IndyJonez

Hi. First off, this is a great site and you people are full of great info! Very simplistic and easy to find, I just typed "Mountain Bike Forums" in google search and BAM!

Anyway, back to the title.

I'm looking to purchase a mountain bike in the next six months and have had my eye on the Kona Cinder Cone and the Specialized Stumpjumper. I've been to www.mtbr.com and have read the raves and reviews of these two bikes. I've actually only been able to check out the stumpjumper at a lbs and found a lbs that carries Kona but no Cinder in stock atm.

So finally, I want to hear from the "people" (that'd be you guys (gals))! Pros Cons, the price difference is only $2-300 if I'm not mistaken, just a little feedback ya know? What are your expeiriences with these bikes or companies? Durability? I need a tough bike, somethin' I can rough up!

Btw, this bike will be used for riding around town, local single tracks, all around.

Thanx, for any help.

LowCel 

First off, welcome to Bike Forums. Hope you enjoy it.

Second, the best advice you are going to read anywhere is test ride the bikes. Try out the stumpjumper, see how it feels. Then ask the shop if and when they are going to be getting any Cinders in. If they aren't getting one in ask them if any of their riders or friends have one they would be willing to let you try out next time they stop by the shop. It may not be convenient but test riding the bike is important. Hopefully you will be spending countless hours on the bike, you don't want to get one that doesn't feel right.

I have let quite a few people test ride my bikes over the years. Most people don't have a problem with it.

zx108

the stupmy is a light weight xc machine. the fork on the specialized is soo much better than the cindercone. the stumpy is also outfitted with sram(well the 06 model is). i rode the stumpy, it makes your back flatten out and gives you can xc riding style. the felt well, wonderfull(this is just me, like lowcel said the most important part of the bike buying process is riding all the possibilities)

the stumpy comes with rim brakes, and i am not sure if those wheels are rim compatible, if you might want discs, then you are going to have to dish out a nice fee for a disc wheelset+the brakes. just something to consider.

and i would like to extend the welcome to the forums.

santiago

You should bear in mind that Kona has shifted the model line-up for 2006 and pushed everything down one level in terms of components. The great reviews concerning the 2004 or 2005 Kona Cinder Cone apply to a bike that had a higher level of components than what the 2006 Cinder Cone will have.

The 2006 Cinder Cone is closer in spec to what the 2005/2004 Kona Blast had. So you will have to look at the 2006 Caldera. If you're willing to get the bike right away, you will probably get a great price on any leftover 2005.

LowCel 

Was not aware of that. Thanks for the information.

IndyJonez

Why, I was not aware of that either! Thanx for the info on the Kona.

Thanx for the welcome also.

And yes I did feel like an idiot finding the search function therefore AFTER starting this thread, I was thinking, woops! flame time!!! Thanx for takin' it easy, hehe.

And, ya know, how do you know it just has ... THAT feel ... when you test ride it, what am I looking to feel besides a 2" seat up my crack?!

zx108

i just read that, like i said before the stumpy is a pure breed xc bike. it isnt going to take much abuse without a little fuss.

santiago

Welcome to the forum, by the way. Forgot to add that in my post. The group here is great, very informative and very helpful. Just a few words of advice:
- avoid AOLese at all costs. There are rules concerning that and this forum works well because of this.
- do not resurrect old threads. Feel free to start a new thread if you feel the threads you came across didn't quite cover everything.

Another thing I forgot to mention regarding the 2006 Cinder Cone and the XC models below it. The frame tubing for these models have the beefier FreeRide stlyle rather than the round tubing. Here are pics to show what I mean:

2006 Cinder Cone

Specs: https://konaworld.com/shopping_cart/F...3&parentid=253

2005 Cinder Cone

Specs: https://konaworld.com/shopping_cart/F...0&parentid=182

Benman

I recently tried out a bunch of kona mtbs and a stumpjumper. Both bikes felt pretty good to me, I actually preferred the kona frames just because I like the name better . But, the components on the stumpjumper are wayyy better imo. I was looking at the 05 caldera I think compared to the stumpjumper disc, and I liked the disc much better. For one, fox fork is a pretty nice upgrade. I also like the bb7's much more than the hayes brakes on the kona.

I'd suggest trying them both out and seeing which you like. In terms of durability, I hear that kona frames last a long time.

CPW

Kona gets my vote. I love my Kikapu Deluxe. it is a XC bike but that's what I wanted.
I haven't ridden the two you're looking at but I looked at Specialized and found the Kona build quality looked better to my eyes.
CPW

UAEBiker

I test rode a 05 cinder cone and it was ok. It is going to be burlier and stand up to abuse better but when i rode it it also seemed kind of heavy. THe stumppy will be lighter but not as strong. I ended up buying an 01 stumpjumper for less than the cinder cone. It has a different feel. You are flatter and more streched out. The cinder cone i felt more upright. I personally love my stumppy and im happy i went with it.

shabbasuraj

SJ my vote.

EJ123

CC definitly!

cyccommute 

Big guy riding a Stumpjumper here. The Stumpy will take a lot of abuse and keep on going. Sure it isn't a urban assault bike or good for big kid BMX but it's still a good strong bike.

duckliondog

I swear by Stumpjumpers. I and two of my friends ride them, all different model years. Tough frames, good components. I ride a 97 and one of my friends rides a 96, they're both light enough to remain competitive machines. I have absolutely nothing against Kona, never having ridden their bikes, I just have a lot of good to say about Stumps.

sherpaPeak

vote for Kona CC 2005. great bike....

IndyJonez

Well seems alot of mixed opinions have popped up amongst these two.

Some say the Kona is tougher and can stand up to more abuse, but doesn't have the better of the components if I'm hearing that correctly. So the Kona appeals to me in such ways as (from what I've heard) tougher frame, that's good 'cause I'll be wanting to maybe jump a little here and there, nothing major. And definately price wise on the Cone, I dunno about the other models mentioned, I've only priced the Cone. The only thing is that I haven't been able to find much Kona in the general area "yet", and quite honestly, (and this sounds stupid) but I don't like the huge Kona text plastered all over the bike, looks kinda sloppy if you ask me, yea I'm a sucker for looks =P.

I actually visited my lbs which carries specialized today and sat aboard the SJ. I didn't have much time to ride or get him to lower the darn seat that was sitting in the clouds but I got to lean on the handlebars a bit and lift it a few times (wow is it light or what!?) He suggested I go with a 19". Now I dunno if he suggested this because (a) it was the only stumpy in stock atm, or (b) he figured my 5'11" 205lb would be ok for this size. Maybe some thoughts on that please? Stumpy appeals to me in such ways as nice feel, everything seems solid (I know, hard to tell without a ride) very light (feels so light, hope not to be standing on the pedals and the seat bounce up and hit the hangy downies) Specialized seems to have a large fan base here and I like what I hear. Is it true the frame is not as sturdy as the Kona as far as abuse taken from, like I said, small jumps and such, nothing major. I really like the look of the bike, not so much the look of the plastic bag hanging from the handlebars which has a card reading $1399 inside....whew!

Still a little torn between the two, was leaning towards the SJ, but everytime I lean a certain way I read the new post and they lean me back over the other way. LOL this is great.

never

A 19" sounds about right for your height for an XC bike (but it really depends on a number of factors). But see if you can try a smaller and larger Stumpjumper elsewhere to make sure it does feel the best for you.



Don't worry too much about posts swaying your decision. They are both pretty good bikes, just try and ride them on the same day and see what you feel more comfortable on.

IndyJonez

Sounds good, thanx for the suggestion.

Iceman69

I recently bought an 06 stupjumper hardtail and I love it, Its very light and strong enough to take some beating, I never ride Kona but like everyone pretty much says , take a ride on each and see how it feels then make up your mind is probably the best way to make your choice.......BUY THE STUMPY!!!!!!!!!!

junkyard

I'll throw out a vote for the Cinder Cone. I bought an '05 Cinder Cone a few months back and love it. But as everyone has said, take time to ride them both before making a final decision... no matter what the bike and what the components are, you won't like it if you're not comfortable on it.

SquatchCO

People have said that feel is important before, but I'd just like reiterate that.

Also, don't downplay the different positioning on the bikes; that's going to make a big difference after two hard hours of riding. Some people might find the stretched out position less comfortable, so think about it if you're one of them. On the other hand, if you're a screw-comfort-i-want-speed type of guy, you might enjoy the stretched out position.

Another thing: if you're going off the 2006 models (specialized is out of 05 models for the stumpjumper anyways), they stumpy is spec'd way higher than the cinder cone. Of course, the cinder cone costs a lot less. It's not a really fair comparison, in my eyes.