2004 Kona Unit

Cost: $800 ($450 frame only)
Contact: 800-566-2872; www.konaworld.com

There are lots of choices in today's singlespeed scene. Once the domain of beer-soaked industry sidebars and garage mechanics, lately, singlespeeds are like the Atkins diet: They're everywhere. But I'm not here to give you some Subway diet-plan, or recommend a low-carb. beer (WTF?). I'm here to give you the 1-2 on Kona's latest, the 2004 Unit.

The 2004 Kona Unit is a thinking man's singlespeed. And by thinking man I mean a person who believes that singlespeeds are at their best when they're about simplicity and function over form and fashion, about ease of use, and ease of setup. This makes sense, because Kona is no Johnny-come-lately to the singlespeed scene. (Go back to 1995 and check out the phonetically incorrigible Humuhumu-Nukunuku-A-Pua'a to get an idea of Kona's roots.)

But Kona's no stranger to innovation, either. Check the rear dropouts on this bike. The 2004 Unit is a disc-ready singlespeed, and Kona takes a unique approach to the "disc-brake on a singlespeed" dilemma. Mounting a disc brake on a frame with horizontal dropouts means that the caliper must be moved each time the gearing is changed, or rotated out of the way when the wheel is removed from the frame. It's not impossible, but it's cumbersome at best.

The Unit alleviates this conundrum by using bolt-on vertical dropouts with caliper-mounting tabs that are affixed to the frame on horizontally slotted mounts. This allows the wheel, rotor and caliper, once installed, to remain in proper relationship with each other while they are adjusted fore or aft for chain tensioning, and are fixed into position with two 6mm bolts per side. It is a clean solution, one that works as well, and I prefer it to another popular method, the eccentric bottom bracket. That Kona does not spec the Unit with discs after going to all this trouble is a bit puzzling.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Dropouts aside, let's talk about the more important factor: How does the Unit ride?

The Unit is instantly comfortable out of the box thanks to the True Temper OX-Platinum frame and a 70-degree head angle, combined with a suspension-corrected Kona Project 2 hard fork. Kona's trademark sloping top-tube increases standover height and lends the bike a compact BMX-ish feel. An 11.5-inch bottom bracket height keeps the cranks off the rocks, and even with a long 24-inch top-tube on our 20-inch test bike, manuals were a snap.

Solid parts hang from the Unit's frame: Koski bar, stem and seatpost; SDG saddle; Race Face XC Isis cranks; Avid SD 5 brakes and levers; Tioga Red Phoenix tires; and Sun Mach IV rims laced to disc-ready hubs (Shimano M475 in front and Kona house-brand in the rear). If you decide to run disc brakes on the Unit, most of your homework has been done for you.

What's not to like on the Unit? The placement of the cable guides on the top-tube was a concern. The forward cable guide is so close to the head-tube as to kink the rear brake cable when the bars are turned to the left. It's mostly due to the cable guide inserts, which effectively move the stop even farther forward. Running full-length housing to the rear brake can alleviate the problem, something you would do with disc brakes. And according to Kona, the cable stops are placed where they are due to the short butting of the OX Platinum tubing. The 1.9 tires seem a bit skinny for a singlespeed, whose adherents are known to prefer fatter tires. I did squeeze a 2.4 Motoraptor in the back, and while it fit, mud clearance was at a premium. Rooster Clogburn, if you will.

But taken as a whole, the $800 2004 Kona Unit offers a great combination of value and innovation. If you're thinking about a single speed, it's worth a look.