In another thread I wa going through it was pointed out that for a company to give a lifetime guarantee on a frame it has to price up its bike a lot. I recently bought a 2003 Garry Fisher Tassajara. The choice was between the Fisher, Trek 4900 and Kona Nunu. I was not impressed by the fact that Kona are only giving a 3 year warranty on the frames which are made in Taiwan and Vietnam.

The Fisher had better specs than the Trek, both of which come with a lifetime warranty. This is important for me, because as much as I would like, I cannot afford to change my bike every couple of years. Buying the Fisher was 'Big' for me as I bought it around 1400 US Dollars and I cannot afford to sell it for half that amount in a couple of years and fork out more money to get a new bike. The Fisher supposedely is built in the USA which I prefer to Taiwan.

By the way these bike were all in the same price bracket, the Kona being slightly cheaper.

Kona also tend to be purchased by trendy bikers. I don't expect a frame to last me longer than 3 to 5 years. I don't think the customer base Kona is looking at really holds onto or even rides 1 bike that long. I know personally I will be buying and selling my current bike within a year to upgrade to something a bit more advanced.

Yes I tend to defend Kona on this point because I tend to agree a bit about short warranties. On the same not I think a 'real' full warranty should be given on bikes with that short a warranty. A limited warranty on a 3 year warranty bike is a little ridiculous ...

Congrats on the new bike I don't see fishers around here but I hear they are good bikes

I just checked the warranty. You must be talking about Titanium frames only because Kona has a 5 year warranty on aluminum.

I emailed Kona ( got address from www.konaworld.com) and I was told that all XC bikes carry a 3 year warranty. It was 5 but not any more. Just for info, although it doesnt really effect you.

Strange, they need to update their site then.