It seems Kona has a tendency to tease us with their newest carbon products, like when they were first introducing the new all carbon Jake the Snake. So it should come as no surprise, that their newest hint at what’s to come, takes the form of a grainy camera phone shot to be “leaked” online.
What can we tell you about the new bike? Well, for starters it is a beautiful full carbon 29’r hard tail frame. It appears to have a pressfit 30 or BB30 bottom bracket, tapered head tube (most likely ZS), and braze on front derailleur mount. It also appears to be one of the first hard tails that I have seen with a 12mm thru axle out back, that’s right, thru axle on a hard tail! No way to tell whether it would be 142 or 135mm spacing (confirmed as 142), but the prospect of a super light hard tail with full thru axles, is exciting. Hard to tell, but it looks like it may also feature the post mount standard for the rear disc brake. If this is a sign of things to come, more shops might need to start purchasing tools like this.
While some were quick to criticize Santa Cruz for being “late to the carbon 29’r HT party,” it seems that they may not be the last company to enter the market. It is safe to say though, that if everything seen here makes it into final production, this will be one of, if not the most technologically up to date carbon 29’r on the market. That’s all for now, but keep an eye out for future updates!
