We have had the Kona Coilair Supreme in our stable for a little while now, so it is a great time to chime in and give you guys an update on the review and how things are going up until this point. The Kona Coilair Supreme, for those that do not already know, is a claimed pedal-able park bike that changes travel between 6″ and 7.4″ of rear travel depending on how you are pedaling.
The idea is to have a bike that climbs like a 6″ travel AM rig, but once you get pointed down with gravity’s assistance, the bike transforms into a 7.4″ travel FR/DH rig as you blast down your favorite part or downhill run.
So how is the Kona Coilair Supreme so far?
Complicated…
The Kona Coilair Supreme actually comes with a complete separate manual just for suspension setup. You tune your RP23 just as you would any other air shock, but then you have the secondary spring and elastomer to get right before you search out that first booter or drop to rip the Coilair Supreme through. So far, I do not think I have gotten this bike completely dialed in like it is supposed to be, and that is frustrating from a rider who obsesses over suspension settings. Here is a list of everything that you have to consider when setting up the new Coilair Supreme from Kona.
- Fox RP23 air pressure
- Secondary shock spring rate
- Secondary shock spring preload
- Secondary shock elastomer stiffness
Each of these settings drastically changes how the bike reacts to changing conditions on the trail because…when set up incorrectly…the bike changes unpredictably. As I have it right now…it feels great going straight through rough rock gardens (as you can see by the video below), but in hard berms…the rear end wants to blow through the travel creating a wallowing, uncontrolled travel in the highest g-force (apex) section of the turn. It almost feels like the rear end is flexing out from underneath itself.
So what now?
I am not giving up on the setup on this Coilair Supreme from Kona. Just to make sure it is not my setup, I am going to continue to try to get this rig dialed in before I make any final conclusions on how it rides and write a final review. The Kona Coilair Supreme is a unique mountain bike that has a interesting take on what the capabilities can be for a park bike that also pedals up hill, but…so far…the complicated setup is keeping the bike from performing how it should on the trail.
The video below was shot with the VholdR ContourHD on the Kona Coilair Supreme.