More Sutra

This is part 3 of my long-term review of the 2008 Kona Sutra.
You can find part 1 here.
And part 2 is here.

There are some other odd tidbits with the Sutra. The third set of water bottle braze-ons is on the bottom side of the downtube. It's nigh useless. I think I might be able to fit a Topeak Morph in there (most righteous mini pumps ever, IMO).


The fork is a bit of a compromise. Then again, all of engineering is balancing compromises, so maybe I should just shut up. The Project Two fork seems a bit flexy. I've had steel forks that could soak road buzz without deflecting visibly under braking load. However, despite that, the fork is cushy and the front-end geometry is such that the bike behaves well with a heavily loaded handlebar bag. I can ride without hands as slowly as 8MPH and still track straight.

The Sutra ships with Shimano 525 disc hubs laced 36h to Mavic A317 rims. I like these rims and I despise these hubs. I have put these wheels through some abuse: jumping over potholes, not jumping potholes too well and squarely smacking them, jumping off curbs, and carrying watermelons. They have not been in for a truing and are still reasonably true.

This is the third bike I have had with the 525 hubs and the hubs always fail, despite regular maintenance. Despite monthly adjustments of the cones (by me and by professionals), some bearing slop develops in short order. The upside is that, if I was a wasteful person, I can replace the whole wheelset for about $150. The downside is that I keep trying to maintain these hubs. Some Phils or Hopes are in order.

I would prefer room for 45mm tires. I know I am wandering into the realm of wishlist here, but hey, I can dream. If this is going to be my everything bike (and it just about is), I would like to be able to fit fenders and studded snow tires. As it is, I am "stuck" having to keep a couple extra bikes.

In all, the Sutra is a nearly top-notch platform with only a few niggling issues. It's just a bottle short of a six-pack for my needs. I suppose I'll stick with it for a few more years.