Kona Sutra 2013 Touring Bike: First Look

Picke up my new 2013 Sutra yeaterday. The ride hame was a joy. Will update as time goes by.

Last summer I purchased a 2012 Kona Surtra for my first ever long tour — a six week, 2000 mile ride through the northern Rockies. I did swapout the gearing to a 50–39-30 front and 1–32, 9 speed reaer cassette which I found to be more than adequate for mounatain passess — and there were a lot of them. I also installed Schwalbe Marathon 700x32 tires which were incredible. I didn’t have a single flat in 2000 miles and I rode through a lot of broken glass and gravel roads.. With those changes, I couldn’t be happier with the bike. The only other change I might make is to install a Brooks saddle but I did get along fine with the WTB one that came with the bike. Maybe next year. At 1500 miles I had a minor tune up on the brakes and derailer done for $18.00. That was it for mechanical concerns. I’d highly recommend this bike if you’re considering taking a long tour. It’s reliable and stable even when fully loaded with 35–40 lbs of gear even at high speeds.

Great reviews! Any suggestion regarding the size? I am 190cm tall, with an inseam of 89cm. Should I get the 59cm or 61cm frame? If I got the 61cm frame and it felt too large, would a shorter stem do the trick?

Yesterday, I finally received the discounted 2012 Kona Sutra model (in size 61) from CRC. However, my size conundrum is nowhere near to resolution. As stated in my previous post, my measurements are: height — 190 cm (6 feet 2.8 inches), inseam — 89 cm (35 inches), and somewhat shorter arms (arms span — 184 cm (6 feet 0.44 inches) . Also, my shoe size is 54 (UK 10.5 / US 11). The advice I received prior to the purchase was evenly split between the sizes 59 and 61. As it appears, I am somewhere in-between. And this being my first bike equipped with drop bars doesn’t help either. The whole posture (understandably) feels different and odd. I think the bike is too long for me. But having said that, the TT and WB are identical to my hybrid bike. In fact, the geometry is almost identical (except for the height), and when I swapped the drop bars for a flat bar, the reach was absolutely spot on. And so is the height of the front (with the stem flipped to positive 6 degrees). The stand-over is perfect too. There is absolutely no toe overlap without the front fender in this size (61), and most likely none with the fender on (provided the fender closely follows the contour of the wheel). I like the roominess of the frame and as well as the geometry. So, there are good arguments for either size. In the end, I’ve decided to keep the bike in size 61. First of all, it may be that the feeling of being stretched and uncomfortable is simply due to my inexperience with the drop bars. Second, I may decide to ditch the drop bars (upon some trial period of let’s say 2 months), and equip the bike with a flat bar. In this case, the bike in size 59 would be definitely too small for me. And finally, since the stretch is my only perceived issue with the size, I can always rectify it by changing the stem for something shorter.

Some words on the purchase and delivery from CRC. It took them 3 working days to dispatch my order. I was told this was due to a meticulous inspection of the bike prior to dispatching it (off to a customer — me). Fair enough. However, the very meticulous inspection failed to discover one scratch (about 1.5 cm) on the top tube, second scratch (about 5 cm) on the seat tube, and third scratch (1 cm) on the chainstay. Also, somebody forgot to lead the brake cable through the first cable guide on the down tube. So, now I don’t know whether the cable guide has some click mechanism, which would allow me to to open it, insert the cable, and click it back, or whether the cable must be disconnected from the rear brake, rewired through all the cable guides again, and connected back to the brake. Any advice? And finally, there is some strange noise coming from the BB7 rear brake, when I am free-spinning the wheel. I tried to adjust the brakes according to online manuals and videos, but I wasn’t successful. I am taking the bike to a bike shop tomorrow for some qualified advice. Provided there is nothing serious with the brakes, I will keep the bike in spite of the aforementioned issues. I don’t care so much about scratches, as all my bikes eventually end up banged up and scarred. But I will let CRC know about this and about not being overly happy with their service. The delivery by DHL took 7 days (no wonder since according to the tracking information, the bike was processed through 5 sorting facilities (!?!) over a 2,200 km long journey. The box the bike arrived in is absolutely humungous (190 x 110 cm). If it doesn’t sound like much on paper, just wait when you see it in person. While the box isn’t too heavy, the size makes it difficult to maneuver through tight spaces and/or carry it on a stairway. The bike was fully assembled (with exception of the drop-bars and the front fender).

My first impression: This is a beautiful bike. The finish is gorgeous (it will show scratches though), the retro look is cool, and the proportions are very eye-pleasing. The whole thing looks and feels very solid. With one exception — that being the fenders. They totally let the bike down. They are very black, glossy, and plasticky! They look cheap, they are short, they have no flaps, and they rattle! I took them off and threw them away. I also took off the rear rack. It feels very solid and it looks good (made by Tubus), but for my purposes I need a steal rack. The front rack arrived in a plastic bag, and even though I didn’t even take it out, it’s quite obvious it doesn’t come up anywhere near the quality of the rear rack. I gifted them both to my family members. Also, CRC threw in a pair of plastic pedals (for people like myself, who forgot to order pedals on time), a small multi-tool, and a pedal wrench. That was a nice surprise. Well done, CRC! The bike weighs (in size 61 without pedals, the fenders and the racks) 13.2 kg (29.1 lbs). But as other also noticed, you don’t really notice the weight of the bike when moving it around. Perhaps it’s due to the low height of the bike and (thus) no need for lifting it high.

Over all and so far, I am very pleased with the first impression. I will provide additional insight once I have solved the small issues and ridden the bike for some time.

Hi Tom

Thanks for all the insights. I’ve been (ab)using my Roberts winter training bike to tour on for over a decade – it’s a beautiful bike, but not ideal or especially comfortable for touring with panniers (steep frame angles, tight clearances etc etc).

I looked into the Sutra for something more function specific at a reasonable price and it sounds like a great package, but having spotted the words ‘long-term expedition tourer’, my worry is that it may be a bit over-engineered for pootling along the lanes of Southern England and France, especially now I’m older and less inclined to beat myself up doing very long rides.

Is the Sutra still a good bet for 4–500 mile tours on decent roads?