wagaces

Anyone have new experience on the Sutra?

rugerben

bump to the top out of interest.

VT_Speed_TR

I have no experience with the Sutra, but one was listed on Vermont's Craiglist just the other day for $950. Not sure how good a price that is, but may be worth checking out.

Brian

surreal

you can get a frameset super at bikeman, which is cool b/c then you can build it with canti's instead of discs, and you can use better ish than kona does in the build.

but, unfortunately, i have no direct experience with the beast

Ken Wind

I have a 2008 Kona Sutra that I got super cheap on Ebay. I rode it for about five months during the worst of the winter here in central Ohio, but it is currently broken. The derailleur snapped in two, bending the derailleur hanger into the spokes while I was riding. I think the wheel is alright, and I can probably bend the hanger back into place, or maybe I'll try to make a warranty claim on it. I haven't dealt with it yet because the weather was nice enough to start riding my super reliable brakeless fixed gear. My suspicions lie with the chain, and not the derailleur. I think that my lack of maintenance on the chain after the harsh winter without a rear fender caused one side of a link to break, which caught the derailleur then bent it to a point of snapping.

While the Sutra was in working condition, it performed well. I mounted a pair of 700 x 35 Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires, and I had still had room for fenders. The components worked well, and I really enjoyed using the bar-end shifters. They are much better than the ones my mom has on her 70s Trek. The bar wrap has a rubbery soft touch feel that is amazing, and I love the shallow drop of the included handlebars. It provided a solid, comfortable ride, but it was still fairly maneuverable. The fork is extremely beefy.

There are a few issues I have with the bike though. One of the reasons I got it was due to the inclusion of road disc brakes, which I had wanted to try for a while. After I figured out how to adjust them properly, and realized that one of them needed to be straightened (stomping and a concrete floor did the trick) after shipping, they worked amazingly well. Actually, I don't want another road bike without disc brakes. This is why I didn't like the cantilever mounts on the frame. They are ugly, and I will never use them. Some will find that they add versatility to the frame, but I can't stand the way they look. Another problem is the way the rack mount is positioned on the frame (they fixed this for the 2009 model). It is halfway up the seat stay, making it impossible to mount any rack besides the original. The original rack didn't inspire confidence either. I'm not sure how I feel about the crankset. External bearing cranks are better, but I don't like the fact that the FSA Gossamer uses a plastic piece on one side for tightening the crankarms down.

The 2009 model seems to be better than previous years because they have changed the rack mounting position, and included an excellent Racktime (made by Tubus) rear rack. The WTB Rocket V is also one of my favorite saddles. If I hadn't gotten such a good deal on the 08, then I probably would have purchased a 2009.

Things that I learned from having this bike are that I don't want canti studs on my disc brake capable frame, derailleurs and their hangers are stupid (because I don't like regular maintenance), and unconventional rack mounting points are a bad idea. This bike is close to my ultimate commuter, but there are some changes I would make. I want chainstay mounted disc brake mounts and an internally geared hub with a good eccentric bottom bracket. That way I could run it single speed if I want, and there is no interference with the disc brakes when mounting fenders and a rear rack. The Breezer Finesse with drop bars, Jtek Alfine bar-end shifter, and BB7 road disc brake calipers would be pretty close to my perfect bike.

That was much longer than I intended. Feel free to ask me any questions you have about the bike.

Edit: This is written from a commuting perspective. I never toured on this bike.

If you haven't read the Bikeradar review, then you should check it out