v1rt

Hey guys,

I don't want the 2013 model.

Found out from Jamis today that the only color that is left is color orange for a small frame. I don't like orange. Their white is medium which is 16.5".

Since Komodo 2012 is gone, what are your recommendations for an all mountain hardtail if my budget is only between $600-$750?

Thanks!

Neil

gunner65

If you can turn a wrench

https://www.airbornebicycles.com/prod...dian-29er.aspx

These are getting great reviews for the price. I have no affiliation but I am looking at getting the hobgoblin soon.

Bathwater

If you can turn a wrench, you can turn a, uh, dodge ball.

That Airborne is not a bad deal at all.

Daspydyr 

I like buying from REI. If you travel with your bike, you have a local bike shop for support all across the country.

https://www.rei.com/product/855381/ma...2012-overstock

dminor 

Kona Shred may be more appropriate than anything offered above.

Zephyr11

Quoting myself from your last topic...

dminor 

^^ Y'know, it's really too bad - - there was a whole generation of burly, AM hardtails that have fallen by the wayside in this seeming headlong rush to stick everyone on XC 29ers: Transition Vagrant, Specialized P series, including the P. All-Mountain, Norco Saquatch, etc.


Side note: New take on the beefy, FR hardtail - - Diamondback Mason (29er).

Zephyr11

P series is still around, but IIRC, that line has always been decidedly more DJ-focused than I think the OP is looking for (other than the P.All-Mountain, that you mentioned). I remember you guys talking about the Vagrant...how was that one different than the current TransAM? Not that the TransAM is in the OP's price range though. I forgot about Norco...I had a Two50 that I found on Craigslist for a while. Thing was a beast though, I sold it for the 24", because it was just too big and heavy a bike for me.

dminor 

^^ It takes a bit of poking, but Transition keeps an archive on their site of past models. It was designed around a 160mm fork and was fairly slack at 67° HA. Could be jumped, trail-ridden or downhilled (by the you-know-who-you-are hardtail nutz). Quite the machine; it was as close as I've ever come to actually wanting a hardtail to just ride:

https://www.transitionbikes.com/BlogI..._VagrantV1.pdf

Zephyr11

Maybe it's just me being used to XC weenie-bikes and my lil' playbike, as well as me being short as all hell, but longer travel bikes already feel tall. I don't want bigger wheels on top of that. Vagrant looked like it would have been a pretty sweet bike though. Wonder if it was as much of a pig climbing as a Komodo with a 67 HA, or if they actually, you know, designed it so it would be more capable of such things. Too bad it's gone. That and the GromHit/BigHit Grom...Specialized should bring back the GromHit. I totally want a GromHit.

To the OP, I just looked up the '13 Komodo...what's wrong with that guy? IMO, aesthetics-wise, it looks better than the older ones. Functionally, it looks like there'll be less standover, and according to the geometry page, it got the *tiniest* bit steeper (like half a degree...), the massively tall headtube got shorter, and the BB dropped (which on the Komodo, I feel like would be a good thing) but mostly the geometry stayed the same.

For reference's sake...

2013:


Old...since I'm not sure you can tell how high it sits off the ground based on stock photos:

v1rt

v1rt

Thanks guys for helping me again. I sent an email to a Kona dealer. I hope I'll get a response soon.

v1rt

Check out my post processing of a 2012 orange Komodo. I used Jamis's picture where the background was just white.

Zephyr11

The one problem with your overlaying the new Komodo over mine is that I have a 160mm fork on there, whereas the stock Komodo I comes with a 120mm (the Komodo II comes with a 100mm). That slackens it out quite a bit, which is why the new one looks so much steeper. I'm at 67 degrees, actually.