Kona’s Hei Hei was first introduced in 1991 as a titanium hardtail MTB. Over the years, it’s been updated to become the full-suspension, carbon-framed XC bike it is today. 2025 sees the 10th generation of the Hei Hei get a significant suspension revision, among other updates.
The Hei Hei is a lightweight, efficient pedaling MTB that’s capable of chasing podiums but versatile enough for lengthy trail rides. The bike aims to deliver balanced performance on climbs and descents, and a well-rounded ride that can tackle highly technical trails.
2025 Kona Hei Hei
Kona doesn’t shy away from calling the Hei Hei an XC bike, as it has visited many podiums over the years, but it’s not just for racers. It’s the brand’s lightest full suspension offering, making for a fun bike that eats up miles of trails with ease. Enhancing its versatility, Kona gave it slack enough steering and supple but supportive suspension so it maintains composure on rougher terrain.
The revised Hei Hei frame features a straighter downtube and a sleeker overall shape, plus a straightened seat tube to allow for long-travel dropper posts. Hei Hei frames are only available in carbon. The bike provides 120 mm of rear travel, and runs a 130mm fork. As you might expect, the Hei Hei rolls on 29” wheels. It is not MX compatible, because this bike is all about speed and efficiency!
Suspension
The Hei Hei’s rear suspension has been significantly redesigned for 2025, now using a Swinger linkage with a single upper link that neatly connects inside the top tube. This design replaces the more traditional upper rocker link from the previous Hei Hei. Kona has also added a pivot above the rear dropouts, where the outgoing frame relied on flexstays to provide its travel. This gives the new Hei Hei smoother suspension movement with no resistance. Kona noted they were able to add this pivot with a negligible weight penalty over the flexstay design.
The new Hei Hei’s linear suspension curve is similar to the current Process MTBs, and was tuned to offer a consistent feel throughout the bike’s travel. Kona straightened out the curve around the sag point, eliminating a ‘hump’ perceived in the previous model. The curve gets progressive enough at the top of the stroke to resist bottom-outs.
As this bike was built to pedal with race-level efficiency, anti-squat was increased on the new Hei Hei to keep you riding higher in the travel while cranking away.
Features and Fitments
Nine bottle bosses in the front triangle allow for multiple water bottles, tools, cargo accessories, etc. Kona says a small frame can fit two water bottles, but noted the rear shock will have to be flipped around to provide ample clearance.
The updated Hei Hei frame features improved fully tubed internal cable routing for easier cable/hose installation. Kona says the routing was also straightened out to offer better shifting performance. There is also an option to route a rear shock lockout cable externally. With each bike, Kona includes a P-clamp that can be bolted to the bottle mounts under the top tube.
As for fitments, the Hei Hei uses a PF92 press-fit bottom bracket with ISCG tabs for an upper chain guide. The frame provides room for up to a 38t front chainring, and there is no front derailleur mount.
Stock dropper posts range from 125-200mm travel, depending on frame size. The Hei Hei accepts 31.6mm posts.
Out back is a 12x148mm Boost rear axle, with the frame offering ample clearance for the stock Maxxis WT 29×2.4” treads on 30mm I.D. rims. The Hei Hei also gets SRAM UDH compatible dropouts, plus chainstay, seat stay, and down tube protectors.
Geometry
Kona designed the Hei Hei’s geometry to offer a comfortable position for all-day pedaling. Check out the chart for all the numbers, but here’s the key specs:
The Hei Hei has a 66° head tube, and seat tube angles range from 76.1-75.8° depending on frame size. Reach numbers are not too lengthy, with a medium frame at 449mm and a large at 474mm. All frame sizes run short 435mm chainstays. One thing to note is that Kona kept the standover heights very close between frame sizes, so you can choose your size based on the reach you want.
Model Lineup
Kona kept the Hei Hei lineup nice and simple, with just one complete model and a frameset. Like we saw with the new Libre CR, they’re both only offered in one color as well, so if you prefer the slick Metallic Bark color, your only option is to build one from scratch.
Hei Hei CR – $5299
The complete bike’s frame is available in one color – Gloss Bone with Charcoal decals.
Hei Hei CR Frameset – $2950
The Hei Hei frameset includes a RockShox Deluxe Ultimate rear shock, rear axle, UDH derailleur hanger, and a seat clamp. The frame comes in a Metallic Bark color.
One Ride Impressions
Kona set me up with a Hei Hei for testing, but since I only received it days ago I’ve had just one chance to ride it. For now, here are my brief initial impressions of the Hei Hei.
Given that I usually ride burlier, longer travel enduro bikes, I knew right away I’d enjoy climbing on the Hei Hei. Within a few switchbacks, I was grinning about the bike’s 30.56 lbs weight (with pedals). At roughly 6.5 lbs lighter than my personal bike, the bike felt impressively responsive to pedaling efforts, and delightfully easy to heave up the trail. It is still on the chunky side of XC bike weights though, so don’t expect this to be a super-light.
This is one of the first complete bikes we’ve had in with SRAM 90 Eagle Transmission and the Motive 4-piston trail brakes. Between that and the burly-for-XC 2.4″ Dissector tires, this bike is clearly built for North Shore XC, so the weight is more acceptable.
Weight aside, the Hei Hei pedals very efficiently. I did my first climb with the shock wide open, and even in that mode the bike eagerly clawed uphill. On a singletrack climb, the bike still used a fair bit of its travel, which proved enough for reliable traction over roots and rocks. On a forest service road section, I firmed up the shock. The switch definitely stiffens up the rear end considerably, offering very firm pedaling support. It does sacrifice bump absorption quite a bit, as even small rocks on the FSR were easily noticeable in this mode.
I rode a fast, rocky descent with the Hei Hei and was fairly impressed with how it handled the rough stuff. Obviously, you should be pickier about line choice with a short travel bike, and despite trying, I did feel two or three harsh hits on the rear wheel during my first descent. However, while pinballing through the smaller rocks, I felt pretty well planted and stable on the Hei Hei. I also hit a few small drops, one of which brought the bike right to the sweet spot – just below bottom-out, without harshly blowing through.
I’ll leave my one-ride thoughts at that, but watch Bikerumor for a complete, detailed review of the Hei Hei later this summer.