The all-new eMTBs both feature an aluminium frame with 29″ wheels at both ends and use Shimano’s solid EP800 motor with a removable Darfon 612Wh battery. The Remote X is a 180 mm travel self-uplifting heavy hitter, while the Remote 160 DL is more of an all-rounder with 160 mm travel front and rear.
Kona appears to be getting back into their stride lately, with two brand new e-bikes coming hot on the heels of the Process 153 and 134 manual bikes. All this since Kona’s founders bought back the brand this spring.The all-new eMTBs both feature an aluminium frame with 29″ wheels at both ends and use Shimano’s solid EP800 motor with a removable Darfon 612Wh battery. The Remote X is a 180 mm travel self-uplifting heavy hitter, while the Remote 160 DL is more of an all-rounder with 160 mm travel front and rear.
The no-nonsense aluminium frame includes a removable battery with two M5 bolts to remove the battery cover (there’s no keyed lock). The battery isn’t the biggest at 612 Wh but Kona can supply a spare if you want to double your laps. All frame sizes can fit a water bottle, there’s a universal derailleur hanger and the cable routing doesn’t go through the headset bearings.The speed sensor is tucked neatly in front of the dropout and there is a UCB-C port to charge your phone, GPS, lights or who-knows-what-else behind the power button on the top tube.Kona went back to the drawing board with the suspension design of the Remote bikes. Just kidding – they’re sticking with the linkage-single-pivot (“faux-bar”) suspension layout they’ve been using forever. That’s no bad thing, though.The key metrics are that the platform has a fairly high anti-squat value for an e-bike (around 110% at sag). That means it should ride high in its travel under power – possibly at the expense of a little sensitivity. The linkage is mid-pack in terms of progression. There’s about 20% progression in the case of the Remote X if that means anything to you. If not, that means it should resist bottom-outs moderately well without making it especially hard to use all the travel. It should work fine with coil and air shocks. The 160 DL is slightly less progressive (~17%) so may need more setup consideration to avoid bottoming out.Now that geometry numbers have coalesced between brands, the Remote’s geometry chart doesn’t stand out from the crowd in many ways. There’s no flip chip or geometry adjustment to mess about with or size-specific chainstays either. The 440 mm chainstay length is on the shorter side for an eMTB, which should offset the heft slightly when pulling a manual or bunnyhop.There’s only one build spec for each model. The Remote 160 DL has a SRAM build with GX mechanical shifting, Code Brakes and RockShox suspension. The Remote X goes for a Fox/Shimano combo with Deore shifting and SLX brakes. Both are solid-performing part kits that prioritise reliability and affordability over flashiness. It’s good to see DoubleDown tires front and rear in both cases.…Read more by Seb Stott
