[Apan3000]

Hi, I'm thinking about buying a Kona Jake the Snake 2006 to use for as cross (not competitive, just as a complement to my FS mtb), for commuting and as a road bike (not competitive either). I will probably buy an extra pair of wheels for road use.

I would appreciate some info from Jake the Snake or Jake owners here... are you pleased with your bike? Was it worth the dollars? Have you changed any parts on it? And most importantly: how much does it weigh? I havent been able to find that anywhere...

thanks for the help! / Kalle, Stockholm, Sweden.

 

[kajukembo]

they weigh about 22 pounds.

 

[Ranger Pride]

Mine is a 56 and was about 22.5 lbs

I bought a 2005 and it weighed about 22.5 without the Time pedals I use. I have not done anything to it yet but will upgrad a few components like the seatpost and seat. The WTB is compfy but weighs about 320 grams.

The bike is a blast to ride and handles great on the road. You will drop some weight when you change the tires over to road with smaller tubes. I don't know what the savings will be from that but would imagine it will have some impact.

I am happy with my purchase and am convinced it is a great do it all bike.

Good Luck!

 

[The Walrus]

I have two Jakes ('99 and '00) and an '01 Major Jake. Overall, I'm very pleased with the way they handle and ride, not quite as comfortable as the Bianchi Axis but a bit quicker and faster. I added Tektro top-mount brake levers to all three. The '99 came to me with an 8sp Campy drivetrain, which I left untouched. The '00 was all 105, but I swapped out the rear mech and cassette for XT. I completely redid the drivetrain on the Major Jake; Kona used a mix of Tiagra, Sugino and 105 in order to make the price point after upgrading to an Easton Elite frameset (wasn't worth it--I can't feel any difference between the "generic" 7005 on the '00 and the Easton tubeset), which I replaced with Ultegra.

I like the bikes. I commuted on the Major Jake last summer (with street tires) and enjoyed it, and I use all three on fire roads and some singletrack. The only significant quibble I have with the bikes is the Project 2 fork, which is heavy and somewhat harsh.

Sorry I didn't/couldn't address the weight issue; I never researched it or actually put the bikes on a scale.

 

[Apan3000]

Thanks! 22-22.5 is a tolerable weight, especially since I'm not planning on touring in the Alps anytime soon... The Tektro extra brakelevers seem like a good idea, will definitely buy those...

I have to choose between JtS and a dedicated roadbike (I have had my eyes on Cannondale R700 for example) and the first major test for the bike will be the 300 km-long race "Vattern Runt" 16-17 of June in the south of Sweden. (The course takes you around the second largest lake in Sweden and takes between 7 (pro teams) and 24 (amateur oldtimers) hours.)

I think the Snake will do fine. Plus I get to rediscover the local fireroads and singletrack that my fs mtb has made too easy and boring...

/Kalle

 

[carter1]

I've put about 125 miles on my Jake the Snake over the past 10 days or so. Probably about 50% road and 50% fire road/single track. Compared to my Orbea road bike (that I sold to buy the Jake), it is actually lighter than my Orbea, but handles slower. My Orbea was a nice entry level road bike, but with Campy Mirage components, it was a little heavy. My Jake was a CCA/Kona team bike this year, so it is built much lighter (20.8 lbs on a digital scale with cadence computer, hrm, and Time atac Z mountain bike pedals). It took my all of about 10 minutes to get use to the differences! Sounds like you will use your bike much the same as me. I am very happy with my choice.
c