I want to buy Kona Bicycles. If you have been keeping up with Sea Otter news you probably heard that the Kona team made the journey out there only to find out they need to pack up the same day and head home. Company turmoil would follow and it appears their parent company's new CFO wants to sell Kona. Well, I would like to buy it.
Why do I want to buy a bike company? The brand Kona means a lot to me and my journey of bicycles. The Kona Mahuna, an entry level hardtail, was actually my first mountain bike I ever had and I rode that thing till every component on it stopped working. But even with all the bent crank arms and blown wheels, the one thing that never let me down was the Kona frame.
My first extreme mountain bike ride was one called Push-a-Kona, a ride put on by a local legend in the Cleveland National Forest! The man behind the ride was a huge Kona bicycles fan and even has a tattoo of the brand. The route each year was more brutal than the year previously, and some of my worst times on the bike were on those rides. Think all day type 2 fun, that is where I learned to appreciate the “death march” and fall in love with suffering on a bicycle.
Kona to me is more than just a bike brand. It's a company that still has so much soul in its name even though corporate shills have attempted to rob that brand of the energy it possesses. These giant corporations buying out the bike industry are the same ones that pride themselves on excellent PR responses. These empty statements give you a deep look into the blank canvas that is their personalities. Made up titles and roles to make themselves seem larger than life even though at their core they stand for little to nothing. They don’t care about bikes, nature, community, or people, all that is important to them is the path they are on in their own career, and what other brand full of life and energy can they swallow up next.
So what would the future of Kona look like to me? Rad bikes that never break. Low bottom brackets and steep seat angles. XC bikes that look like enduro rigs on geo charts, made of alloy, with lifetime warranties. A carbon version of every short travel bike we make, and a "steel is real" ideology to every hardtail. A group of core riders as ambassadors like the legend that put on Push-a-Kona for ten years. If you want a team contract, let's see the Kona tattoo. Community driven campaigns that make you feel like you are buying more than just a bike, you are becoming part of a family of like minded individuals. Think semi cult-ish like vibes without the negative aspects to a cult.
And lastly, lots of merch, with the first one being a giant middle finger to Kent Outdoors and every other corporate soulless conglomerate out there with a nice mountain backdrop and an outline of my Kona Mahuna.
-Mo Awesome
