Later, the brand helped establish the “all mountain” category with the Dawg, which had four inches of front and rear travel but came in under 30 pounds. Kona was the first production company to feature a sloping top tube design on a mountain bike, which helped lengthen the cockpit and lower the center of gravity “low and slack” has been Kona’s mantra from the beginning. The result was a bike you could pedal up a mountain, but just as easily huck off a giant wooden ladder bridge. It built the first “freeride” bikes that had triple chainrings and burly, durable frames with five inches of travel. As riding on the North Shore evolved, Kona evolved with it, building bikes for riders who were pushing the limits of mountain biking. In the early years, the duo worked with Joe Murray to create custom steel hardtails, but had a deep connection to the North Shore’s progressive bike scene. Kona started in 1988, in Vancouver, British Columbia by bike industry veterans Dan Gerhard and Jacob Heilbron. The surprises go on and on, but that’s all part of Kona’s charm. And their city bikes are some of the coolest, most practical options around. They’re best known as a “freeride” bike company, but have made road and 'cross bikes since the beginning. Kona isn’t a huge entity compared to some other global bike brands, but it enjoys iconic status. It’s a brand that grew from a grassroots style of riding in British Columbia in the late ‘80s, but had international sales and manufacturing from the start. It’s an instantly recognizable global brand, but one that’s still owned by the original founders. Kona, as a company, is a bit of a wild company that in a lot of ways defies expectations.
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