Should You Buy the Kona Fire Mountain 2022 Mountain Bike – All You Need to Know

What is it?

Kona Fire Mountain 2022 is the 27.5″ wheeled mountain bike with 100mm of coil suspension made to eat up miles on off-road trails. It is a very up to date bike with modern touches:

• A 1X drivetrain system.
• Hill climbing friendly 75 degree seat angle.
• Playful feeling short rear end.  

The bike is priced at $849 retail. These bikes can often be snagged below retail price however so be on the look out for sales deals online and locally in your area.

You can find a bike that fits you no matter your height using the size chart below. It works as a general guide, you can also use Kona’s sizing form to get the correct size. The best way to know your correct sizing is to go into your local shop and get a foot over the bike on a test ride.

Kona Fire Mountain Sizing + Fit

What is it Meant for?

Taking a look at the 1X drivetrain, the frame design choices and the 2.25″ wide 27.5″ tires size, this bike is meant for fun trail days.

Made to feel more playful and responsive of a bike compared to its competitors this bike takes elements from the well loved Kona Honzo. It incorporates some of the same design philosophy.

What this means is a bike for climbing and descending flowing trails. The frame design helps put you in a more comfortable climbing position. You’ll be able to put down power to spin your way up even the steepest of trails.

These characteristics mean that light dirt jump days are possible on this bike, the 100mm Suntour fork providing enough cushion to take the edge off of most landings.

The 2.25″ wide tires means that even for long days where miles are racked up you won’t be slowed by dragging along wider tires.

2.25″ is a good balance between grip, comfort and efficiency on trail bikes. Both the front and rear are come with either WTB Trail Boss or Maxxis Rekon tires. Both are well specified tires for a trail bike at this price.

Who is it Meant for?

• Great all around bike for beginner mountain bikers
• If you want to make easy work of climbs to trail peaks and have a blast downhill

This bike is great for speedy uphill climbs in the mountains. The tires won’t drag and slow you down and the frame allows you to get over the bike to get good tire front grip to shoot uphill.

This won’t compromise your downhill sections however as the riser bar gives great confidence to new riders on steeper descents.

It’s a solid choice for beginners as the modern frame is a suitable platform to make upgrades. As you improve your skills, you’ll want to make sure that the bike isn’t limiting  what you’re capable of doing on the trails.

Rather than buy a brand new bike, small upgrades can change the way a bike rides significantly.

To transform the ride of the Kona Fire Mountain, wider high profile tyres and riser bars can make it feel much more stable as you begin to tackle the rougher downhill trails.

The frame also has internal dropper post routing for taking your mountain biking experience to the next level.

How Does it Compare to the Competition?

• Neatly finished bike
• Upgradeable frame
• On the pricier end for its specification

The finishing touches on this bike are what you’d expect to see for bikes at a higher price point. Looking at this bike from a distance at first glance you’d think it was in a higher tier price range.

Fire Mountain sits between the trail and cross country category. The frame design makes this bike highly upgradeable. Whether you’re adding a longer travel 120mm fork or installing a dropper post via the frames internal routing.

Things to Consider Before you Buy

Warranty on the bike

If register your bike with Kona no less than 3 months after purchase you’ll get lifetime warranty on the frame.

You get a one year limited warranty on the entire bike for any defective parts within this time under normal use conditions of the bike (USA policy).

Don’t regret your purchase

Think carefully about what type of riding you’ll likely be doing. If you think you’ll be doing long journeys in the city the majority of the time then this bike may not be for you.

In conclusions you should purchase based on the riding you’ll be doing 90% of the time and not the 10% where you may need something lighter, something quicker or something more robust.

Cool factors

Like all Kona mountain bikes it’s well finished with a 2 great choices of paint jobs. Secondly it has aesthetic Kona logos and brand names placed neatly around the frame. To top it off ‘fire mountain’ decal at the seat stay finishes off this trendy look and makes it a unique frame to the Kona range letting the world know exactly what bike you’re on.

Looks are definitely subjective but Kona mountain bikes usually stand above the competition when it comes to aesthetically pleasing paint jobs and decals. It’s swooping down tube just adds to the unique look that stands out from other bikes at this price point.

The Kona finishing kit on the headset, saddle, grips and seatpost make it feel like a complete bike visually.

Kona Fire Mountain Specification