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MountainBikeReview.com's Forum Archives - What Bike to Buy
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Kona HeiHei, Dean Colonel, or Ritchey NiTi (10 posts)
|  Kona HeiHei, Dean Colonel, or Ritchey NiTi | a day
Aug 29, 2001 7:33 AM | | I recently decided that I wanted a steel Ibis Mojo frame, but the above three titanium frames are all in the same price range.
Of the Kona, Dean, and Ritchey, has anyone had experience with more than one of them, that can give me a little comparison action?
I read the reviews on all three, but they are all the same - a bunch of people gush over it, and one or two people say they suck. |
| NiTi ain't Ti | Goose
Aug 29, 2001 8:00 AM | | It's Ritchey "Nitanium" steel.
So of the other two frames which are actually Ti, I'd vote for the Kona, cuz I had a Dean seatpost which was a big ol piece of cr@ppola, so I'm prejudiced against Dean. The Airborne Lucky Strike is also Ti and in the same price range and seems to be quality from what I've seen. |
| NiTi ain't Ti | a day
Aug 29, 2001 1:42 PM | | I guess I know the Ritchey ain't titanium, but the other Ibis rig I was looking at was steel anyway, and steel is OK by me.
I guess I like the fact that Dean is made in the USA, and seems to be a fairly decent handmade frameset, but I am skeptical about the quality because they are so cheap. I don't know where Kona bikes are made, but I prefer US made frames.
I can't find much info about Ritchey frames at all. I know that they are limited production.
I don't know how to compare these bikes! |
| NiTi ain't Ti | jimmy
Aug 29, 2001 2:03 PM | | I have a buddy w/ a Dean Duke. He loves it. Well made. I think they are well made--I live in boulder & see a lot of them. I think they have less profit margin than some others. Lightspeed must make a huge profit off their straight gauge ti bikes... |
| NiTi ain't Ti | Goose
Aug 29, 2001 4:23 PM | | Unless you know that you want a really short top tube, don't get a Ritchey MTB. I've got a Ritchey road bike which I love, but the top tubes on their mountain bikes are insanely short and frankly I think it makes them endo machines.
The Kona vs. Dean is a toss-up. But don't throw out that Ibis Mojo inkling, either. That's a darn fine bike and Ti ain't necessarily all that. |
| NiTi ain't Ti | a day
Aug 30, 2001 12:16 PM | | Thanks for all the great words of wisdom.
I took a look at the geometry on all three, and I have ruled out the Ritchey.
The choice is still a tough one. |
| Ritchey Plexus | UTommy
Aug 30, 2001 6:48 PM | | I prefer the plexus to a niti - by a lot. also prefer it to the ibis. its a great santa cruz mtn singletrack dart. you'll also probably notice that the Ti frame weight isn't buying you a lot over the high end steel you've probably considered (I'm not anti-Ti - I ride one, but I miss my old steel bontrager). |
| Dean good... | woe
Aug 29, 2001 4:14 PM | | They seem to have some problems with the seatposts, but the frames rock. Excellent customer service, too. |
| What was the problem with the seat post.. | Cranky
Aug 29, 2001 10:29 PM | | ...I was thinking about getting one. From memory I thought the reviews were very good. I'd be interested to hear of your experience. |
| It was just low quality. | Goose
Aug 30, 2001 7:59 AM | | It sold for something like $60, but I got one on closeout for $20 or $25. There was a reason it was on closeout - it was massively overpriced. It was priced at about the same as a Thomson and was the quality of a Kalloy. Heavy, low quality, cheap crummy looking sticker logo, and a terrible bolt and washer system for the clamp which made it almost impossible to adjust the saddle because the bolts would always get stuck with their washers (hard to explain). It was just not a $60 post. I cut it down and use it on my road bike now, so I can't attest to how strong it is. But it has made we biased against Dean since they simply shouldn't have been charging that much for that post. |
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