After searching all over Europe for one of these, I finally got my Kona Unit. I live out in the middle of nowhere (by German standards). My street is paved and at the end it dips off into gravel and sand and gravel roads used mainly by farmers and hunters. This bike has reignited my love for cycling. It is so fun barreling through the woods on it and not worrying about roots and larger stones. I can ride from my house to the grocery store only having to cross one road and it's just cows, crops and deer it is so rad.
It does however beat the daylights out of my butthole so besides replacing the saddle I'm looking to learn about dropper posts. Any xbike recommendations or tips?
by DuckOrDeer
12 Comments
Germans got bikes.
Dropper depends on seat post diameter. Don’t buy junk.
Yeah the Unit is sort of a 1 and done bike. Not the best at any one thing but more than happy to try anything once.
Tires make the biggest difference in not getting beat up on a hardtail. You absolutely have to find a saddle that you get along with but a Wide Trail rear tire set up tubeless at the pressure sweet spot is your first line of defense
I run 29 x 2.5 as low as 15 psi front, 17 psi rear sometimes
29 x 2.35 about 21 and 23 psi
It’s a perfect cross of fat bike, MTB and gravel bike all in one. I converted mine to drops last winter and use it for bike packing and touring
I just put a cheaper suspension post on my on one and holy hell what a world of difference. It’s like floating when seated.
I don’t wear bibs most of the time. Tire pressure and a Brooks C17 keep me comfortable.
Rigid, single speed, 29er – is The Truth; The Way
https://preview.redd.it/hjk7yoml4abf1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=118cc3bb10f3dfed3c6f4384f4a4c3109764c688
Here’s mine. We have the same grips I believe:) I’ve changed a lot on my unit x. One of the first thing I recommend doing is convert to tubeless. Makes quite the difference at lower pressure.
I love how the simplicity and fun dimensions of bmx bikes seep over so well. And then the convenience and comfort of larger tires and a seated riding position come into play. This bike looks like so much fun. I’m getting bored of my drop bar gravel honestly
29×2.6 and you say you weigh like 90kg, we can estimate 10-12kg for the bike, you only need about 1.3-1.5 bar in the tires, something around 20psi, so at 40psi you’ll be bouncing all over the place, let a ton of air out and it’ll be much more pleasant.
For droppers in DE you can frequently get Crank Brothers droppers from Bike24 or Bike Discount or the like starting around 100-120,- but if you want to go cheaper you can get working droppers for as little as 50-60,- or can shop used. Make sure your bike has a way to route it, the cable needs to get inside the seat tube just above the BB somehow. If not there are external routed droppers but they don’t look as nice.
Front suspension does wonders too but adds a lot of weight and is requires maintenance.
Looking at selling all of my bikes and getting the Kona Unit X as a one bike does all. Currently own an On-One Free Ranger, Kona Process 2013 and Specialized RockHopper XBike I built. This looks amazing and get some miles on it!
Single speeds are cool. Half the time when I select a bike for an evening cruise, it’s the single speed.
Can’t stop looking at the SE bikes big / fast flyer / ripper 🙂
The unit is sick! Bike yoke makes great droppers and are German!