Kona Bikes is a
bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
company based in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
. The company was founded in 1988 by Dan Gerhard, Jacob Heilbron and Jimbo Holmstrom in Vancouver, BC. Their world headquarters are in Ferndale, Washington, with Canadian distribution offices in Vancouver, and European distribution offices in
Monaco
Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
.
Gerhard and Heilbron worked initially with
Mountain Bike Hall of Fame
The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame (MBHOF) was founded in 1988 to chronicle the history of mountain biking. Formerly located in Crested Butte, Colorado, it relocated to Fairfax, California in 2014 and became part of the Marin Museum of Bicycling.
Si ...
rider
Joe Murray to create a range of custom steel hardtails. Kona was the first brand to produce a complete range of sloping top tube design mountain bike frames.
Paul Brodie collaborated with the TBG and was likely instrumental in implementing the sloping top tube design from previous work with Rocky Mountain and with his own company.
The Canadian headquarters are located near the famous
North Shore Mountains
The North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city.
The steep southern slopes of the No ...
of Vancouver, leading Kona to develop a range of
Freeride mountain bikes in 1998 known for durability as well as for their ability to handle extremely technical downhill terrain. In the 1990s, provocative names were used on Kona bikes and components like Humuhumunukunukuapua'a, Sutra, Sex One, Sex Too, Stinky, Jackshit, while there are rumors about one of their early logos being inspired by an anus, aiming to be placed as an "alternative" bicycle company or as the "smallest biggest company in the world".
Kona has gone on to develop a complete range of road, commuter,
cyclo-cross
Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...
in addition to a complete range of
mountain bikes
A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...
. Using a range of materials including
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
,
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
,
aluminum
Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
and
steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
, Kona's bikes are sold in over 60 countries worldwide.
On January 19, 2022, the founders announced the sale of the company to diversified outdoor equipment maker Kent Outdoors. On April 19, 2024, Kent Outdoors began winding down operations with plans to sell the brand.
On May 20, 2024, Dan and Jake announced that they had re-purchased the brand from Kent Outdoors with plans to re-launch it.
Kona Factory Team
Kona has a long-standing tradition in the support of
bicycle racing
Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling spo ...
, beginning with their first product designer Joe Murray who was also a two-time US National mountain bike champion. Many elite riders have been part of the Kona Team including 2012 Giro D'Italia winner
Ryder Hesjedal
Eric Ryder Hesjedal (; born December 9, 1980) is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016. Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior, 2001 Under-23, and Elite world ...
(CAN),Two time World Champion cross country mountain biker 2001,2002
Roland Green (Can), World Downhill Champions
Steve Peat
Steve Peat (born 17 June 1974 in Chapeltown, South Yorkshire), nicknamed "Sheffield Steel" or more commonly just "Peaty", is a British professional downhill mountain biker who was born and lives in Chapeltown, Sheffield, England. Prior to his ...
(UK) and
Greg Minnaar
Greg Minnaar (born 13 November 1981) is a South African World Champion Mountain bike racing, mountain bike racer competing in downhill cycling. He has won four world championships. Minnaar has the most men's world cup wins, with 23 career vict ...
(RSA), 2004/2005 World Downhill Champion Fabien Barel (FR), World Cup Downhill Champion
Tracy Moseley
Tracy Marie Moseley (born 12 April 1979) is a British professional racing cyclist who was born in Worcester, specialising in downhill mountain bike racing. Moseley's brother, Ed, was also a mountain biker, it was after he began riding cross c ...
(UK), and US National Mountain Bike and Cyclo-Cross champions
Ryan Trebon
Ryan Trebon (born March 5, 1981) is a retired American bicycle racer, born in Loma Linda, California. He specialized in cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing
Mountain bike racing (shortened MTB or ATB racing) is the competitive cycle sport di ...
and Anne Knapp. Over 200 National and World Champions have been won by Kona riders. The current Kona Factory team competes in National and International events and includes riders from Canada, the UK, Australia, France and the US.
Cory Wallace
After finishing 4th in the World Solo 24HR Championships in 2015, and 2nd in 2016, Kona Factory Team rider Cory Wallace won the event 3 consecutive years, from 2017 to 2019. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event was unable to proceed in 2020 and 2021, however in 2022 Wallace once again defended his world title.
Wallace won all four championships while riding a Kona Hei Hei CRDL.
Advocacy
Kona has been an
International Mountain Biking Association
The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) is a non-profit educational association that aims to create and preserve trails for mountain bikers worldwide. The IMBA promotes mountain biking, trail building, and trail maintenance. The IM ...
corporate supporter since 1994, and has developed fundraising projects including the Kona Buck-A-Bike program, the Kona Bro Deal program, the
Interbike
The Interbike International Bicycle Expo was the largest bicycle industry trade show in North America and was held annually in Nevada from 1982–2018. Exhibitors consisted of companies interested in selling their products and services to bicycle ...
bowling tourney and Kona/IMBA Freeriding grants.
The Kona/IMBA bowling party, held at Interbike from 1998 until 2007, raised money for NEMBA, a New England IMBA-related advocacy group. Its purpose was to help purchase a large area for mountain biking by funding the KONA/IMBA freeride grants. The Kona/IMBA Freeride grants helped clubs throughout the US and Canada including:
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...
;
Grand Junction, Colorado
Grand Junction is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United St ...
;
Hood River, Oregon
Hood River is a city in and the county seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in O ...
;
Coquitlam, British Columbia
Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with an estimated population of 174,248 in 2024, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metr ...
;
St. Charles, Missouri
Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...
;
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...
;
Anderson, Indiana
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...
, and
East Burke, Vermont
East Burke is a census-designated place in the town of Burke in Caledonia County, Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire ...
. The grants helped build freeride features on trails, as well as building dirt jump parks in parks.
For 2008, Kona sponsored the IMBA Epic Rides program, helping fund four new rides throughout the United States and Canada. The trails set aside as Epic rides for 2008 were the Mid Mountain Epic in
Park City, Utah
Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...
; Comfortably Numb in
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler (, ; , ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, approximately north of Vancouver and south of Pemberton, Britis ...
; the trails sponsored by PAMBA outside of
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
, and the Loon Lake Epic in
Tamarack, Idaho.
Kona Africabike
In 2006, Kona began its largest advocacy effort to date -
BikeTown Africa. The Kona Africabike was a bike built in partnership with
Bristol-Myers Squibb
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consist ...
and Bicycling Magazine. The Kona Africabike was designed specifically to assist health care workers treating
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
and
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
patients with the delivery of home health aids and other services in African Cities, starting with
Bobonong, Botswana and
Gaborone
Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...
,
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
. More recent projects have included Delft and
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch (; )[A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.](_blank)
Thomas Baldwin ...
.
For 2008, Kona pledged to donate 1,000 Africabikes for the project and due to the overwhelming customer support of this project, Kona set up a non-profit/humanitarian organization from their European HQ in Geneva, Switzerland called Kona Basic Needs. This organisation's aim is to continue to raise more funds and awareness of the Kona Africabike program and to continue the donation of these bikes. .
References
External links
*
Kona's Vimeo page*
Classic Kona, a collection of past Kona bikes online
{{Canadian bicycle manufacturers
Cycle manufacturers of Canada
Mountain bike manufacturers
Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1988