Kona MinUte

[kafka-cloud]

I have been looking at a new bike for sometime to find the perfect fit for cummuting and ebiking.

i.e. comfortable city bike with some disc brake and suitable for carrying stuff around. Recently I found a 2012 preview of the kona MinUte, I thought i would share since this seems to be a good bike to convert to ebike.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/05/12/kona-shows-off-new-minute-2012-pro/

http://cog.konaworld.com/archives/7398

http://www.konaworld.com/asphalt_simplicity.cfm?content=minute

oh well, amybe it will be of interest.

Cheers

 

[geetarboy]

Nice for cargo,but too bad it's not full-suspension. You could put a 'thudbuster' seat post on it, might help.

 

[Demosthenes]

I like it. Seems like a good alternative to the xtracycle. Slightly less hauling capacity but much easier to store and stuff. I can't fit an xtracycle in my basement, but I could fit this. One site you linked quoted 100lbs capacity, but Kona's site quotes 300.... Big difference. Also, if it's 300, you could carry an extra person on there which would be a huge plus for me. The only things I don't like are aluminum front fork, not so good for front hubs. And I don't like the handlebar style... But otherwise a great bike. Something to think about for the future.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

That looks like a perfect bike to electrify!

Thanks for sharing, I love the integrated rack rated at 100lbs! Total bike rated for 300lbs cargo, that, and it comes with fenders, heavy duty kickstand and two paniers included?! SWEET!

 

[miuan]

I have a Ute which is the same but longer. No way I'd want to carry 300lbs. Sometimes I do carry a drunk person on the rack, but the bike truly suffers under such load. A lot of grocery stuff and some batteries in the panniers are just fine, however. Suspension post and comfy saddle are a good match. Great bike and the MinUte looks very promising.

 

[Racer_X]

Wow this bike is nice! Not too big not too small and I can carry some cargo. I currently can carry my 10 year old son as a passenger on my Schwinn Heavy duty to his school which is 8 miles away. Which is great but he is starting to get too tall to haul that far. He is 4' 6" and weighs 92 lbs. I think with this bike he will be able to stretch his legs a bit better.
A couple things I would change. I would put wider beach cruiser steel handle bars, suspension seat post and 2.3 inch balloon tires.

 

[TonyReynolds]

Just found this on the web looking for something else. Looks very promising for a commuter with a wheelbase inbetween that of the normal size hybrid and full-size utility bikes. Too bad it's aluminum and not steel. I wonder what the biggest 622xXX tire it will run and whether one could mount a suspension fork, or if one would even be needed. Problem for me, is that my A123 triangle battery won't fit this bike.

Nice...

 

[es2150]

Cute bike, but hard to beat a dummy. Steel is so nice on rough roads.

 

[Philistine]

Cargo bikes are awesome. I find I use my Yuba far more than most of my other more exciting ebikes just because it is so practical. Not that much fun to ride in itself, but damn useful and practical (but being able to have two kids seats on it and carry both my older kids around is a lot of fun).

 

[miuan]

Cargo bikes are awesome. I find I use my Yuba far more than most of my other more exciting ebikes just because it is so practical.

Same with my Ute. Except with two motors and 20S lipo, it's every bit as exciting as practical

 

[Kai]

I have been riding my Kona MinUte for 7 months without electric motor, and now it has a electric GNG mid-drive for a month. I like Minute more than my previous bike Yuba Mundo because MinUte is lighter to pedal and easier to lift. Now that it has motor and battery on it, it's not so lightweight anymore. But it's so fast! I just ordered a suspension Suntour seatpost (similar to ThudBuster) because suspension is a must when riding high speed at 50 km/h. I'm worried that my Brooks saddle will break if I sit on it when driving high speed.

I haven't done any modifications to MinUte, but I upgraded those crappy disk brakes to cheap hydraylic ones, bought a leather saddle and installed Ursus Jumbo twin leg kickstand, which I highly recommend for MinUte. It's not as durable and solid as Yuba Mundo twin kickstand, but it's best you can get for a normal bike.

I do miss Yuba Mundo. I had a really solid feel, no flex at all when heavily loaded, and long wheelbase made it really stable ride. Accelerating was slow ofcourse, but I got used to it being heavy and used lower gears more. If I had a motor on it when I had it, I wouldn't had sold it. The 1. gen version of Yuba I had was crude when compared to MinUte.

I'll post some photos later

 

[Shurafa]

I would love to see pictures of this. I just bought a Minute and am thinking about upgrading...

Would love to see pictures and specs of what you are running