Kona were one of the first manufacturers to produce a super-short-travel full-supension bike (rather than a soft-tail) and the latest Hei Hei is arguably the best yet.
While 2.5in of travel might not seem worth having, on flatter, faster trails where lightweight responsiveness rather than serious impact soak is key, this is a rapid and enjoyable ride. Original kit is workable if not wild value for money, but there’s a load of upgrade potential in the scandium frame.
Ride & handling: Whiplash-quick, tightly controlled high-speed singletracker
With weight comfortably under 26lb even on our large 20in sample bike and fast rolling Maxxis Crossmark tyres, the Kona is an immediately rapid feeling ride.
Compared with previous Hei Heis, the scandium frame and rocker hardware is plenty stiff too, so you can jam the power down instantly rather than working through rear end wag.
Add a ‘proper’ riser bar to a (comparatively slack) 70° head angle and this is a bike that loves to crackle and carve through tight technical singletrack.
The long stem works fine at the big-ring speeds this bike encourages, although a shorter unit would make it even more responsive if you’re normally a mid-ring paced rider. The ample top tube length means you certainly won’t suffer in terms of breathing space either.
If you’re wondering what use 2.5in of rear suspension is, the answer is it depends how you set it up. Keep it soft and the falling rate linkage creates a surprisingly smooth and linear stroke that adds plush tracking and continuous traction connection to the rear tyre.
Noticeable bob means you’ll be flicking the ProPedal platform damping lever as soon as the trail smoothes out though, and bigger hits will bounce it off the stops regularly.
As a result we reckon most racers will run it tight for a hardtail feel 90 percent of the time, but with emergency impact control to save your bum if that overtake line turns out to have a crafty ditch or a boulder hidden in it.
Either way it’s a useful addition in comfort and control terms that gives the Hei Hei a very definite advantage over hardtails on rougher and longer trails.
The Fox fork up front completes the sorted short-travel suspension pairing to create a very composed high-speed/long-haul machine that you can still really rip on in the fun stuff.
The ultralight scandium tubeset is stiffened using a ‘coffin’ to hexagonal section downtube and ‘coffin’ to oval sections for the kinked top tube with a reinforcing gusset under the throat.
The main pivot just behind the bottom bracket and rear pivots on the seatstay create a simple swingarm wheel arc. The big sculptural magnesium rocker driving the super-short 140mm Fox shock adds extra stiffness.
Finishing is slightly agricultural with no less than four different cable/hose guide points, with three different types of guide on the top tube.
You get two bottle cage mounts and reasonable mud room under the simple plate seatstay brace. The bolted seat collar is an anodised colour match to stem and seatpost, while red anodised pivot caps pick up red frame splashes.
Kona’s finely spaced frame size options offer a super-accurate fit for most riders – a major reason for their outstanding customer loyalty.
A lot of what you’re paying for here is upgrade potential, with the same frame being used on the super pimp XTR/ CrossMax/Race Face ‘Supreme’ version.
Given that the Hei Hei still delivers an impressively low weight despite relatively chunky items like the square stem, mid-range Shimano SLX brakes and chainset – and a saddle and seatpost that weigh 510g alone – you can see that creating a seriously light bike needn’t cost you the £4696.99 of the Supreme.
In practical if not prestige terms, it’s sorted straight from the box. Yes, the stem could be shorter if you prize singletrack dive over climbing stability but you don’t need to buy a riser bar.
Kona Hei Hei (2009)
world's lightest bike
Everti Titanium Bicycles claim they have created the world's lightest production road bike – the Eagle, which weighs just 11.4lb (5.17kg).
The company, based in British Columbia, Canada, say they have spent a year refining the design and spec, and product testing to ensure everything will stand up to real-world riding.
According to Everti: "The only limitations of this bike are the legs that are going to be pushing the pedals."
However, they add: "Many of the components on this bike are designed for riders under 200lb so we feel it is best to suggest a rider weight limit of around 180lb to keep everything well within the manufacturer's warranties."
The Eagle frame consists of a double butted 3/2.5 front triangle mated to a straight gauge rear triangle. It comes with a 25-year warranty.
Component highlights include SRAM Red shifters and derailleurs, Zipp cranks and bars, Extralite hubs and stem, Edge Composites rims, Tufo S3 215 tyres, KCNC cassette and brakes, Ritchey WCS seatpost and fork, and Selle Italia SLR saddle. RRP is $9,995 (approx £6,865).
ref[bikeradar]
LANCE ARMSTRONG, Post-SURGERY
Lance Armstrong had successful surgery today to repair what doctors originally thought was a “simple” fracture of his clavicle (more commonly referred to as the collarbone). “This was not correct,” said Dr. Doug Elenz, an Austin orthopedic surgeon who frequently operates on athletes. “It was not in two, but four pieces.” Dr. Elenz, along with another surgeon and physician’s assistant, used a five inch stainless steel plate with 12 screws to repair Armstrong’s fracture. He noted that this was more than they would normally use, but necessary based on the extent of the fracture.
“If you had to pin me down, I’d say it was an eight,” he said when asked how difficult the surgery was on a scale of 1-10. The surgery, which normally takes less than 90 minutes for a simple fracture, took slightly less than three hours and also included working on some of Armstrong’s abrasions from the crash. “No one’s ever accused me of being the fastest surgeon in the world,” Dr. Elenz quipped, “I think we should be expedient, methodical and get it right the first time.”
As expected, many of the questions revolved around when Armstrong would be able to be back on the bike training, if not racing. “Normally we see 8-12 weeks for something like this to heal completely,” Dr. Elenz said, stressing the word “completely”. He went on to say that it would be a day-by-day, week-by-week, and month-by-month progression as they first looked for radiographic union (evidence of bone growth), a stable fracture with no plate movement, increased arm motion and fluidity, and Armstrong’s own pain factor. When asked what pain medication he would be on, the doctor would only say that he prescribed the same as he would for any patient and/or athlete following this procedure.
Dr. Elenz said that in his practice he takes care of a lot of athletes, and that they did everything possible to have the best healing, but nothing extraordinary “…to push the envelope.” Armstrong would not spend the night in the hospital but soon be taken to his home here in Austin to recuperate. In terms of rehabilitation, the doctor wants Armstrong to take it easy for a week to let the wound heal, then start back into aerobic training using some form of stationary exercise bike so as not use his upper extremities, and then they’d see about getting back on the road. Dr. Elenz also noted that up to 50% of patients eventually need to have the plate and screws removed, “…so don’t be surprised if one day we have to do this.”
While Dr. Elenz would not give a firm date on when he expected Armstrong to return to racing, he said that it will heal and he needs to give it time so he can get back to racing.
Schleck Solos winner Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Riding his S-Works Tarmac SL2 and Body Geometry shoes, the younger of the Brothers Schleck powered away on the Roche aux Faucons climb (Falcon's Rock) with about 20km to go and flew like an eagle all the way to Ans to hold off a chase group that included a laundry-list of pre-race favorites.
It helped that Saxo Bank had three riders in the chase group (Frank Schleck, Karsten Kroon and Alexandr Kolobnev) to squelch any aggression from behind, leaving the door wide open for Schleck to carve his name into the history books.
"I felt good throughout the race. The plan was to attack on the hill (Roche aux Faucons), but I never thought I would solo all the way to the line," said Schleck, who was fourth in last year's Liège. “I got a gap of 200 meters and I just kept on pushing. The team did superb work behind me. Without them, this victory wouldn't have been possible.”
Schleck timed his attack perfectly, waiting until the new Roche aux Faucons climb that was introduced last year and leapt away from an elite group of leaders to catch and then drop the attacking Philippe Gilbert (Specialized helmets, optics, gloves).
“We knew that was the place to make the decisive attack,” said Saxo Bank manager Bjarne Riis. “We made the race hard all day. Our team rode a textbook-perfect race and it's a great win for the entire team. It's a perfect end for a great job by the team. We are very happy.”
When the 23-year-old hit the last climb at the famous Saint-Nicolas hill nursing a one-minute lead with only seven kilometers to go, older brother Frank knew it was all but over and flashed a big smile and a thumb's up to Belgian TV cameras.
The group of favorites couldn't organize an effective chase and the race was on for the podium.
Plucky Spanish climber Joaquin Rodríguez attacked out of the chase group with 1km to go to claim second at 1:17 back while Flèche Wallonne winner Davide Rebellin led a big pack of 35 chasers across the line at 1:23 back to round out the podium with third.
“I felt good all week,” said Andy Schleck, who was second at Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. “I believe that today I deserved to win. For me, Liège is the most beautiful of all the classics.”
Schleck becomes the first Luxembourger to win since 1954, when Marcel Ernzer was victorious. Older brother Frank, who bounced back from a frightening crash in Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, was tearing up as he watched his younger brother on the winner’s podium.
“It's very emotional to see him up there. When he attacked, the others couldn't follow. He was too strong for them,” said Frank, who was third in last year's Liège. “We're like a big family on this team. We all worked together for this victory. Andy deserves to win, he was the strongest today.”
With the dust still settling on the 95th Liège-Bastogne-Liège, riders were already looking ahead to the season's grand tours. The Giro d’Italia starts May 9 in Venice and the Tour de France looms ahead in July.
The future is bright for Schleck, who was 12th overall last year and won the best young rider's jersey at the Tour. Second at the 2007 Giro, Andy will now take a short break before reloading for the Tour.
“Like last year, I knew it would be difficult to try win if I came in with a group that included Rebellin or Valverde, so I decided to risk with an attack,” a satisfied Schleck said. “The next big goal will be the Tour de France. We will have to wait to see how the race unfolds, but we are all very motivated to do well. Winning here will make us even more ambitious.”
Looking back at the 2009 spring classics, it was a very effective campaign for the Specialized family of riders. Through seven spring classics (counting Flèche and Ghent-Wevelgem), there were seven different winners.
Quick Step lived up to its legacy and dominated the northern classics, successfully defending its titles at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix with Stijn Devolder and Tom Boonen, respectively.
Then it was time for Saxo Bank to take over in the hillier Ardennes classics, where the team scored podiums at Amstel Gold Race (second with Kroon) and Flèche Wallonne (second with Schleck) before the big win on Sunday at Liège.
ref[specialized.com]
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