Hi, I was going to get a Kona Coiler the other week but although WMTB rated it very highly they hinted that at 35lb it was a tad to heavy for all day riding. So out of my mind it goes and the other day I walk into my lbs and there's one straight in front of me! I asked the guy there if it could realistically be used as an all day trail bike and said that's what it's intended for? I'm 6ft1 and almost 16st (hopefully lighter, after christmas of course), so I know I need someting a liitle heavy duty but at 35lb? I also read somewhere that changing those 2.3 inch tioga factory DH will make a big difference. Other bikes that I'm considering are, VT2, Enduro, Stumpy and the Liquid range (maybe a 30). Any comments appreciated, apart from loose some weight fatty.

PJ I am only just the right side of 16st, and have a vt2. At 1200 notes for the '05 model there is no competition, think of the pies you could buy with the money saved!!

mmmmmmmmmmm pies!

lol

At 16 stone then no it definatly isn't too heavy. I rode with someone that was lighter than you and he used it as an all day bike, (ok, with a fair amount of sweating and grumbling). It's a tough beast, and will survive a good amount of abuse and I'd imagine that the extra confidence and security a bike like this would give would be worth it.

I'm under 10 stone and ride a bike that weighs 29lbs. Work the ratios out yourself...

I can get the coiler for £850 too!

I have a custom built (by me) Liquid 30 that weighs about 35lbs and I find it rides lighter than my old Mt Vision.
I did a 58 mile ride over lots of mountains in Scotland back in May and it was no problem at all (I weigh about 16st too) I have ridden a friends Coiler and was well impressed with its sure footed feel and sense of invulnerability it gave me.
I think some people get obsessed by the weight and not how a bike rides (easy to say when I am the huge proportion of the total weight).
Kona bikes seem to be almost indestructible, the same friend who has the Coiler also has an old Cinder Cone that has been through massive abuse and neglect with no obvious sign of distress.
And I don’t suppose Whistler Mountain Bike Park would use Kona’s without good reason.

I often ride my kona stinky (42lbs) xc, in fact i did the newnham 90 on it this year. That was hard work, but fun:)

The coiler should be fine, just be prepared to put in the same effort as you used to but travel more slowly.
After the initial shock of having to haul the extra weight around you soon realise that it isn't too bad - so long as you are prepared to sit and spin uphill.

Besides, you don't want a bike that will flex all over the place like a lightweight xc bike do you?
Btw i'm about 68kg so bike flex is never my problem!

If you can get it for £850 and you like the ride of it, I'd so go for it.
You could always spend an extra bit of money to get a lighter set of wheels as that would make the biggest difference to the ride of the bike and probably reduce any sluggishness.

I've joined the gym again and started watching what I eat so next week I should be 11 stone! Seriously my aim is to get down to 14 & 1/2 stone so there's some serious weight saving and hence less mass to haul up the peaks.

I ride my Kona Stinky xc and commute on/off road on it. Yes it weighs close to 40lbs but me at 17st kind of evens things out. I have always been a heavy rider ( i don't mean in weight but my lines aren't clean and smooth) so this bombproof steed is amazing. If you are fit then a little extra effort wont hurt! I have been out of the daddle for two years so it's only my fitness that has let me down.

another stinky rider here, mine's loaded with 888s and the toughest dh rims mavic makes... i can ride mine uphill and i weigh 10 stone, the bike weighs just over 40lbs.

it's been to glentress and i've loved it. often ride it up and over the yorkshire moors, it won't fly up climbs but there's nothing stopping you getting up them! plus you'll be so amazingly strong after a few weeks riding it'll make no difference at all.

another thing mentioned above, it doesn't ride like it's heavy, in fact it rides rather light... a friend has a santa cruz v10 and it feels so damn sluggish it's unbelievable yet my stinky feels so much lighter to ride.

hey man... i just wanna point out to you that the coiler aint an xc bike!? (doh i hear you muze! lol) ..its a freeride bike man! you want to go n do XC then get an XC specific bike thats lite :)

too many darn ppl trying to look cool these dayz! lol

keep safe :)

hey man (Again! lol) ..points i the direction of the Giant AC team frameset thing!!? ...another option for ya :)

...also: NORCO ATOMIK
GT FLOWTA
RALEIGH ACTIVATOR! (HAHAHA!!!)

keep safe :)

PS: be sure to lace it with SAINT or HONE :)

PPS: DMR MOTO's!

Just ordered me a Coiler for £850 after Afan Argoed killed my FSR. Anyone not purchasing one at this price should sober up and take a log hard look at themselves.

I ride a 34 - 35lb bike, all day without a issue, don't notice alot of different between that and a Hard tail 6lbs's light to be honest.

Kinda regretting wasting my money on it.

Well i would love to buy and was going to on an interest free credit card but I was told by my better half "if you do I'll be dissapointed with you" and "why not save up?"
So that's what I'm doing currently, it's a great buy at that price and I'm almost tempted to live with the dissapointment and be out riding a Coiler.
35lb wouldn't have been a problem as I average around 25 miles a ride, not exactly all day epics.
To be honest I could buy the Coiler now but I'm off to Prague, Cyprus and Strasburg this year so I need the money for these trips.
Who knows what bargains will be knocking about at the end of this year? Maybe this years Coiler or an Enduro for £850!

Now all I need to do is come up with a scam to frame them Dukes, make some money and win the moonshine race.

hey man... to some weight aint an issue; a few pounds here/ a few pounds there! but a sub 30Lb is faster than a BLOATER of a steed for sure! but hey... you can always make a heavier bike work for you more efficiently by makin' it FASTER! (yes... i here you say 'how do i do that?!!) ANSWER: the better/higher spec the parts on yer bike= the faster you will go! Thus by adding a quality chainset like XT/XTR + front/rear mechs/cassette/pods etc; also; wheelset with a high quality hub like mavic/xt/hope bulb or bigun (quality bearings!) ...these are also lighter too!
RESULT= F A S T E R bike!

keeps safe :)

PS: also try an adjustable fork like the RS Reba or Psylo etc with poploc; hence you can freeride " the 130 mark; then turn the magic knob n hey presto; your XCing through the woods on 90mm travel! FASTER :)

Doesn't matter if it sub 10lb because I don't have the money for a new bike at the minute!