I’ve said it time and time again, gravel is one of the broadest genres of cycling there is. At one end, you’ve got a burgeoning crop of lightweight and aerodynamic race bikes. At the other end, you’ve got Kona’s Legend of Big Fork, or LBF for short, and it really doesn’t take things all that seriously.

That’s because the LBF is one of those bikes that MTB purists will hate, and the racy gravel type will lament. But it’s not about those extremes. Instead, the LBF takes the best of both worlds to create a bike that’s comfortable, but downright capable.

To hit those marks, yes, it features a drop handlebar, but there’s a 100mm suspension fork up front and a dropper post. What’s really piqued my interest is the bike’s brake setup. It employs SRAM’s Apex Eagle shifters, but they’re hooked up to four-piston SRAM G2 calipers in a bid to deliver serious control, with the comfort of a drop handlebar.

2026 kona LBF hero
2026 kona LBF hero (Image Credit: Kona)

In fact, the LBF leans fairly heavily into the mountain bike ethos, as it rolls on a pair of wide Race Face rims, which are home to a Maxxis Dissector at the front, and a Forekaster at the rear. I know that gravel has been pinching MTB tyres recently, but this takes things up a considerable notch.

That’s all bolted to a Reynolds 520 butted chromoly frame, chosen for its ride quality and durability, but importantly, this isn’t just a mountain bike with a drop bar thrown onto it. Despite the frame being corrected for a 100mm suspension fork, the geometry has been shaped around a drop handlebar. That’s been done to achieve a stable posture, but one that’s composed enough for boundary-pushing descents.

2026 kona lbf corner
2026 kona lbf corner (Image Credit: Kona)

As for that geometry, the LBF features a fairly slack 67-degree head angle for stability at speed, and a welcome dashing of confidence. There’s a 75-degree seat tube angle, too, to promote efficient pedalling and a consistent fit, says Kona. Thanks to sliding dropouts, the LBF offers a chainstay of 440mm up to 456mm, and a large frame benefits from a 430mm reach. Those dropouts are UDH compatible, by the way.

Onto frame features, and the LBF gets everything you’d expect of a modern gravel/MTB hybrid. It can fit up to 29×2.5in tyres. There are two bottle mounts in the front triangle as well as rack, fender, and accessory mounts, as well as mounts on the top tube for a bento box, and there are three bosses under the top tube. A couple of features that may have gravel purists wincing are the maximum chainring size of 34t, and the capability to run huge (for gravel) 200mm brake rotors.

Kona’s LBF is available in a single build that rocks a RockShox SID Base fork, SRAM Apex Eagle shifting with a 10-52t 12-speed cassette. Along with the TranzX dropper, Kona finishing kit, and Ritchey bar and stem are the aforementioned Race Face wheels and Maxxis tyres.

We don’t have prices on this bike just yet, but watch this space.

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