Kona Dream Builds: Jason’s Slick Hei Hei CR DL

We should have really run an office pool on who was going to build the first Hei Hei Dream Build. My money would have been on Jason Guthrie at Chainline Bikes. Jason and his crew are hands-down the most prolific builders of drool-worthy Konas we’ve ever seen and when a sneak peek of this bike showed up in my WhatsApp messages yesterday…well damn. We knew we had to chase down some more photos and share with you this truly epic Hei Hei CR DL build.

Kicking things off with the drivetrain, Jason has spec’d Rotor’s latest Kapic carbon cranks with a 32t chainring.

You don’t see them every day, but damn they are pretty hot. The 429gram crankset (that’s with the ring and without the bb) is Rotor’s XC specific crank and is their first forway into the carbon crank world. And the name? Cape Epic = Kapic… That’s pretty damn XC. The Deity Blade Runners are not the type of pedals you’d usually find on an XC rig, but years of ankle abuse has meant that Jason cannot release from clipless pedals.

Out back Jason as opted for a SRAM AXS XO rear mech along with the SRAM’s oil slick rear cassette.

The stock Pike Ultimate has remained, albeit with the new Debonair upgrade kit attached to 130mm air spring. Those white Onza Porcupines tires would not have looked out of place on a 1991 Hei Hei although I doubt these 2.4″ bad boys would have fit. The hoops are from Nox and are named after (and designed for riding) Farlow Gap in the Pisgah, they are burly…

The Nox carbon hoops are laced to Factor boost 601 hubs in Purple Haze.

Jason loves his Ergon grips and has even slipped in a little more oil slick via the grip lock-on collars on these GE1 Evo Enduro grips. Braking is taken care of with a set of Hayes Dominions, the four-piston brakes are a completely new ground-up design from the former king of disc brakes. The cockpit is a full ENVE affair with the M6 carbon bar being held in place with an ENVE AM stem.