2025 Kona Hei Hei

Way back in the prehistoric times of 2017, when Teslas were a rare sighting and headphones had wires, Kona's Process 111 reigned supreme. With 111mm of rear squish, a long reach and slack angles, the 111 was a hard bike to put into a category at the time. Thinking back, that bike just may have played a critical role in inspiring the birth of what we now refer refer to as 'downcountry,' or 'short travel trail bikes'.

Originally released in 1991, the 10^th generation Kona Hei Hei has 120mm of rear travel, with 130mm up front, and is designed to pedal efficiently while still enabling you to charge on black diamond descents. Despite being their lightest full suspension model, the Hei Hei is plush enough to get rowdy in the rough stuff. With that said, the Hei Hei didn't lose all of its race pedigree with the new revisions: Kona Factory Team Rider Cory Wallace piloted the new Hei Hei to another 24-hour World Championship. On the topic of large pedal-oriented outings, 9 accessory mounts on the inside of the frame allow you to mount two bottles, tools, or even a bolt-on frame bag. If you get creative with some Wolftooth B-Rad mounts, you can have all of the bottles you wish.

Even though I don't hold the title of the Shore Country Little Bike Guy here at NSMB, I'm stoked to see more 'fast trail' bikes of this sort pop up. They're typically capable enough to ride on most sanctioned trails here in the PNW under the command of a somewhat capable rider. Their lively character and ease of getting a lighter, shorter bike in the air, makes undulating terrain and after-work power hour laps a lot more fun.

Kona Hei Hei Details

• Advanced carbon fiber frame
• Swinger rear suspension design, 120mm travel
• Super deep dropper post insertion depth
• Full tube-in-tube internal cable routing
• Nine bottle/accessory mount options inside front triangle
• RockShox PIKE Ultimate 130mm fork
• RockShox Deluxe Ultimate rear shock
• New SRAM Motive Bronze 4-piston brakes
• New SRAM Eagle 90 Transmission
• TransX +RAD dropper post in 125-200mm travel
• DT Swiss 370 hubs with torque cap
• WTB KOM i30 TSC rims
• Maxxis Dissector 29x2.4” WT

Frame and Suspension Details

The new Hei Hei is only available in a carbon fiber frame with 120mm of rear travel. The bike features full tube-in-tube routing, guiding the cable housing or brake lines from one port to the other to make replacing easy. Even with tube-in-tube routing, sometimes manufacturers force the guide at awkward angles which leads to the housing or cables getting stuck halfway through the frame. I was curious so I pulled and re-installed the dropper cable housing and it was a smooth process. The Hei Hei uses a PF92 bottom bracket with ISCG tabs for a top chain-guide - even though a majority of the full-suspension market has moved to threaded bottom brackets for ease of serviceability. I talked with the folks at Kona and they confirmed that they have received very few warranty claims relating to bottom brackets on their Process bikes, so they have complete confidence in going against the grain on this one. For those planning on racing the Hei Hei, a rear shock lockout can be routed externally. As with the rest of their line, the Hei Hei preserves its 12x148 Boost rear spacing, and is UDH compatible.

At the heart of the new Hei Hei is an updated rear suspension design. Kona decided to ditch the flex stays of the previous generation in favour of a seat stay pivot on the basis that it makes for a much more supple suspension feel with only a small weight penalty. Another nod to this updated design extending outside of the scope of an xc race bike, which allows it to more closely align with Kona brand ethos. The 120mm of rear travel is championed by what they refer to as a 'swinger rear-end'. Even though it more closely ressembles a four bar suspension layout, this is actually a form of linkage driven single pivot design, often called a 'faux bar'. Kona aimed to have the suspension on the Hei Hei feel similar in character to their line of process enduro bikes, with a straighter leverage curve and more consistent feel throughout the entire 120mm of travel. The new design features more anti-squat to provide an efficient pedaling platform.

Geometry

I've included the geometry chart from the old Hei Hei in case you care to have a look, but the most notable changes are the head angle (slacker), seat tube angle (steeper), reach (longer), and stack (taller). The head angle and seat tube angle are sitting at 66 and 76 degrees respectively with a 474mm reach and 630mm stack on my size large test bike. By no means is a 66 degree head angle novel in this category anymore but the tall stack height should clarify the bike's intentions. I typically have to opt for a high rise bar on bike in this category due to my long legs and shorter torso, but the 630mm stack of the large Hei Hei felt right at home with the stock 25mm rise handlebar. Although the 435mm chainstays felt balanced on my large test bike, not using size specific chainstays, resulting in bikes with a 100mm disparity in front center having the same chainstay length, may adversely affect handling on the small and extra large sizes.

Builds

Kona is offering the Hei Hei in either a complete or a frame only option. A standout is that the complete is only available in one model. I can only assume from an industry perspective that one built kit enabled them to cut down on SKU's and the inventory management costs of carrying several options. With that said, the built kit Kona has put forward has some smart spec choices. Kudos to the their product manager.

The idea behind the CR complete build is to give the rider top end suspension, with a workhorse level drivetrain and brakes to get you rolling. RockShox Ultimate suspension in the form of the PIKE and Super Deluxe are expensive pieces of kit as an upgrade, and not a wear item, so it's great to see better suspension on a complete at this price point. The GX Eagle 90 Mechanical Transmission is a robust workhorse and the Motive brakes had plenty of power for a bike in this category. DT Swiss 370 hubs with the 18t star ratchet are a bomber and ultimately ones I recommend building wheels around when customers come into the shop with broken pawls or stripped drive rings. The WTB rims aren't going to win awards for longevity, but the DT hubs can always be re-laced to a nice set of carbon hoops a season or two down the road. If you want that sweet, sweet, sunburst brown colour, you're going to have to shell out for a custom build as it is only available as a frame-only.

While Out Riding

I've only had the bike since Friday and I'm hesitant to draw any concrete impressions until I've had more ride time on the Hei Hei and have finished setting it up to my liking. With that said, the build quality out of the box was great and the bike carves a fantastic aesthetic silhouette with all that space in the frame. I was able to get out for two rides in the last few days, the first being a ride to shoot with Deniz, with an hour of technical switchback climbing followed by a mix of chunk and flow on some blue and black trails. The Second was a 2 hour ride with some similar uphill terrain followed by some more aggressive, sanctioned terrain, that I usually ride on my enduro bike. The Eagle 90 Drivetrain was happy to clunk through gears in a self-assured manner and the Motive Brakes performed admirably with the 180mm rotors, with a lighter lever feel than the Mavens or Codes thanks to their DirectLink lever design.

The bike offered a supportive platform to navigate technical climbs and the steeper seat-tube angle kept my weight over the front end when the uphill terrain got steep. The Hei Hei loves to be in the air and hit corners, and requires only a small amount of force to float through terrain. I found myself riding with more caution than on a big bike because your margin for error is drastically reduced, but I've been just as fast on most sanctioned terrain I've ridden thus far.

I plan on taking the Hei Hei on some big adventures this summer and continue to find its limit on my local terrain. I'll report back in a few month's time but thus far I have to say that the downhill prowess of the Hei Hei would be very much deserving of the 'Process 120' moniker.

Kona Bikes