46-30 paired with 11-34 is a perfect combo. Got a FSA omega 46-30 on clearance and it changed my Devinci Hatchet. You can climb steep gravel inclines in the saddle and I can now use my bigger ring a lot more! Best upgrade I made on my bike.
Being new to cycling, and wanting a steel bike as I see them being more durable, I chose a '21 Kona Rove LTD. I've only had it for about a week and a half and have put maybe 60 miles on it. I've ridden it over mixed terrain and I really like it so far. Though, being new, I don't have much of a frame of reference with other bikes to compare it to.
Another cool bike review Russ, really a nice 1 stop shopping option for light touring/bikepacking/commuting etc. I love my '19 Rove ST 650b (hence the profile pic)
Love your bike reviews. Always on point with the things that matter like the seat bag clearance on a 52 and the feel of the stock cassette on an actual bike tour. Very nice
I have a 2020 Kona Rove ST, not the Swift version. I absolutely love it! I originally wanted it to be a bike packer. I have since fell in love with it! It's the cheapest bike I own at $1600 but it just works so well for longer rides. Rival 1x 40 up front 11/42 cassete, can do 20% grades but am thinking of going a little smaller up front. I'm sold on 650b now! Also came tubeless ready, just had to buy valves and sealent.
I have 2019 Rove ST, was going to get NRB, but could get the size here in Poland and decided to go with a steel one. I was a bit afraid that it would be to "slow", but when you go without all the bags it is not as slow as you might think.
How is it riding on pavement trails with friends or significant other? I'm looking for a bike to ride those trails with my gf, but also to do long gravel rides myself. I'm thinking 10-15 miles. I'm only used to MTB, so looking for something to bridge the gap, but not full on road.
I’m looking for a bike to fit a few roles. Commute (need to carry pants, shirts, hoodie, etc for my job), bike packing // touring, good on gravel, and geared to handle grades when loaded down or pulling a trailer. The options has me frustrated... lol
Great video! Really enjoying them and learning from your experience. Might help if the weight is the big problem to see what can easily be removed and see if it changes anything in the ride/responsiveness. I know it is a loaner so nothing invasive but at least take off the bags.
Thanks, Russ. Excellent initial review of this bike, and it's a beautiful bike. Like Paul below, I agree it's a bit on the pricey side, however. Also, it's unfortunate that the stock rear rack system couldn't work for you - I anticipate having the same issue unfortunately. I agree with your preference for carry bags over "sausages," despite owning a pair of front and rear Ortlieb sausages. :-) I'm still taking my time in shopping around for my next bike - something of a road touring that can handle some trail riding, or a bikepacking bike that rides fairly well on roads. Thanks again.
Nice bike and bags. But at $3,200 its pricey for a basic weighty steel frame and fork rig. And its twice the price of the standard steel Rove! Even with all those nice upgrades I think you could get a lot more for the money elsewhere.
I think the premium comes from them only making a couple hundred of them. I would have loved the Swift Rove, but I wouldn't have loved it twice as much as my Rove ST Rival.
Well, yes it's expensive. The bags and fenders and rack are about $900 and the groupset is at least $1000. They aren't cutting a huge deal and it's hard to figure the extra cost of swapped out parts but those aren't cheap upgrades. I really just wanted that frame color. They can keep the bags and racks as I have plenty
Great review as always Russ. 👍🏼 Very curious about this bicycle and am now getting more granular with my understanding and appreciation of the differences and what I’m looking for from a bicycle based on your excellent flavour wheel. But no flavour wheel here with this review? 🤔 ...can you give us the wrap on the front, rear and balance/overall of this Kona? Not a criticism man, more a request to keep the flavour wheel goodness alive. Love your work 👌🏼
I’m curious about your impression of GRX. I just bought a frame for a new build and am looking at GRX 1x. Perhaps your review might make an adequate post topic?
Fair enough. I get the attraction of cable-actuated brakes on things like touring bikes. I totally understand why your wife chose the Spyre calipers - they’re great, reliable, and easy to work on. But I LOVE Shimano’s Ultegra hydros. I am assuming the GRX brakes are similar.
Russ, you said it was a little bit more than the regular Rove but how much more? What's the price? Does it make sense vs just buying the bags that work for each particular rider? Bag choice is similar to pedal choice in my experience and a stock setup won't work for everyone.
Actually its way more than a little bit more than the regular steel rove. At $3,199 its double the price! If you price out the bags, racks, fenders they would cost around $850. The Swift version has a GRX group set upgrade vs Sram Rival 1x.
In Europe the price of the standard rove st is 1600€ versus 2300€ for st swift. For 500€ more you have grx groups et instead of sram rival, mudguards and the nice bags. I chose the standard st version because I didn't need the bags and I was fine with the rival group.
@@paulhillereau2974 That makes perfect sense. The bike set up in this video doesn't make sense to me. At least here in the US, the bags cost more than the frame does if you were to buy them separately.
Thanks for the info Paul and Paul. I was thinking exactly what both of you posted. This seems like a real gimmick and I don't think we see it catching on
Could get a Ribble CGR 725 with Shimano GRX for $1700 and fully kit it out for a total of $2100. So what's Kona playing at putting a price tag of $3200 on this bike?
Looking at that exact comparison now. The newer Rove LTD is very closely spec'd to the Ribble CGR with maybe a $300 premium for getting something more supported by local dealers. A very tough call.
Hintonbro he never states prices.....that’s why his reviews are not really reviews. I can tell you this is twice as much as a Rove St. buy a St and put your own gear on it.
I like these collaborations. It's cool to see companies working together for neat products!
46-30 paired with 11-34 is a perfect combo. Got a FSA omega 46-30 on clearance and it changed my Devinci Hatchet. You can climb steep gravel inclines in the saddle and I can now use my bigger ring a lot more! Best upgrade I made on my bike.
Being new to cycling, and wanting a steel bike as I see them being more durable, I chose a '21 Kona Rove LTD. I've only had it for about a week and a half and have put maybe 60 miles on it. I've ridden it over mixed terrain and I really like it so far. Though, being new, I don't have much of a frame of reference with other bikes to compare it to.
Another cool bike review Russ, really a nice 1 stop shopping option for light touring/bikepacking/commuting etc. I love my '19 Rove ST 650b (hence the profile pic)
Love your bike reviews. Always on point with the things that matter like the seat bag clearance on a 52 and the feel of the stock cassette on an actual bike tour. Very nice
Russ have you ever reviewed the Kona Sutra?
I have a 2020 Kona Rove ST, not the Swift version. I absolutely love it! I originally wanted it to be a bike packer. I have since fell in love with it! It's the cheapest bike I own at $1600 but it just works so well for longer rides. Rival 1x 40 up front 11/42 cassete, can do 20% grades but am thinking of going a little smaller up front. I'm sold on 650b now! Also came tubeless ready, just had to buy valves and sealent.
I have 2019 Rove ST, was going to get NRB, but could get the size here in Poland and decided to go with a steel one. I was a bit afraid that it would be to "slow", but when you go without all the bags it is not as slow as you might think.
How is it riding on pavement trails with friends or significant other? I'm looking for a bike to ride those trails with my gf, but also to do long gravel rides myself. I'm thinking 10-15 miles. I'm only used to MTB, so looking for something to bridge the gap, but not full on road.
I finally was able to buy one - by chance! Can’t wait to ride. Plan to do some light bikepacking starting in the spring of 2021.
Nice video as always! Tested a Kona Rove ST here in Sweden and got all crazy about it! We will see what happens!
I’m looking for a bike to fit a few roles. Commute (need to carry pants, shirts, hoodie, etc for my job), bike packing // touring, good on gravel, and geared to handle grades when loaded down or pulling a trailer. The options has me frustrated... lol
of course it is good
Love the reviews. Love the Rove ST. Thanks Russ.
Thanks for the review
Great video! Really enjoying them and learning from your experience.
Might help if the weight is the big problem to see what can easily be removed and see if it changes anything in the ride/responsiveness. I know it is a loaner so nothing invasive but at least take off the bags.
Another great review video.
Always ready for adventure!
Thanks, Russ. Excellent initial review of this bike, and it's a beautiful bike. Like Paul below, I agree it's a bit on the pricey side, however. Also, it's unfortunate that the stock rear rack system couldn't work for you - I anticipate having the same issue unfortunately. I agree with your preference for carry bags over "sausages," despite owning a pair of front and rear Ortlieb sausages. :-) I'm still taking my time in shopping around for my next bike - something of a road touring that can handle some trail riding, or a bikepacking bike that rides fairly well on roads. Thanks again.
You've ridden a few bikes with GRX now. Maybe a first thoughts video on that?
Nice bike and bags. But at $3,200 its pricey for a basic weighty steel frame and fork rig. And its twice the price of the standard steel Rove! Even with all those nice upgrades I think you could get a lot more for the money elsewhere.
well put
I think the premium comes from them only making a couple hundred of them. I would have loved the Swift Rove, but I wouldn't have loved it twice as much as my Rove ST Rival.
Well, yes it's expensive. The bags and fenders and rack are about $900 and the groupset is at least $1000. They aren't cutting a huge deal and it's hard to figure the extra cost of swapped out parts but those aren't cheap upgrades. I really just wanted that frame color. They can keep the bags and racks as I have plenty
What are the fenders on your kona?
Looks good, can you please if possible review the Sutra LTD or Kona Unit X, which is a plus tire bike packing mountain bike?
Would love to see something on the sutra LTD
This bike looks amazing. How does it compare a Kona sutra geometry?
Great review as always Russ. 👍🏼
Very curious about this bicycle and am now getting more granular with my understanding and appreciation of the differences and what I’m looking for from a bicycle based on your excellent flavour wheel. But no flavour wheel here with this review? 🤔
...can you give us the wrap on the front, rear and balance/overall of this Kona?
Not a criticism man, more a request to keep the flavour wheel goodness alive.
Love your work 👌🏼
I’m curious about your impression of GRX. I just bought a frame for a new build and am looking at GRX 1x. Perhaps your review might make an adequate post topic?
It’s great. It works. Wish it came in cable actuated brakes.
Fair enough. I get the attraction of cable-actuated brakes on things like touring bikes. I totally understand why your wife chose the Spyre calipers - they’re great, reliable, and easy to work on. But I LOVE Shimano’s Ultegra hydros. I am assuming the GRX brakes are similar.
Peter Baskind she actually got the Paul Klampers. GRX feels par with other Shimano hydro.
The 2021 Rove Ltd would probably tick all the boxes for you. Too bad it’s sold out everywhere
Would the stock rear deraileur be able to handle a bigger cassete ??
It may be not similar, but I changed from 11-32 to 12-36 mtb cassette on my Kona Rove DL and it works just flawlessly.
Does anyone know how much the Kona Rove ST frameset weighs? (M, L, XL, Any?)
Russ, you said it was a little bit more than the regular Rove but how much more? What's the price? Does it make sense vs just buying the bags that work for each particular rider? Bag choice is similar to pedal choice in my experience and a stock setup won't work for everyone.
Actually its way more than a little bit more than the regular steel rove. At $3,199 its double the price! If you price out the bags, racks, fenders they would cost around $850. The Swift version has a GRX group set upgrade vs Sram Rival 1x.
In Europe the price of the standard rove st is 1600€ versus 2300€ for st swift. For 500€ more you have grx groups et instead of sram rival, mudguards and the nice bags. I chose the standard st version because I didn't need the bags and I was fine with the rival group.
@@paulhillereau2974
That makes perfect sense. The bike set up in this video doesn't make sense to me. At least here in the US, the bags cost more than the frame does if you were to buy them separately.
Thanks for the info Paul and Paul. I was thinking exactly what both of you posted. This seems like a real gimmick and I don't think we see it catching on
Could get a Ribble CGR 725 with Shimano GRX for $1700 and fully kit it out for a total of $2100. So what's Kona playing at putting a price tag of $3200 on this bike?
Aaron 3200 is a joke for this bike
Looking at that exact comparison now. The newer Rove LTD is very closely spec'd to the Ribble CGR with maybe a $300 premium for getting something more supported by local dealers. A very tough call.
how does the rove compare to the sutra
Don’t know. Haven’t ridden a Sutra.
Price? All reviews should mention price, no?
Hintonbro he never states prices.....that’s why his reviews are not really reviews. I can tell you this is twice as much as a Rove St. buy a St and put your own gear on it.
hey Rus, how much?..
Not Russ, but $3200
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