REVIEW: The Kona Honzo ESD - The Slackest Hardtail I've Ridden To Date - Hardtail Party
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2020
- The Kona Honzo ESD is an extremely aggressive, hardcore hardtail. This bike review takes an onboard look at how it rides. Why does it exist? Who would ride it? Why would you chose this bike? Which terrain is it best at? Can it climb? How does it corner? In today's episode we answer all these questions and more... The Kona Honzo ESD is one of the most exciting hardtails to come out lately. With a 63* head angle, 417mm chainstays, and a 465mm reach on a size Med, it's pushing the boundaries of what's possible on a hardtail. Today we take a close-up look at this amazing machine. I really want to thank all of my amazing viewers who reached out to Kona to let them know about your love for the channel. I wouldn't have this bike in my hands today if it weren't for you. Learn more about the bike here: bit.ly/2QcXDKJ
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#honzo #steelisreal #hardcorehardtail #honzoesd - Sport
Casually rides down a double black while chatting to a audience
“That’s why I mountain bike”, best line I’ve heard in a while.
Thanks Kona, really stoked to see Hardtail Party's opinion on this bike.
I’m super glad that Kona hooked it up by sending it to you! You deserve a connection to all of the brands because you’re filling a huge hole in the MTB segment in my opinion.
It feels like all publications have “moved on” with full suspension and outside of known bike parks and gnarlier trails hard tails are just as important as the full squish bikes. I just don’t get it, but you know it’s great that there’s this gap in segment, because it gives you an in as a hard tail enthusiast to fill the gap and reignite the hard tail excitement.
Keep up the solid work mate. The footage and your editing are top notch.
I’m waiting for the eventual invite from Seth from Berm Creek to shred his backyard trail, that would be a super solid collab.
Shred on!
Thanks so much for the kind words. I agree, not all of us live 5 min from whistler where we can take advantage of a 180mm zeb. I think hardtails are more relevant than ever. There's so much need for hardtail content.
Plus we can't all afford these $5k FS with similar parts. I'm not sure I even want to afford that.
@@hardtailparty Yes! To me hardtail is life😍
As long as a HT will be fun on most of the stuff i ride there will be no reason for a crazy expensive FS.
Duuuuuuude! It's finally happened. You've ridden the Honzo ESD!
YEAH BABY!
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A few more things...
1) Don't have time to watch the whole review? Skip to the summary at 20:34.
2) This is a fantastic bike, one of my all-time favorites for steep terrain. It needs steep terrain. If you don't have trails that are so steep that they're hard to hike/walk down, you don't need something this slack.
3) Yes, slack bikes can climb extremely well.
4) When I say the fork is "diving", I don't mean it's diving under braking, or it's not supportive. The Z1 is a fantastic fork and it felt great. What I am feeling is after multiple successive hits of 12-24" ledges, I feel the front end changing geo over and over, and it's a bit like a bucking bronco. A shorter travel fork does this less.
5) This trail is steeper than it looks on video.
6) I love how quiet this bike is.
7) In the beginning, shimano cassettes creaked, and a little disc/washer would quiet it down. But that was months ago. This is an SLX cassette on an SLX hub. If it requires a disc to quiet it down, that's bad. And if it DOES require that, it should come with them, I shouldn't have to add it as an aftermarket.
8) I still don't know why this came with 175mm cranks with a -63mm drop.
9) I LOVE the external cable routing. Listen to how silent this is.
10) I love the sliding dropouts.
11) This bike could absolutely be my only bike. It's super fun to goof around on in the parking lot.
12) The price is spot on with this bike. Aside from the crank length, there's nothing else that really needs to be changed. It's specc'ed extremely well.
13) Feel free to share this video with friends who would enjoy it.
14) These review videos are a ton of fun to make, but they're extremely time consuming. I don't have a bike sponsor (so I can remain neutral in these reviews), which means I rely on my patrons to support this channel. If you learned something from this review, and you benefited from it, consider becoming a patron today at patreon.com/hardtailparty
Are you going to review the cotic bfe (27.5) and if so any progress
@@davidjennings3462 I don't have any plans to review it right now. Maybe one day.
@@hardtailparty would be great if you could. Also did you prefer the bfe max or the honzo
Esd
Great review 👍🏻
How about if you added an angleset to steepen the HTA and add a small amount of BB height?
Steve's evolution: Full suspension -> aggressive hardtail -> singlespeed aggressive hardtail -> dirt jumper -> fixie -> unicycle.
I’ve had this bike for 3 years now and still love it. Run overforked with a 160mm Lyrik Ultimate, being a bigger heavier rider (6’4” 240lbs) it gives me the mid travel support I like, the longer fork and putting a taller bar on it shortens the reach up and raises the bottom bracket slightly (because it needs it where I ride). Being from British Columbia it loves the slow to mid speed steep trails and can handle everything I throw at it, the only issue I have with it with the rear wheel tucked up underneath it makes it jump a little odd compared to my full suspension but that’s easily adjusted too, just need to remind myself of that
Nice review! I agree on the front fork sizing! Keep ‘em coming!
10:04, 'Thats so much steeper than it looks'. To me it looked like almost vertical
Irs pretty vertical.
Loved the review mate, what a great place to demonstrate what the bike can do. Great honesty to both positive, and negative. As always something new to learn, awesome info as a potential candidate for my 1st bike.
Very excited for this review. Thanks Kona for sending this out for a review!
I can't wait to ride one of these or even own a Honzo ESD. that bike is sick and glad to have your approval on it
Best MTB review I've ever seen. Very thorough and you demonstrated instate all the points. New subscriber. Just back into MTB with a new C'dale Trail SL3. certainly a different bike for a different purpose but I'd love to see you review one.
Seems like we were all looking forward to this one. Great, informative and honest review, as always. Good to hear your thoughts and insight on fork travel. Currently pricing up a Pipedream Moxie but my feeling was the 160 DVO that can be bought as a frame/fork package was too much and I was more inclined toward a 140 Pike. You've really helped me out.
Omg that climb just killed me just watching in the video.
You did amazeballs 👊
You should def review the Honzo DL, love to hear your thought on it. Currently into the ESD and the DL. Thank you! Great video!
Another great review, I was waiting for this one to drop. I think I’d like this bike from what you have said. I’m keen to ride one should it make it’s way to Australia.
Great review Steve!! Excellent take on riding this bike on blue or XC trails mostly compared to black trails!! Really looking forward to see it under forked and single speed conversion and your take to see if it’s the right frame for the job!! Can’t wait for more videos, one of the best youtubers out there!!!☝️☝️☝️👍👍👍👍💪💪💪
Gotta say you're the real deal dude! Those lines were super hardcore for a hardtail!!! Nice work.
Very excited for this review!
I love you explain examples of what you mean when you say things like “steeper trails”.
Your reviews are awesome buddy, really enjoying the channel, thank you from the UK 👍
Thanks for watching!
"There's a party in the mountains and your invited" such a great slogan! 👍😀🚴♀️
Awesome! Thanks, for another great review. Im really looking forward to the underforking experiment... Should result in a similar BB height to my current hardtail, but with more stable 'trail' friendly geometry.
Loved how you're talking normal while shredding! Respect!
I've built my Honzo up rather nicely but this monster is ridiculous!! Thanks for the review, as if I needed another reason to get this bike!
Awesome review! Been looking forward to this one.
This is great, dyude. Shared it on our JRA Cycles shop FB page. We just got these in and we're psyched!
Thanks so much! It's such a fun bike. I think they're going to sell a boatload of these. What a fun bike.
excellent video! I've got a Haro Subvert currently, but I'm picking up Kona as a brand and was really curious about this one!!!
Thank you so much for this review!! I will definitely be tossing you some dough on the patreon, you are doing a huge service to this community!!! And as a result of this community, hard tails will progress even faster.
ANYWAYS, may I suggest you also request from Kona (or do a geometry review) the 2021 Kona Honzo Steel Frame?
Geo was updated this year to a 66* HT Angle and a 140mm fork. I believe that that combo is much more reasonable for your every day rider that does not have as steep of terrain, and is therefor actually a much more versatile bike than the ESD.
It could even be shortened to a 130mm fork but keep the HT angle with an angle set headset.
Let me know your thoughts, thanks again!!
Great review and video. Can't quite stretch the funds for a Honzo right now but currently 90% certain on a Blast 2021.
Awesome review as always and awesome bike! I can’t wait to see what a shorter travel fork does to it! 👍👍
That place is gnar... Youre crushing it. I have ridden a Commencal AMHT 27.5 for 6 years and loved it. Finally looking for something more trail oriented at 54 years old in Florida and the Carolinas.
Recently discovered this channel and I'm already a massive fan, your passion for mountain biking is apparent in every video and I love it! Recently built up a Chromag Rootdown frame and finally got to take it out the other day, coming from a 67° HTA this thing is definitely slack but I loved it on the descent and the climb was still totally manageable and even enjoyable. Proud to be a part of this hardtail fan club!
Welcome to the party. Thanks for the kind words. The rootdown is a rad bike.
Wolf tooth components makes an extended lower headset cup. Adds 10mm. Used one on my chromag.
DUDE 🤯 That was some great riding ! 🤘
Picking up my ESD today, in large part because of this video. Excellent content!
Congrats in a fantastic bike
Wow looks like my kind of bike! Love the short chainstays and slack head angle. Looks like that bike handled Hiline amazingly. Great review.
This bike did really well on Hiline. I can't wait to go back with a 130mm fork on it.
@@hardtailparty I can imagine! 130 mm is perfect travel for Sedona.
Totally agree about the crank length. I love my Honzo but I pedal strike all the time!
Just bought my ESD last weekend. Your comments are spot on. At first it felt full on chopper bike, there's so much front wheel out front. Then again, I'm coming off a GT Peace 9r full rigid ss, so anything is going to feel different. I'm with you on getting a 130 travel fork. I'm looking into a different air cartridge for the Bomber that does just that. Also thinking of a slightly larger chainring, since I'm used to mashing the pedals. Overall, like you say it's gonna take some saddle time to get used to it and change my riding style, but I'm pumped so far. I've spent time in the past with the older Fisher X Cal and had a Carl Strong custom built around a long travel fork, this bike brings back some of those memories. Looking forward to your follow up review! Thanks.
Great revue on the Kona. Party hard in the mountains and be safe.
So glad you finally got to review this bike Steve!! I’ve watched this several times already. I just emailed Yeti and Nukeproof so I hope it helps get you a couple more rad bikes in!!
You rock adam, thanks.
Super good video and solid review.
Great review! I think it’s great that you’re not afraid to talk about the bikes shortcomings. I watch a lot of reviews and sometimes I feel like the reviewer might as well be a companies spokesperson. Hard to trust reviews like that.
I’m so glad your followers got Kona to step up and send this bike out to you. I’ve been so on the fence about this frame since I find get one to even sit over. But where you gave this bike high scores is what is important to me for my next Hardtail so I’ll be ordering a frame the next time I’m in the shop.
I love that you are going to experiment with the bike. I will be following closely.
Thanks. Yeah, if a "reviewer" isn't willing to explore the negatives or shortcomings of a bike, it's not a review in my opinion. Fluff pieces don't help anyone.
Agree with what you say about fork travel on a hardtail. I’ve tried pretty much everything from 180-100mm and 130mm feels like the sweet spot. I’m considering trying a taller crown race on my Pace to raise the front slightly without increasing fork travel.
Awesome review, very cool bike too. I recently got a meta (65 deg head angle) and I agree with your points on 'slack bike handling'. I was worried about the capabilities when I ordered it. Taking a bit to get used to how it steers, but it still works for everything. And as for climbing, my 'slack bike' is wayyy better at climbing than I thought it was going to be. Can get up anything that an XC bike can, just slower.
The first rocky climb is EPIC. Man, you have some serious skills going Up!!!
Thanks. Sedona has definitely made me a better rider.
Awesome review, again.
Great review! Looks like a sweet hardtail
Those views are stunning! Wow
What a joy to watch!
hey Hardtail Party. I've just discovered your channel and I love the optimistic and well researched approach! I've watched a bunch of your videos now including the phases of buying a bike. I have been riding the same Yeti built Schwinn Homegrown hardtail since I bought it new in 1999. It's been a rigid single speed for over a decade. I don't ride much these days because I moved to a region where the trails are super rocky and techy and not flow trails. The fully rigid SS is less fun than trail running so I run a lot more. I'm in the market for a new bike and thinking a lot about frame geo. The new Honzo 29 DL aluminum has sliding dropouts and could be ridden as a SS -and is more slack than my old school cross country race bike like I have now. I'm comparing that vs. the Kona ESD and the RSD Middle Child - both have much more extreme frame GEO. If you could have one bike for single track in East Coast rooty, slippery, and muddy terrain what would you choose?
I saw when Kona shared this on their IG. Finally I'm home and can watch it. Nice review!
Something you may want to look at for the shorter travel forks. Look at the RS Pike/Yari 29+ specific forks, the 120 version has a 542mm a to c. It gives you more length to keep the BB higher, but reduces that dive you're wanting to avoid. Also the Yari can be updated to basically a Lyrik with a damper change. ;)
Glad to see the hardtail party getting bikes that we not only want but NEED and deserve. Hardtails deserve these sort of updates and design considerations just as much as the Full Squish does. My Staton is on backorder due to steel shortages but I cannot wait to get her on the trails in spring or traveling south to ride if I have too for a vacation in a warmer climate!
I'll have a stanton review coming in the near future.
thank you! learned and confirmed a lot watching this. I recently built a ‘20 Nukeproof Scout and over forked it a bit with a 150 DVO Sapphire. Didn’t realize that the 1 degree slacker head angle combined with more travel would take so much getting used to. Front wheel kept sliding out on me and I feel the front diving down; you echoed exactly what I felt which was that you can’t be lazy, you need to stay over the front and be aggressive with it. On the other hand, it makes you a better rider. Great stuff!
See my video on how to ride a modern bike it's got some good pointers on it.
I want to tell you how much I appreciate your channel. A few months ago I switched my interest to a quality hard tail. I started with a cross country bike and evolved to the Kona Honzo ESD. Subsequently, I just placed my deposit on a Honzo ESD @ Glacier Cycles in Whitefish, Montana. Your passion, compassion and attention to detail as it relates to a review makes your channel unique. Let Kona know I purchased the bike because of your review. It simply reaffirmed what I assumed, in extraordinary detail. Lastly, my deposit was associated with the last open spot on a large, so I heard. Thank you for the invitation to the party in the mountains !
Thank you so much for the kind words and for taking the time to send Kona a message. That means so much. Congratulations, the ESD is a fantastic bike. I think you're going to love it. I've ridden whitefish, and it would definitely be a top choice for that area. Enjoy!
I have a 62° head angle and 77° seat tube angle on my Hello Dave. She climbs super well considering that everybody told me it was going to be awful, but I can't see myself going back to anything over 64° now! Waiting for this review for a while, great video, thanks 👍
Pink Bike's Grim Donut is the bike for you, dude!
@@jasoniannone9675 crikey, thats rad.
No bike ever climbs well with a 62..no chance....it’s physically impossible....but, the mind can play tricks on us...it’s called marketing
@@gearbox1858 well I'm still climbing faster than any of my friends on their full sus. Its not nimble by any means, nor is it built to climb. Its for going quickly the other way innit
frellis _ whatever makes you happy 😃. All depends on where you ride. It’s just not possible for a slacked bike to climb properly....if they did the best in the world would use them to race...
Awesome vid!!
thanks for the review! i'm a big fan of 11 speed XT, cheap and works great
same here!
Just contacted my local shop! Can't wait to shred this thing around Tahoe. I'll make sure to tell them Hardtail Party sent me.
This would be a fun bike for tahoe/truckee.
I have a 2014 Honzo with several upgrades. I have loved the bike but I am ready for something new. I was looking at full suspension like a stumpjumper but I think you just turned me right back around to the Honzo. Deep down, I will always be a hardtail guy! Awesome review.
Full suspensions are great too, but I'm a sucker for a modern hardtail.
I'm in exactly the same position with my 2013 upgraded Honzo. Was thinking of going FS, but this pushes the need for FS back a few years 😍
You're reviews are great! Awesome bike! You should definetely check out a dartmoor hornet! Keep it up
This makes me thinking about getting one of these instead of a Ragley next year🤔
But still excited what they will come up with😁
Very good review as Always!
Thanks a lot to Kona to send you one and thanks a lot to you for your honest opinion!
Thanks to you i will also put 170cranks on my current low budget build for more ground clearance🙂
To me this hub also sounds weird af! If my hub would sound like that i would be worried LoL
Had a really fun time at Windrock on my ESD. This thing can take some gnarly stuff
That would be the perfect place for it.
Awesome review! Now I want one with shorter crankset.. Thanks
Yes please! I love this bike.
Great review mate , keep up the great work 👍 I bought one about a month ago & absolutely love it 😍! So much fun 🤩 and way more capable than I thought it would be !
I came of a Scott Ransom 920 ( 170mm F&R ) Enduro bike , jumped on the Honzo and instantly loved it more than the Scott ! Not sure what the geometry comparison is but there both Medium With the Honzos reach being a little longer and I actually enjoy the extra room in the cockpit 👍
I agree with 99% of what you say about the bike & understand exactly what your saying about the 150mm shocks changing geometry 📐 when dipping low but I think for jumping it’s bang on especially nosing a landing on bigger jumps 🤔? I guess no bike can be perfect for everything/ everyone & I personally do a very wide range of riding & find it perfect 🤩 for me !
The one thing I did change was the dropper, swapping the 170 for a 210 One Up Components as I love slamming that seat out the way & the BMX feel , also it’s the same as I have on my Scott keeping the 2 bikes as similar as possible 😎 Cheers 🍻
What a great frame! I'd love to build that up as a basher.
I had a Trek Roscoe 8, sold it last year and bought a Kona Rove ST and never had such a fun bike. I started thinking maybe I should get a full suspension bike. Started looking again and keep coming back to this bike. Even though it is a hardtail but this bike looks like a blast. Plus I "HOPE" the steel frame is forgiving enough for me... I live in Edmonton Alberta so our trails are full of roots and a few rocks. I would like to go to the mountains do do some riding but not sure if I will get out there much. Thank for the review but you are making my thought process harder.... LOL
Looks like a rad bike! I hope you come out with Hardtail Party stem caps so I can put one on my Spot 😁
I just saw an offer for this bike today and later saw this video even though i was never looking for any of them. Sometimes things line up strangely.
I used to own a 2005 Norco Rampage in large with a Marzocchi 66VF2 at 170mm - about a 66-67 degree head angle, 425ish chainstays... It was an absolute beast back then and was way too much bike for me, but I loved riding it no matter what or where - from XC to commuting to light freeride and downhill... Its one of 2 frames I regret selling, the other being a 2003 Iron Horse G-Spot in medium but realistically both were too small for me. The Rampage was as close to the perfect bike for me as I've ridden and whilst I do remember struggling on the climbs to get used to the slack head angle and all the travel I would own it again in a heartbeat. I love the idea of slack hardtails and trail bikes in general - I run an 05 Mongoose Teocali with a 150mm Z150 - but that Rampage will forever be the favourite...
You like all bikes like this 😉
And I see many are going the slack way .
I have an RSD so can’t get this .
YET
Nice review.
Good job on the ride
Man el Roy or honzo man I love your channel wish you did fulls also lol
Wow awesome video great job 👍😎🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤘
Great review. I have a grande Marin El Roy on order... a little afraid of how massive it is but so curious I couldn't help myself (I am 6'1 with ape arms) but see similarities with this bike which has me stoked. Great job on that Hiline descent too. Thanks for the great review.
Nice! I didn't realize you could order those already. I hope to get one in for review soon.
Lovely review and an amazing looking machine ! Would love to see a comparative review with the brand new steel Marin El Roy :)
I'll be reviewing that bike later this year. At the moment there are only 2 el roys on the planet.
I fear the el roy won't fit me, but I'll review it regardless.
Doesn't sound ideal for a single speed with the long cranks and more wandery steering, but I'm sure you'll prove me wrong. Excited for that. Great video, Steve!
who knows, we'll see. That's the fun of all these experiments.
Loving this channel man! Already improved and cleared some sections I use to struggle with on my hardtail with what I've learned here. But man, that double black diamond trail.. hiking that trail I would probably be like, "nope, this can't be right, this isn't supposed to be an obstacle course!?" Lol 😂
It's fun talking to the hikers on the trail when we ride that one. They all think we're crazy. Most of them avoid the black diamond section even as hikers.
I totally agree with you, you have to give these modern geometry bikes time to adjust. Im a big guy and like big bikes generally. I got a hello dave a couple of months ago and at first thought id made a mistake because it is huge compared to bikes of old, but after riding it and adjusting to it over a few rides im totally used to it and it feels natural, right. I love it. Another great review
now try going back and it will feel so wrong! You'll wonder how you rode that shorter, steeper bike for so long.
hardtail party ha ha yeah I totally get that
“Where’s my bonus line?” #nope “Hang on I gotta concentrate this is a big roll” #nope again, minutes later “alright now we’re at the double black” 😂 Your content is the best, have a great weekend
I bought one, thank you!
Sick! I am in love with my 65° HT hardtail. A very small bike for someone my height, but definitely preferable to my longer full suspension bike in a LOT of cases. When it comes to bike geometry/sizing, nothing is necessarily BETTER or WORSE, just different. "Whatever bike I'm riding that day, is my favorite bike."
I would argue that some sizes are better/worse for given terrain, but in the end, we're not curing cancer, we're just riding bikes.
I would like to see a video from you geared towards us full suspension riders looking at getting back into hardtails. Whether you should be looking at same geo, tire sizes, etc. as the full squish bikes you’re comfortable with or not because of x, y, or z.
Great idea! I'll put a note to start thinking about that one.
Nice job on switchbacks !
I love my small at 5.6 fits like 👍 🧤
Such a great video and review!!! The Kona sounds Extra Spectacular Dude. I want one, but probably not the best choice for where I live in Norcal (Sacramento). Seems like it would be awesome in the Tahoe area though. I'd probably be better served with a Chameleon.
Agreed.
That's a mad looking trail...
Wow so awesome hard trail and so awesome mtb 😊😊
Thanks Steve! Thanks Kona, for letting HardTail Party review this! After the review, I think what I'd do is order the frame, and spec it myself. Thing is, I ride w/ my daughter on some loooong climbs here in CO., not sure if this is the bike for that kind of thing. Thoughts on how it might feel after a 2+ hour struggle fest up 5k feet? I find that a slacker headtube angle tires me out a bit faster, due to my seated position. This might not be the bike for those longer CO days though.
It might tire you out a bit faster, but I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Just picked up my ESD yesterday. I’ve taken it on two rides so far. Man this thing shreds. It definitely prefers a STEEP trail.
Such a great trail choice to highlight how incredible this bike is
The unfortunate reality is that most people interested in this bike don't have terrain like this to ride it on.
@@hardtailparty that's why we live in the desert, brother!
Nice honest review and as always amazing riding 🚲
Instead of under forking 🍴, why not play around with spacers and or high pressure?
Also, how hard is it to change the chainstay end length? Can you make it longer at the top of the trail? 🚵♂️
Thx dude....I was also super curious to hear about this one. Hmmm...frameset? 🤔🤓🤙
Thanks for the comment on shimano. I thought it was just me. My SLX does creak on my Marin Alpine Trail 7. My hardtail has the advent X and I don’t have that issue. It’s a little loud on the shift but it’s pretty quiet most of the time. Thanks for the review.
That advent X is the best thing to ever happen to drivetrains. Stay tuned for my upcoming review of it.
I'm surprised with the drivetrain - I have the same hub and cassette and both are silent. The hub did make a little noise at first when going really slow (basically just when walking the bike around), but now it doesn't seem to make any sound at all. Glad you liked this bike overall, though, as it looks pretty sweet.