The fall of Kona Bikes :(

[buddybikes]

Originally Posted by rothwem

I swear I'm not being snarky--is there any reason why you couldn't do that on a regular bike?

3 back fusions (last one Feb 27) and other. Riding the Alchemy E-ronin now. Yes I ride my Firefly once I get recovered, mix between the 2. My strength really affected right now, virtually no butt muscles.

[sg8357]

There is a detailed post on the state of Kona and other Kent Outdoors companies in the Bike Rumor comments section from
an anonymous Kona Employee.

Scroll to the anon post.

https://bikerumor.com/what-happened-...kes-sea-otter/

[weaponsgrade]

Originally Posted by sg8357

There is a detailed post on the state of Kona and other Kent Outdoors companies in the Bike Rumor comments section from
an anonymous Kona Employee.

Scroll to the anon post.

https://bikerumor.com/what-happened-...kes-sea-otter/

Whoa, that's rough.

My brother still has his Cinder Cone from the 90s with the P2 fork. RIP Kona

[Pegoready]

Originally Posted by sg8357

There is a detailed post on the state of Kona and other Kent Outdoors companies in the Bike Rumor comments section from
an anonymous Kona Employee.

Scroll to the anon post.

https://bikerumor.com/what-happened-...kes-sea-otter/

Damn. That is beyond sad. I think it's legit based on the naming of the factories being stiffed. Brave person to have written that, as Kent could go after them or the site for libel. I'm reposting it before it gets deleted:

I’m posting anonymously due to potential repercussions, but as someone who works at Kona under Kent Outdoors, I feel compelled to share the distressing realities we face and urge you to take action.

Kent Outdoors is currently run by short-sighted individuals who are utterly disconnected from the communities, sports, and people attached to their brands. Their lack of understanding and interest in cycling and any other sport has not only led to poor decision making but also to a toxic corporate environment where Kona and their other brands are suffering greatly. Under their management, Kona has accumulated millions of dollars in unpaid debts to our suppliers (Fairly and Hodaka), with no attempts made to negotiate or even communicate, effectively planning to stiff them. This strategy isn’t limited to Kona; it’s a disturbing pattern that is evident across all brands under the Kent Outdoors umbrella. I urge all suppliers and partners across the board that do business with Kent Outdoors to be careful. Everyone should be seriously concerned about this pattern of non-payment and poor business ethics.

The working conditions here are more than just poor—they’re abysmal. Communication is practically non-existent now under the new management, creating a chaotic environment where decisions are made without transparency or employee input. The stress of potentially not getting paid has been a reality for some of us, adding to an overwhelming sense of job insecurity. Long hours, and weekend work, is the norm all without additional compensation or even basic recognition of our hard work.

The only individuals who seem to survive and even advance under the current regime are the “yes men” those who align too readily with a flawed agenda, lacking critical engagement or genuine passion for the brands. This has caused significant unrest among other brands under the Kent Outdoors umbrella, who are equally upset about these new leaders. Their inability to effectively manage people, combined with a lack of fundamental understanding of the communities they serve, is rapidly destroying the companies. These leaders are not just failing; they are actively dismantling the very essence of what made all of these brands successful.

The company is not just being led poorly; it’s being led by individuals who don’t seem to care about the damage they’re doing to the brands, communities, or people. Any company considering a partnership with Kent Outdoors should seriously reconsider. Any customer should consider carefully buying products from our companies since who knows if we will even have the parts to support them.

In light of these issues, I am calling on all community members to join us in boycotting all Kent Outdoors brands. We need to demonstrate that these destructive practices are unacceptable. By uniting and applying public pressure, we hope to initiate a significant change in Kent Outdoors’ direction and leadership to a model that values the employees, respects the community, and truly understands the sports industries they are part of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support you can lend. Let’s stand together to save Kona and the other brands we cherish.

[ickymon]

Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope they don't go away. I love Kona bikes, from my beloved 98 Stinky, 1st year Honky Tonk and now my Major Jake.

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by prototoast

I believe he picked up a Rocky Mountain Instinct from the pros closet in December, and two Intense bikes from Costco more recently. I also picked up one of those Rocky Mountains, and they were all sold out about an hour after I bought mine.



Costco deal lasted about a week, but even that didn't last forever. It helps to follow various forums and websites dedicated to deal tracking (including the PSA thread here, and the mtbr subform on deals), you also have to be ready to make a purchase on a moment's notice if you want the best deals. The really good ones are gone quickly. On more than a few occasions I've had good deals that sell out between the time I put them in my cart and when I finish checking out.

Yup, The Rocky Mountain Instinct was a quick grab on The Pro's Closet blow out sale and the Intense 951 XC and Gravel bikes during the Costco sale. You have to be pretty quick on the draw when they become available!

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[bicycletricycle]

That Kent outdoors has a few brands. The anon poster makes claims that make it hard to believe the whole company could last much longer than a few months. Perhaps this is so, perhaps this is also some hyperbole from a frustrated employee.

It seems like sone of the things are just inevitable when you get bought up by the huge conglomerate. They never seem to be able to or even want to continue the existing culture of the brand. I guess they might say that the fact they purchased it proves the existing culture wasn’t working well enough (wasn’t profitable enough) or something.

I’m not trying to blame anyone here when I say this but I don’t understand how the old owners that sell companies like this can live with themselves. To see the people that worked for them treated like crap and the brand destroyed and thrown away. I like money as much as the next man but it just doesn’t seem worth it to me. This happen to me on a smaller scale when I was a kid, worked for years at a successful local bike shop, good friends with owners, felt like a big family. They sold us out to performance, place went to ****, closed down a few years later. They had been a solid part of the community, made pretty good money out of it but still sold us all out for what? A few hundred grand???

One owner became a realtor and the other bought a handyman franchise. Still is so confusing .

Oh well, I guess the Kona people got millions to sell out their hard working employees and hard earned brand equity. I hope they are enjoying retirement in Milan or something

[Novasfyre]

My silly conjecture is that Kona just released the ouroboros because they are about to consume themselves.

[mickey.d]

[QUOTE=Novasfyre;3374967]My silly conjecture is that Kona just released the ouroboros because they are about to consume themselves.[/

The entire concept of…
whatever that thing is represents the bike industry eating itself

[d_douglas]

Bummer! I just bought an old beaten Honzo to play around on - I love the fit of Kona Bikes…

[pdonk]

If you read paul brodie's book the founders of kona were no saints either in their business practices.

Ive heard that Jake the snake refers to how some people referred to one of them in term of how he treated people.

[Mark McM]

Kent has announced that it is looking for a buyer for the Kona brand:

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/indu...yer-kona-bikes

[krooj]

Originally Posted by ridethecliche

I'm kind of in a weird spot here but even though I know the effects of inflation and bike tech and..... etc.

I still can't get over the fact that I bought a race-able caad9 with 105 for 1300 and that was a frame that was recently tour-ridden.

I think the market has changed where the trickle down effect doesn't quite work the same way, but I really do think that the increase in integration and tech has really pushed price of bikes up like crazy.

IIRC a full DA with zipp supersix was like what... 6.5k? Now you'd be hard pressed to get a top of the line bike from them for 10k which is inflation adjusted-ish.

I know there's a huge difference in tech here since that top of the line bike now has electronic shifting, is more aero, disc, etc etc etc. But I think it still alienates people to see things that are that expensive. I think on average, wages haven't really kept up with inflation much so the average person feels the pinch more than ever and it further makes things like bikes look elitist.

In reality, I think things are the result of poor planning. Thinking the demand during and post pandemic would keep up. It happened in so many industries including musical instruments, like with fender, that things grew too fast, then they slashed and burned when reality started to set in.

That said, I'm a little bummed that I wasn't really in place to capitalize on some of these sales. It would have been nice to have bought a fully modern fleet for the price I've paid for my cobbled together used bikes/parts.

I was reflecting on this the other day - like, I got my $1500CAD CAAD9 with 105 (Ultegra RD!) back in ... 06? Realistically, I could've kept that thing going with various group and wheel changes until about 2 years ago, but the whiplash at seeing what a modern equivalent would cost ... staggering; maybe 6~9k? That price bracket significantly outpaces inflation, so either the margins on those old bikes were razor thin or we're being bilked as a consequence of easy money that's been flowing at near-zero interest rates since '08 or so.

The more disturbing aspect is how normalized this pricing has become, but I guess you don't notice it with the steady drip of purchases over the course of 20+ years.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by krooj

I was reflecting on this the other day - like, I got my $1500CAD CAAD9 with 105 (Ultegra RD!) back in ... 06? Realistically, I could've kept that thing going with various group and wheel changes until about 2 years ago, but the whiplash at seeing what a modern equivalent would cost ... staggering; maybe 6~9k? That price bracket significantly outpaces inflation, so either the margins on those old bikes were razor thin or we're being bilked as a consequence of easy money that's been flowing at near-zero interest rates since '08 or so.

The more disturbing aspect is how normalized this pricing has become, but I guess you don't notice it with the steady drip of purchases over the course of 20+ years.

I don't can't possibly imagine what $6-9k modern bike you consider to be "equivalent" to a CAAD 9 with 105. You can get a CAAD Optimo rim brake bike with 11 speed 105 for $1625 MSRP. You can get a CAAD 13 disc brake with 11 speed 105 for $2325 MSRP. You can even get a Supersix Evo with disc brake 11 speed 105 for $3,225.

If you're looking at a Supersix Evo Hi-Mod Disc with 12 speed Ultegra Di2 and carbon wheels (MSRP $8,050) and thinking that's somehow the equivalent of a CAAD 9, then your sense of equivalence is not based on product attributes, engineering costs, or production costs.

[unterhausen]

It looks to me that the owners did the vulture capitalist thing where they get a big loan to pay the executive's golden parachutes and leave the companies with the debt. Hasn't fully played out yet, but that's pretty standard.