What Do I Ride 1 - Kona Caldera

Any bike publication worth their salt eventually does a “what do we ride” feature and I don’t see why I should do anything different. There’s only me so it’ll be a short and irregular series.

This weekend the full-susser went into the bike hospital and I was battering my body on the hardtail, which gives me the perfect opportunity to start the series with:

2004 Kona Caldera

Frame – 2004 Kona Caldera
Fork – Rockshox Recon
Wheels – Mavic Crossride
Tyres – Continental Mountain King
Brakes - Shimano SLX
Crankset – Shimano Deore, modified to only run the middle 34t ring
Drive – 10 speed cassette with Shimano SLX Shadow+ mech, Shimano XT shifter, e-thirteen chain guide
Contact – WTB Volt saddle, Ritchey Rizer Pro bars, Shimano LX pedals

This is broadly my second choice bike and as such runs a mixture of solid reliable parts and budget decisions to match its status. The bike is built around a Caldera frame that was my main bike for years and reflects the fashion from the time, with steeper angles on a stiff aluminium build. There have been many iterations of the bike around gearing options, and it’s now settled on a 1x10 system using a modified Deore crankset. The chain retention device is a hangover from before it had a clutch mech keeping things in place and I haven’t seen any reason to get rid of it, preferring a belt and braces approach.

The Recon forks are a recent replacement for a Sektor R that reached the end of their life, offering air sprung smoothness over coil suspension. Wheels come from Mavic and are light, with bladed spokes despite being very competitively priced, and the tyres are also on the cheap side. Conti Mountain Kings are fast rolling but not very subtle, but are adequate for what the bike does.

What it gets used for is non-technical riding and muddy days out where speed and simplicity is the most important thing. On rockier or rougher terrain it’s skittish and a challenge to control especially on narrow 90s riser bars but I still love this bike. Pedals and saddle are old favourites, the seat is a cheaper copy of the one on my other bike and brakes are the same, while the pedals are old favourites as I run SPDs on every bike.

It’s a light, fast, bike that reminds me every time I ride that hardtails are great in the right place. It climbs incredibly and helps to keep me honest when I’m riding the big bike.

This weekend this bike got two excursions, at least one reminding me of the advantages of riding on suspension as I clattered down the lines I would have taken on that bike.

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