Kona Dream Builds: Interior Design, Sean’s Stunning Hei Hei CR DL

I (Sean Jenkins)had been looking for a bike at the far end of the cross country bike category, a bike that has a fast cruising speed but doesn’t scare the hell out of you when the trail gets nasty. Then one morning District Bicycle Company, my local Kona dealer here in Kamloops, sent me a message about the new 2020 Kona Hei Hei that had just been released. I ordered one literally five minutes later.

It may be stock but that Descendant SRAM XX1 drivetrain is one sexy piece of kit.

OneUp’s ISCG chain guide offers that little bit extra chain retention.

Luckily the bike was spec’d with an amazing 120mm travel RockShox Pike Ultimate.

Since the frame can accommodate larger tires, deciding on rims was a hard choice. For the wheels I wanted to have the option of running 2.3 Maxxis Minions front and rear on days when downhilling with friends and perfect dirt is on the menu. Not to mention using 2.3-2.4 fast-rolling cross country tires as my daily drivers. I ended up going with We Are One Composites – Faction carbon rims with a 27mm internal measurement laced to Industry Nine Hydra hubs, these should be perfect for a large variety of tires.

This bike is for three-plus hour singletrack rides, so I had just one problem left to solve. A badly broken wrist and missing tendons in my left hand from an injury a decade ago still plague me. Jeff at District Bicycle sourced me the cockpit set-up to help on those days. We went with a We Are One Composites DaPackage carbon bar and stem combination, an SDG Tellis dropper because it has absolutely the softest lever feel out there and SDG Thrice 33 grips.

The We Are One Composites DaPackage carbon handlebar (20mm rise, cut to 780mm) and Aluminum stem (35mm length and only 80 grams for stem) are finished off with a One Up EDC tool system.