Kona Scatology: Some Stinky Standover Clearance

B

bassmonkey

Likes Dirt
I'm in the market for a new bike at the moment and today I took a couple of Stinky's for a little test ride around the LBS carpark. Overall I thought they felt pretty damn nice (as far as I could tell from riding around a carpark anyway) but there was one thing which had me concerned: standover clearance. I'm a smidgen under 6 feet tall, so the bike shop geezer reccomended I try the 18" frame. It felt pretty spot on in the saddle, but when I stood over it my family jewels were pretty much resting on the top bar. I then tried the 17" frame and it was slightly better for clearance--but still a definite worry--and it was much more cramped in "the cockpit" (no pun intended).

Does anyone have any experience and/or opinions on this Stinky phenomemon? I noticed while looking at the Kona catalogue afterwards that the Stinky Dee-Lux and Primo seem like they could be the exact same frames as the base Stinky's except with more travel. I haven't ridden either, but from the pictures it looks like the BB height is raised so they must be absolute nutcrackers!
 
K

kitakishi

Likes Dirt
I am 5' 10 and have a stinky 2003 in size 19. I haven't had that much problem with the clearance. If I want to sit on the bar I have to bend my knees a bit. But I understand your concern as I was a bit put off at first as well. I even started to look at the Haro Extreme3 as it has a V bar style top tube.

I have only had one near incident/accident while riding up a set of stairs and had to stop and put my feet down. Honestly though I can't say I have given this aspect of the bike much thought.

Sorry this isn't really any help just my experience.

KK
 
S

Simo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
i dont have a stinky but my stab has the same problem. I'm only 160cm's so i got a midget frame but still......ouch
 
DOM

DOM

Eats Squid
Im about 5 9 or 10 ... and ive got a 17" Stinky ...
I would get a 17" dude .. pretty much the perfect size .. ya seat can always go higher.

I know another Guy .. Rockstar Rokems .. hes a tad taller then me i think and hes on a 17 aswell ..
 
S.

S.

ex offender
Just for the record, I've nutted myself many more times on my 14" hardtail than on my ~18" DH bike. You have to ask yourself, if you are going to nut yourself, is 2" really going to stop you doing it? I haven't found that it does, really. As long as you can actually stand over it (my feet barely touch the ground on my DH bike when I'm sitting on it with the seat down) it shouldn't be too big a drama.
 
B

bassmonkey

Likes Dirt
Like I said, I thought the 17" was a bit cramped in the cockpit. I 'spose the seat could be moved back a bit, but I definitely wouldn't want to get a longer headstem. I might be looking at getting a 6" double crown fork for it down the line, so I'd probably be looking at a shorter headstem if anything. (BTW, does anyone know how well an 03 Stinky would deal with 6 or maybe even 7 inches at the front?)

I was riding a trail just today and picked a bad line through a steep rocky section and wound up in an erosion ditch and jogged a couple of steps over the top bar. It was just the 2 or so inches of extra clearance that kept me from singing some very high notes. Maybe the extra travel and plushness of a Stinky rear end would have gotten me through it clean. Maybe I should learn to throw the bike away quicker in those situations... I dunno. It's doing my head in, cuz I really do like the Stinkmeisters.

And kitakishi; I've been wanting to check out one of those X3's too, but nobody in Adelaide has 'em. Does anyone have any opinions on those? I know a lot of peeps will be put off them just cuz they're 'Haro', but they seem like they could be worth checking out. And yeah, all input is much appreciated, so thanks.
 
K

kitakishi

Likes Dirt
I still like the E3 but for the same price the Kona came with 8 inch discs and the E3 has only 6 inch ones. I liked the look of both bikes. The E3 also had this huge XC style stem, so if I had of bought that I would have needed to replace it. If I remember correctly it only has 2 bolts on the stem holding in the bars (kona has 4 ).

Have you thought about waiting for the 2004 stinky? It has upgraded forks compared to the 2003. and comes in lovely orange!

KK
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
kitakishi said:
If I remember correctly it only has 2 bolts on the stem holding in the bars (kona has 4 ).KK
Click to expand...
Is that really a huge issue? MTBs survived for a long time with twin (or even single bolt) stems before we started copying the BMX stems.

As for the bike. What the hell have people got against Haro? I really thought this was a less fashion conscious sport. The bike itself though: well I don't know how the frame would compare to the Stinky, it might not be quite as beefy, but really only time is going to tell about durability. It's a single pivot design similar to the Stinky, but from memory it has a pretty high pivot placement so riding it is going to be the only way to geat an accurate impression.

The other problem you may have is actually finding one.....This really isn't the best time of the year to be shopping for a bike, could you wait a couple of months? You'll have heaps more options.
 
K

kitakishi

Likes Dirt
Wombat Wrote
Is that really a huge issue? MTBs survived for a long time with twin (or even single bolt) stems before we started copying the BMX stems.


An issue? no, but with four bolts it is stronger. They may have survived a long time that way but how many bikes like that come with a 2 bolt stem these days. The haro was the only one I found like that.

I am not saying there arent others like the Haro but when buying bikes and comparing, it usually comes down to a few small things that make the difference. At least it did for me.

I like Haro. Thats why I looked at the X3. My XC bike is a Haro Escape and I think it is a great bike.

With the E3 even on a small frame it gave the bike a XC type feel with that long stem. I personally just didn't like it.

KK
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
You ride an escape? WOW! I thought I was like the only one, don't worry, first thing I did was change the stem, down to a 40mm shorty type thing. I love the way my bike feels, if only the seat tube was about 4 inches shorter (I got a large frame, and boy, are they large!!!). Which model have you got?
 
K

kitakishi

Likes Dirt
I agree WOW. I have NEVER seen anyone with another Haro.

I have the 2001 Escape 8.2 blue and white frame. Frame size is 19.5

I still have the loooooong stem on it as I dont mind it for XC.

Sadly though, now that I have the stinky the Haro is hanging on the wall in the garage. I pull it down occasionaly to give it a ride but mostly ride the kona

what escape do you have?

KK
 
wombat

wombat

Lives in a hole
2002 8.3, blue and white frame too. It's actually THE bike that AMB did their review on last year, that's why I got it (I could actually afford an ex-demo. bike). I'm really happy with it, but I've got the same size frame as you, which actually measures at 21.4 (I hate their sizing). I haven't had too many problems with it, but hopefully in the next few days I'll be going back to 8speed, yay!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top