KONA Sizing
- Thread starter TD75
- Start date
I would say size 19 was your best bet. Basing on road bike size is a mistake, unless you intend to ride your mtb as if you wished it was a road bike. The most dynamic mtb posture is more upright and therefore needs a shorter saddle to bar length, whereas the length you need with a road bike has to be suitable for stretched out head-down charging.
I would always suggest the smallest size that Kona would recommend, which in your case is 19. Never use a stem just to achieve perfect fit - a short stem will give much livelier steering, which you may find unduly twitchy coming from a road bike. I personally ride several sizes of Kona, but my favourite is one that according to Kona is too small for me. It's perfectly comfortable, and there is no doubt at all that the smaller the frame the more fun a bike is to ride - the length of wheelbase is really important to the fun factor.
The other thing to bear in mind if you fancy a 90-92 Kona is that they sized them differently then and most owners (unlike Hilts) don't know what size they are selling - i.e., if you're offered a 1992 size 20 Kona, the odds are it's probably a size 19 as Kona measured at that time.
I would always suggest the smallest size that Kona would recommend, which in your case is 19. Never use a stem just to achieve perfect fit - a short stem will give much livelier steering, which you may find unduly twitchy coming from a road bike. I personally ride several sizes of Kona, but my favourite is one that according to Kona is too small for me. It's perfectly comfortable, and there is no doubt at all that the smaller the frame the more fun a bike is to ride - the length of wheelbase is really important to the fun factor.
The other thing to bear in mind if you fancy a 90-92 Kona is that they sized them differently then and most owners (unlike Hilts) don't know what size they are selling - i.e., if you're offered a 1992 size 20 Kona, the odds are it's probably a size 19 as Kona measured at that time.
6-foot here, with long legs (about 32 or 33) & less reach.
My Konas are 18, 19 and 20, of which the best fit was a 20=inch.
But I always needed a bit more leg extension. So my current go-to bike is a Fisher 29er with a maxed-out 410mm Bonty seatpost.
I think I'm non-standard, so YMMV,/
My Konas are 18, 19 and 20, of which the best fit was a 20=inch.
But I always needed a bit more leg extension. So my current go-to bike is a Fisher 29er with a maxed-out 410mm Bonty seatpost.
I think I'm non-standard, so YMMV,/
TD75":198onmu9 said:
I would tend to agree with this if you ride on the hoods more, and intend to use your MTB for more gentle XC and want a similar stretched out open road type position. Consider also if you will be having bar ends for climbing which would be in a fairly similar reach to your hoods. Longer top-tubes and shorter stems will give a nice lively ride at the naturaly slower speeds off road. Just my 2p.
Just a final addition, a 3 degree vs 5 degree sweep flat bar can also help fine tune your stretch.
