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…
- 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.