The upside to the climbing characteristics of this bike is that it will cruise through just about anything with minimal hang-ups. A short, steep section of trail littered with roots? No problem—crank straight through it, and the Satori will handle it. The big wheels coupled with the aggressive geometry and relatively long travel mean that this bike is unfazed by most trail obstacles. When I was feeling energetic (i.e., at the beginning of the climb), this made for a fun game of “can I clean the worst line on the trail?”
Usually the answer was Yes.
On longer climbs and on tighter trails, the Satori’s size and heft became increasingly cumbersome. However, in the right situations, I had a ton of fun on this bike. I rode a few mild descents that were full of long sweeping curves, and the Satori absolutely kills it in those situations. The bigger wheels with the meaty 2.4” Maxxis Ardents serve up a healthy dose of traction, and the stiff frame tracks well through roots. This means that, as long as the trail is mostly downhill and as long as the turns don’t get too tight, you can really hold your momentum down rocky, rooty trails where 26” wheels would get hung up and more traditional 29er frames would feel twitchy and unstable.
I would also say that the Satori is a very predictable bike. Even hacking into a corner with the back end skittering off the outside of the corner, I never felt like the bike was doing anything unexpected. The bike is also perfectly happy to pop off bumps and get a bit of breathing room under the tires. This predictability lends a confidence that allows the bike to be rallied down trails, at times a bit faster than is really appropriate, which is always fun.
Components
I haven’t spent much time talking about the components on this bike; it comes with a smattering of X9 and X7 level parts, all of which performed flawlessly in my relatively short time aboard the bike. Really though, an X9 derailleur is an X9 derailleur. It’s going to work the same on the Satori as it would on virtually any other bike. There’s ample room in the component package for weight savings, especially on the Kona branded components like the handlebar and seatpost, but (with the exception of the stem and handlebar mentioned previously) there wasn’t anything in the spec that felt wildly out of place for a bike of this price.
Bottom Line
Overall, it seems like Kona developed the Satori frame as a 29er that was intended to hang it out on the descents, but then they outfitted it with parts that didn’t quite stay true to this intention. I’d like to see Kona embrace the Satori for what it is: a bike that should be ridden uphill for the sole purpose of bombing back down. With a few adjustments, the Satori could be a great option for those looking for a squishy 29er that’s geared toward big-wheeled pillaging.
(Stay tuned for Joe Hanrahan’s 2nd Look review of the Kona Satori.)
Where is the other dudes follow up review? I want to read it