Grannygear and I took turns on the Kona Hei Hei full suspension rig at the Outdoor Demo and here are our impressions of this blue bomber.
Grannygear’s Thoughts: The Hei Hei seems to be one of those seldom heard from bikes that, when someone does mention it, they always have positive things to say. This year they upped the travel to 4” from 3.5” of rear travel, tweaked a few other bits and pieces and voila. I set out to see if the Hei Hei was “yay yay”. Was it? It was pretty good and I would put it in the neighborhood of a trail bike like the Rumblefish. I had to leave ProPedal on to get it to be bob-less and so set up it still felt very good in the rough. It was equipped with a wide bar and a high stem combo and it felt confident in the steep drops and fast run outs of Bootleg. It was kinda heavy, I would guess at 30lbs, but I really only noticed that when cresting a hill and prodding it a bit. If it sounds like I am lukewarm about the Hei Hei, it is only because the bar has been raised by other bikes in that 4” range. The superb Tall Boy, the Epic, the upcoming new JET…all are more XC race-able than the Hei Hei. The Rumblefish has that amazing ABP and the two stage DRCV shock. The long rocker on the Hei Hei seems dated and ProPedal is a must. It is not a bad bike at all, but ‘not bad’ is not enough and it is only going to get worse.
Guitar Ted’s Thoughts: I rode last years Hei Hei at the Demo here and felt that it was an unbalanced feeling suspension with the rear being plush and the front being stiffer feeling. Kona folks told me that the suspension travel on the front was upped from 80mm to 100mm to gain some suppleness in the front end that was lacking in the ’09 model. After riding this rig, I say “mission acomplished” on that front.
However; I had left the Pro Pedal on the entire ride, and I’m not sure I would ever turn it off. The balance is still not as good as say an Epic or Tall Boy. The bike seemed to be a bit ponderous as well. Maybe due to weight or geometry, I am not sure. The Hei Hei would get things done, but it took a bit more effort to pilot around than some of the other bikes we were riding.
Is this a bad bike? No. It is pretty decent, but with the bar getting raised in other corners of the 29″er world, the Kona seems a bit off the back. Still, it rode very competently, felt stiff where it needed to, and the components were very nice. Kona knows suspension bikes, and I am hoping to see better rigs in the future with wagon wheels coming from them.
Kona really needs a newer design for their XC full sussers. They are at risk of losing credibility in the segment. Their smaller size has always meant their component packages were a little lacking compared to the bigs offerings at the same price, but the geometry and basics were good. Now the market is changing. I had a 2001 King Kikapu with the same faux-bar design as this 2010 Hei Hei. Maybe they should license the DW-Link if Iron Horse is gone.
The advantage to Kona’s 4 bar linkage system is still the durability. There are still riders out there who take this into consideration. Kona has never really had a “competitively lightweight” full suspension XC rig in the past, so why should this become an item of scrutiny now? It takes a LONG time to learn how to ride a full suspension bicycle, and while pro-pedal eases the learning curve, there are undoubtedly a handful of riding techniques specific to any linkage design which must be mastered before the full potential of the design can be experienced. I feel that Kona’s 4 bar linkage favors pushing a big gear, and an even bigger gear out of the saddle. If you are a tall-handlebars, sit-and-spinner, I can envision the Hei-Hei as feeling like a bit of a pile. It’s called options. I don’t want a carbon Blur. But please do not refer to the Hei-Hei as being “off the back”. The Kona geometry and suspension design is still one of the best options available for Pacific NW riders, so let’s stop comparing it to the “fire road” bikes.
@sinnerspinner
What makes the 4 bar that Kona has any more durable then others designs? Not sure I see that as that seems to relate more to good bearings and materials, how they are used, etc. I know that Kona has a loyal following with riders in certain parts of the country in certain conditions. Their line of heavy duty Coil Airs, Stinkys etc are certainly proven for what they do well.
But that, at least to me, is not the realm of 4″ travel bikes. Last year the HeiHei was 3.5″ of travel. Hardly free ride territory. If this year’s 4″ means it slides into all-mountain, then they forgot to tell me.
As a trail bike, it was overshadowed by both the Rumblefish and the Sensor in overall performance.
But, I appreciate your comments for those who ride in terrain that is foreign to me: North Shore type stuff. I am no sit and spinner, being a singlepeed guy a lot of the time. but I don’t buy into the idea that you need to adapt to some shortfall in a suspension design in order to appreciate it. I stand by my thoughts that for most riders in this country that would look at a 4″ travel 29er, the Kona design seemed to be lagging.
Glad you feel otherwise and I hope your thoughts ring true with others as options are indeed good to have.
grannygear
As fairly early adopter of the FS 29er platform (2008) Hei Hei bought in Jan ’08. I’d like to chime in a with a few thoughts. At the time I paid about $1100 retail form the frame. I ride lots of singlespeed as well and found my Hei Hei to be a very capable climbing bike. I’ve done plenty of long endurance 12hrs, 40mi and 50mi pt. to pt events with 8000-10000ft of climbing on my HeiHei.
For my terrain, socal which is mostly going up or going down. The HeiHei with a 100mm fork up front is very well balanced bike. Very predictable descending and very neutral handling overall. Which is a big plus when you’ve been on the bike all day. Climbs well on fireroads and over small and medium size chunk. I think the bike may give up a little something in the small bump compliance DH compared to some of the other FS29ers I’ve ridden like the Niner Jet and Niner RIP. But I like the way the suspension works on the Hei climbing compared to these bikes which almost felt too active and mushy when climbing over small bumps and obstacles.
As far as suspension maintenance. I’ve done nothing in almost 2 years. No pivots needed to be tightening, no bearings or bushings replaced. Zero. The mini-link bikes I’ve seen in my riding circle all required some maintenance usually in the form of worn out linkage bearings.
Weight wise the bike frame has been on par with what was out in 08, ’09. ~ 6-6.5lbs with shock which is what the 1st Gen Turner Sultan, Ellsworth Evolve, Specialized 29er FSR. I believe only the Lenz Leviathan (much more $$) and GF Hifi (Much less durable/flexy) were lighter. But I digress. 2010 is upon us the bar has been raised it seems in performance and weight with the Tall boy and the GF Superfly 100, and the Speshy Epic Sworks. Though I think from a price standpoint it’s unfair to compare these bikes to the HeiHei.
In any event, I just wanted to make a few comments on how fine the Kona HeiHei is. Sure there are lighter bikes with sophisticated suspension designs out now but I do think the HeiHei is a fine bike considering the price, durabilty, and overall handling characteristics.
I would love to see a 29er version of this from Kona. Magic link seen here on their Scandium AM bike the Cadabra.
http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=cadabra
“Kona has never really had a “competitively lightweight” full suspension XC rig in the past…”
My stock ’09 Hei-Hei Supreme weighs 22.5lbs (26er). Only 0.5lbs heavier than my buddy’s S-Works Epic.
“Kona really needs a newer design for their XC full sussers. They are at risk of losing credibility in the segment.”
FSR is 15 years old. Does Specialized need a newer design? Are they losing credibility?
“Their smaller size has always meant their component packages were a little lacking compared to the bigs offerings at the same price”
My Hei-Hei Supreme retails for well over $3,000 less than my buddy’s S-Works Epic. It also hasn’t had the proprietary Brain Shock fail three times and the proprietary Brain Fork fail once and the proprietary BB bearings fail…
Sooo…
- as competitively light as carbon fibre wünderbikes
- functional, durable, tried, tested and true linkage actuated single pivot design
- thousands of dollars cheaper than carbon fibre wünderbikes
- no proprietary BS to fail and ruin a ride or race
I’ll take my Kona. You can have what your marketing company, er, I mean bicycle company sells you.
i enjoy the reviews but comparing a $2500 bike to a $2500 frame or $6000 bike is unfair. this bike needs to compare to others in its price range. (like Big Mama, GF hifi Deluxe, ect.) of course its not in the league of the Epic or Tall Boy but it was never meant to be. you dont compare a Cobalt to a Corvette. this bike from my experience rides and handles above average for the class its in. with a little investment in better components (wheels, tires especially) you can lose a couple of pounds and really wake up the climbing and handling. I bought a deluxe frame and fork just for the RP23 shock. I built up the bike with quality parts and have a 29er bike that is about 27 lbs and feel even lighter. I have less than $2500 into bike total and love it. If money was no object then the Epic / TallBoy or Superfly 100 would probably be in my gararge but that not reality.
Any thoughts on the “updated” 2011 Kona Hei-Hei 2-9?
This bike is a lot of fun. After 18 months and 4,000km of riding the only maintenance required other than cleaning was a new chain and a set of brake pads. The small block 8′s were great for hardpack but slipped around on the muddy rocks so I put on a pair of nevegals which made a great handling bike even better. I have since changed the seat but that was personal preference because the stock seat was fine in most circumstances (I put it on my 26″ FS rig). The bike really inspires confidence and I’ve extended my riding abilities as a result. This bike soaks up rock gardens and gnarly roots with ease and is comfortable on long XC trails. I think Kona got it right especially for the price.
I have the 2009 Hei hei 29er. Full XT. I have been riding since 1993 and this bike has made it into my keeper stable. I absolutley love this bike and after 2000 hard offroad miles and just chain cleaning, it is still going strong. love the bike at 26lbs. Smooth, predictable, clean, in control… great design. 29 wheels make this suspension work better than as a 26. just look at the ellsworth evolution.
Overall great solid bike that has another 5k to go on it.
Full disclosure, I’m an owner of a 2006 Kikapu Dlx and am love it. However, I’m always doing “research” and coveting new rides. I wonder if anyone on the website or dialogue above knows or can speculate how the 2012 Hei will compare now that it has the boost valve shock, that presumably makes it plush and bottemless feeling and might make it behave more similar to the highly regarded rumble, tallboy, and epic. Also, the 2012 hei has the tapered headtube and 142×12 thruaxle rear whereas the tallboy and epic i believe still use the qr.
Any thoughts?