may not want to ride the bike as much. That never happened. In fact it was the opposite. I want to ride it more. I haven't tested it on the road, as I mentioned above, it snows a lot. I'll let you know when the snow and ice are gone.

I am very satisfied and I am glad that this is the first bike I bought. Extremely good for buying a first good4all bike. I might even go for a cyclocross race someday!:)

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...223_161601.jpg

Enjoy!