Kona King Zing Maiden Voyage

I took advantage of an off day on Monday and brought the King Zing to Kennebec Bike & Ski and had Steve finish the assembly on the bike. It arrived very well put together by the race shop and simply needed the cables run.
Today’s workout put the bike to the test right away as it was a sprint session. Turns out, that’s defintiely an area where this bike shines. First impression is its feathery weight. OK, you got me, it’s the color! This will be a topic for the lifespan of this bike. I think it’s accurate to simply say the bike is “pretty,” pretty freakin’ fast! I asked Kona owner Jake Heilbron what the story was behind the color because I know I’ll be asked. He says it’s “a tip of the hat to the classic Giro d’Italia” (the frame’s roots are in Italy where it’s fabricated) because the leader’s jersey is pink and also “to get noticed.” That’s an understatement! Competing on this bike gives me extra incentive to dig deeper as I need to “man up” and prove it’s not about the bike’s color, but its soul: the frame and rider. I pledge to do everything I can to put this bike out front and show it off.
OK, back to the “soul” of the bike. It feels like it could be broken any moment. This lightweight also contributes to a sense of twitchiness in the steering because it takes very little input from me to point the bike in the right direction. Next it lets you know right away it’s a racer. I have some fine tuning to do on my positioning in the cockpit, but the geometry leaves nothing slack for a jaunt to the store. I also noticed the road feedback right away. Now, I’ll experiment with another wheelset to see if it’s the stiffness of the Mavic Ksyrium ES that are transferring the slightest road undulation up to me. It wasn’t uncomfortable, instead it was comforting to know that every ounce of energy I put into the pedal was going right to the rear wheel because it’s stiff. As apprehensive as I was about sprinting on the bike, I rode away confident it could handle it. There was no sense of fishtailing in the rear end and the front rocked solidly with me rather than wishy-washy. I’m a little unsure of the gearing as this is the first 39/53 crankset I’ve had. I’ve only run compact 34/50’s. But I didn’t feel like I needed another bailout gear around here, so maybe I can handle it. At least it may help me “man up!”
More later.