Review: Kona Red Zone

You probably know Kona for its mountain bike and cyclocross machines, but they also have a strong road line. I’ve been riding the Red Zone, one of the company’s endurance bikes. The geometry has dimensions designed to make the ride more comfortable: 416-mm long chainstays on a 53-cm size bike (as opposed to 405 mm of more race-oriented bikes) and a 150-mm long head tube. The angles are slightly slack: 74 degree seat-tube angle and 72 degree head-tube angle. All these frame-design choices worked well to manage the road vibrations.

Another feature that kept the ride smooth is the tires. The Red Zone comes with Continental GranPrix 4000 700 x 25c tires. That extra 2 mm of width, compared to 23 mm on most road bikes, improves the ride quality without a noticeable performance penalty. The Easton EA90 RT wheels, which are tubeless compatible, can accommodate tires as wide as 32 mm for a very plush ride.

But, let’s not forget that this bike is also a fast machine. The frame weighs in at less than 1 kg, putting it in the same range as a purebred racer. This bike comes dressed with the SRAM Red groupset, which is also quite feathery. The frame has swappable cable stops, so you can run electronic and mechanical gruppos.

Finally, I quite like the removable fender eyelets. You can throw fenders on, and 28-mm wide tires, for foul-weather riding in the shoulder seasons. Then, you can remove those parts for your gran fondo day, so you can ride with sleek setup.

The Kona Red Zone costs $5599. It’s a fast, versatile bike for all kinds of riding.