A couple of things.
If not all then most riders I know who've tried their Honzos set up long have preferred them that way - climbing traction, weight balance, cornering. If Kona made a longer dropout option then I'm certain they'd all own a set if only to know how a longer setup feels.
If you've tried a bunch of different geometry and settled on 417mm stays that's great. The idea that it's more fun is definitely situation-specific. My hardtail is a blast on local trails and has 450-470mm stays.
As to hardtails being slow, I think optimizing sub-optimal stuff is one of life's simple pleasures. Some folks will say "who cares about whether above or below the bar friction thumb-shifting works better? Just buy an indexed trigger setup!" but I'm going to do me, thanks.
July 9, 2022, 7:41 p.m. - Andrew Major
A couple of things. If not all then most riders I know who've tried their Honzos set up long have preferred them that way - climbing traction, weight balance, cornering. If Kona made a longer dropout option then I'm certain they'd all own a set if only to know how a longer setup feels. If you've tried a bunch of different geometry and settled on 417mm stays that's great. The idea that it's more fun is definitely situation-specific. My hardtail is a blast on local trails and has 450-470mm stays. As to hardtails being slow, I think optimizing sub-optimal stuff is one of life's simple pleasures. Some folks will say "who cares about whether above or below the bar friction thumb-shifting works better? Just buy an indexed trigger setup!" but I'm going to do me, thanks.