Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail: Out of the Box
All too often we can get sucked into the same old habits. Same trails, same bike, same everything. Sometimes you've got to get out of the box. Live a little. Breathe. And then shred.
The Hei Hei Trail is an out of the box thinker, like many of Kona's bikes. Everyone who swings a leg over one notes that it outrides its numbers, surpassing their expectations of a trail bike's capabilities. Light and efficient with its full carbon frame and Fuse suspension design, snappy and playful on the way back down.
While the Fuse suspension design is shared with our race-ready Hei Hei cross-country bike, the Hei Hei Trail, with 140mm of travel and 27.5" wheels, is a completely different beast. It's the kind of bike that challenges preconceptions, and redefines what a bike in this class can do.
RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX AND UNDER OUR WORLD CUP RACER
With the Hei Hei Trail's lineage, it may have been expected of us to produce a video featuring one of our Endurance Team racers. But the reality is, this bike may just get you out of your box, thinking differently about the Hei Hei name from which this bike found its lineage, and pedaling to places you previously considered outside that box.
So, we sent World Cup downhiller Connor Fearon into British Columbia's Selkirk Mountains with the Hei Hei Trail. And what we came out with was exactly the proof we needed that this bike doesn't belong in the box, but up in the hills, getting loose. We tend to think you'll agree.
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
Hei Hei Trail Details
All three Hei Hei Trail models feature the same Kona Race Light full carbon frame. From the top-spec Hei Hei Trail Supreme through the Hei Hei Trail DL and the Hei Hei Trail, you can expect to find wide rims, great tires, and high quality suspension components. No matter which model you choose, you can be assured it'll be ready to shred right out of the box.
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
Hei Hei Trail Supreme
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB Ci31 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: RockShox Deluxe RT3
Fork: RockShox Pike RCT3
Crankset: SRAM XX1 Eagle
Drivetrain: SRAM XX1 Eagle 1x 12spd
Cockpit: RaceFace Next 35 bar and Turbine stem, ODI Ruffian MX Grips
Brakes: SRAM Guide Ultimate
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB SL8 Pro
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
Hei Hei Trail DL
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB Ci31 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: Fox Factory Float DPS
Fork: Fox Factory 34 Float
Crankset: RaceFace Aeffect
Drivetrain: Shimano XTR 1x 11spd
Cockpit: Kona XC/BC 35 Riser bar and stem, ODI Ruffian MX grips
Brakes: Shimano XT
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB Volt Comp
![Connor Fearon and the Kona Hei Hei Trail Out of the Box]()
Hei Hei Trail
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB STP i29 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: Fox Performance Float DPS
Fork: Fox Rhythm 34 Float 140mm
Crankset: RaceFace Aeffect
Drivetrain: Shimano XT 1x 11spd
Cockpit: Kona XC/BC 35 Riser bar and stem, ODI Ruffian MX grips
Brakes: Shimano SLX
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB Volt Comp
Visit the feature gallery for additional high resolution images
About Kona:
At Kona, we're all about the freedom and empowerment of the bicycle. We have been since 1988. We still have the same founding owners. We're still populated by a staff of keen, active, impassioned cyclists. We're not big, nor are we that small. Just a dedicated group of cyclists making bicycles for people who love bikes - no matter if that love is new or long established.
MENTIONS: @konaworld / @C-Fearon / @retallacklodge
The Hei Hei Trail is an out of the box thinker, like many of Kona's bikes. Everyone who swings a leg over one notes that it outrides its numbers, surpassing their expectations of a trail bike's capabilities. Light and efficient with its full carbon frame and Fuse suspension design, snappy and playful on the way back down.
While the Fuse suspension design is shared with our race-ready Hei Hei cross-country bike, the Hei Hei Trail, with 140mm of travel and 27.5" wheels, is a completely different beast. It's the kind of bike that challenges preconceptions, and redefines what a bike in this class can do.
RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX AND UNDER OUR WORLD CUP RACER
With the Hei Hei Trail's lineage, it may have been expected of us to produce a video featuring one of our Endurance Team racers. But the reality is, this bike may just get you out of your box, thinking differently about the Hei Hei name from which this bike found its lineage, and pedaling to places you previously considered outside that box.
So, we sent World Cup downhiller Connor Fearon into British Columbia's Selkirk Mountains with the Hei Hei Trail. And what we came out with was exactly the proof we needed that this bike doesn't belong in the box, but up in the hills, getting loose. We tend to think you'll agree.
Hei Hei Trail Details
All three Hei Hei Trail models feature the same Kona Race Light full carbon frame. From the top-spec Hei Hei Trail Supreme through the Hei Hei Trail DL and the Hei Hei Trail, you can expect to find wide rims, great tires, and high quality suspension components. No matter which model you choose, you can be assured it'll be ready to shred right out of the box.
Hei Hei Trail Supreme
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB Ci31 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: RockShox Deluxe RT3
Fork: RockShox Pike RCT3
Crankset: SRAM XX1 Eagle
Drivetrain: SRAM XX1 Eagle 1x 12spd
Cockpit: RaceFace Next 35 bar and Turbine stem, ODI Ruffian MX Grips
Brakes: SRAM Guide Ultimate
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB SL8 Pro
Hei Hei Trail DL
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB Ci31 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: Fox Factory Float DPS
Fork: Fox Factory 34 Float
Crankset: RaceFace Aeffect
Drivetrain: Shimano XTR 1x 11spd
Cockpit: Kona XC/BC 35 Riser bar and stem, ODI Ruffian MX grips
Brakes: Shimano XT
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB Volt Comp
Hei Hei Trail
Frame Material: Kona Race Light Carbon
Wheel Size: 27.5
Wheels: WTB STP i29 TCS
Suspension Platform: Fuse
Front/Rear Suspension: 140mm/140mm
Shock: Fox Performance Float DPS
Fork: Fox Rhythm 34 Float 140mm
Crankset: RaceFace Aeffect
Drivetrain: Shimano XT 1x 11spd
Cockpit: Kona XC/BC 35 Riser bar and stem, ODI Ruffian MX grips
Brakes: Shimano SLX
Front Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Rear Tire: Maxxis Tomahawk EXO TR 27.5x2.3"
Saddle: WTB Volt Comp
About Kona:
At Kona, we're all about the freedom and empowerment of the bicycle. We have been since 1988. We still have the same founding owners. We're still populated by a staff of keen, active, impassioned cyclists. We're not big, nor are we that small. Just a dedicated group of cyclists making bicycles for people who love bikes - no matter if that love is new or long established.
MENTIONS: @konaworld / @C-Fearon / @retallacklodge
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FINALLY!!!
;-)
www.triridemtb.com/cove-bikes-team-2010
Now on to my rant...
What I cant understand is why this bike? why did this all new bike design that is really only a year old get the full meal deal. Available with a crazy amount of builds and the option of carbon or alloy in its somewhat first year of life. A lot of money was invested into a bike design that hasn't really proven to be a big hit with consumers yet.
Yet the Process lineup has seen no change other than a little longer top tubes new paint jobs and dropping of certain spec models. I cant for the life of me understand why there hasn't been a shake up to this lineup. I mean hell there should have been a long / mid travel 29er 2 years ago and yet we are still waiting for them to play catch up to the rest of the market. The Process lineup pulled Kona out of the trail bike grave yard and put them back on the map and yet it has been heavily ignored by the company... bit of a shame.
By the time a new set of Kona Process bikes roll out I'm just not sure its going to capture the market like it did back in 2014 when we all got to see these bikes for the first time and they were such game changers to what we had been seeing before this.
Instead, they're throwing their marketing money (and new product development/rollout money) at the Hei Hei, both 29 and 27.5. That makes sense - they were new this year, and just like with the Process a few years ago, they took a bike that was very well received and turned it into a product line, then extended it beyond the trail bike segment into enduro (153) and freeride (167). So now they cover the trail bike segment with the Hei Hei (aggressive trail bike with an emphasis on playfulness and efficiency) on one end, and the Process (aggressive trail bike with an emphasis on burliness and ruggedness - and beyond) on the other end. That's the biggest volume segment in the market.
In the meantime, they're taking care of their owners, because if I want to sell my 111 in a couple years, it'll only be one generation behind. Santa Cruz is doing the same thing (each major model there has about a three year life span), Transition is doing the same thing, Spec is doing the same thing with their volume models (yep, every year there's all sorts of "new" stuff - but the Enduro lasted how long? And the current Stumpy is, what, in its third year?).
We all complain about bike makers constantly making our stuff obsolete with new "standards" and "innovations" that are little more than gimmicks - if there's a solid bike, I think there's nothing wrong with it going on for a few years.
I had a 2016 Process 111, I too had a 140mm pike on it. Great bike it took everything I could throw at it, but as my riding abilities started to increase finding the limit was happening more and more often. With no longer travel 29er coming from Kona it was time to move on. I put my Process up for sale, and well, it didn't do well on PB buy&Sell market between Bellingham and Vancouver. no part of the bike was stock and the build consisted of RSC brakes, XTR cranks KS dropper, Custom built wheels XT 11speed drivetrain and the list goes on. Not to mention I was selling it for roughly 200 bucks less than other 111s on the PB Buy&Sell. I actually ended up parting it out and sold the frame to some guy in Ontario. So I hope you have a better experience in selling yours than I did when the time comes.
And to be honest I feel the reason it didn't sell well is because short travel 29ers, though they are great bikes the mass market wants 29ers in the 130-140mm travel range. I mean shit at my local shop they had the 8 2015 trek remedy 29ers in and they all sold off in a 3 month span.... and that's a shop that's roughly an hour away from any local mountain and with the closest trails being something a hardtail could easily take care of.
I'd be willing to bet if we did a Poll of how many people gave a shit about seeing the process lineup go carbon and a long travel 29er option process compared to the want to buy a Hei Hei that it would be a win for the process. At least, that's how I feel ever since watching PB comments on every post about the process lineup each year.
But hey this is all just how I see it, and really the only way to find out if they made the right move putting so much into this new line of bikes is if we start seeing more and more Hei Heis out on the trails... If that ends up being the case, I will take my foot and gently place it in my mouth and or put an egg on my face.
Resale on bikes is a bummer, isn't it? You'd think with everyone looking for a deal, there's be ample demand for a well-regarded bike with a wide range of use and primo parts. But it seems like people are just trying to bottom-feed. Maybe it's the lemon problem - people don't know the sellers, so they assume the worst about how bikes have been treated and are unwilling to pay good money for a used bike.
Nice work to the both of us, pat on the backs.
All joking aside - there's a fair bit of trolling and aggro BS going on in these comment sections, but I've also found a fair bit of interesting discussion with people just sharing opinions. Which makes PB a pretty neat resource, as long as one filters out the hyperbole.
But! I would gladly take you up on that ride and a beer though!
For example, I'd looked at a Process but despite their apparent awesomeness, Kona makes the XL seat tube length ridiculously short, so I had to go with the Hei Hei. At 6'4" and a 37" inseam, I can't ride a 19" seat tube even with a gigantically long seatpost jammed in there.
Given this and many other factors, it's likely Kona is in a quiet period with the Process and will release an updated version (hopefully with a more reasonably sized seat tube) in the near future. They're not a big company and don't have a ton of extra resources like a Trek, Giant or Specialized.
However, with a fairly relaxed geometry even in the shorter travel variants, the Process isn't for everyone. There are still people looking for those squared off, steeper angled bikes with shorter travel and larger wheels. It may not be for me, or you.. But it is hard to find solid reviews of long travel bikes anymore.
I kind of like their approach to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Process is a damn good platform that I can do everything I want on.. However it isn't the perfect bike for everyone, and I think this is was prompted them to revive the Hei-Hei line.
The Hei-Hei looks great for the price, and this vid shows it can shred too (when on Minion DHF Maxxgrip tires, like in the video) hahaha
First thing, the pain job was crappy and the paint on the cranks and rear trialngle smudged off really quickly. There was NO room for a water bottle other than under the tube (great place to pick up bear sh*t and such). The other issue was that the seatpost was so low that I had my Reverb 125mm extended to the max to get a decent climbing position. finally, the rear triangle kept being hit by my heal and the suggestion was to ride with cleats and angle them in such a way that the back of my foot didn't hit. This wasn't going to happen as that could cause knee and all other sorts of problems. So... yes, the Process is really capable and at a good price. I sold it 2 years later complete for $1700.00 Cdn as nobody would even look at it for $2k. Resell value is next to nothing.
I now ride a Transition Scout (customized too) but have the water bottle cage, the decent seatpost height and do not strike my heals. It too has a Pike and DBAir (double canister) and I must admit, it rides much nicer for my style and I ride Galbraith, North shore and Squamish. would I recommend a Process? Definitely. Would I recommend and Scout? Definitely. If I were looking for a new ride would I look at the Hei Hei 27? Heck Yes.. Kona's a bomb-proof, reliable and capable bike built to last.
The trick is when buying a bike, look at keeping it long term as the resell value just plummets.
You can always tell a tire produced for the bike manufacturer by the MAXXIS in white lettering.
Any non factory produced tire will always have yellow MAXXIS lettering.
Judging by the video, I cannot say these are indeed a Tomahawk, and by the yellow lettering they are definitely " out of the box "
Most of it was shot on Minion DHF's in MaxxGrip compound in what look to be a 2.4"+ rubber size
www.pinkbike.com/photo/14413303
for a second when watching the video this morning I thought... Wow those tires look like they hook up great.... Marketing. huh
www.pinkbike.com/photo/14413303
and ooooh boy this Landscape is amazing!
First time the smaller wheel version looks all whacked compared to the 29er version.
I can see the market for the 29er hei hei, but the overlap between this and the process 134 is too big and the process is gonna be reaaaaally hard to beat.
(nice bike and trails, awesome riding)
66.
That's one.