My trusty 9 year old Orange EVO2 is getting a new chum to snuggle up to during the dark winter months in the shape of a rather lovely Kona PhD. According to Cyclestore, the 2008 model isn’t available until the back end of the month, which is not unlike the wait I had for the original O2 in October ’98 when I bought it from Stif’s. Hopefully it will give me as much unbridled joy as the Orange has – tho’ perhaps with less crashes would be nice.
I haven’t seen many reviews for Kona’s top flight hybrid, but know someone who has the 2006 model and think it’s rather swish. Once I get my sweaty palms on it, I’ll do a full review.
My Orange won’t be put out to pasture just yet. Despite what my local bike shop told me, I still think it’s got a few miles left in it yet for XC use. It’s a pity the PACE RC35s on it got a bit flat-spotted on a somewhat amusing fall, although they’re still in pretty good nick otherwise – even after all this time.
Upshot of the story is that although it’s possible to spend an absolute fortune on bikes – in the case of the Orange EVO2 with the Pace forks, it was completely worth it. I have no doubt that I’ll buy another Orange as funding allows, but I suspect the likelihood of me being able to afford either of these babies [1], [2] is pretty remote.
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Paul lives, rides and works in Cardiff, South Wales. His work seems to largely entail fixing things and keeping wheels on. Officially, he is actively engaged and interested in Enterprise Architecture these days, but has a secret past that involved standing around on glaciers collecting meltwater samples, and walking through endless fields of wheat taking radiance measurements. 
i have phd and its fantastic.
Glad to hear it having dropped £900 on it myself
Is it your only ride, or do you have something else to play with?
“I haven’t seen many reviews for Kona’s top flight hybrid”…
Just tested my recently purchased 2007 PhD so can share observations. I chose it as a fast hybrid for commuting, light touring and sunday runs. The rear rack and mudguard mounts sold me on its design for this use.
I’m very pleased with it. I’ve just completed the Fred Whitton cycle over 3 days and found it comfortable enough and a fast right even loaded with gear. Fitting the mudguards was a challenge. I had swopped out the stock 23mm tires at the bike shop for some 25mm Grand Prix 4 Season. Rear guard fitting was easy – long stays required but otherwise straightforward with plenty of clearance. The front mudguard fit took forever however – the main difficulty being toe clearance. The guard has to go within a skinny finger of the tire to give just 2mm of toe clearance. I believe that clearances may have been reduced further on the 2008 model, so check it out before you buy if important to you.
I took a single pannier of 8Kg, with tools and spares etc strapped under the seat. The bike handled the weight excellently, with no difficulty getting out of the saddle and powering up short inclines. The PhD is great for making you want to race along, whatever the incline or whether on road or cycle track. A brief foray on to rougher track suffered a lack of grip, 28mm tires with a bit more tread would have helped, but sadly these would not have fit past the mudguards.
The brakes are excellent. One way that you notice the pace of this bike is the rate that it picks up speed on a sharp descent! It felt very secure even over rutted tarmac and in the wet. The front gear derailleur set-up is a bit agricultural, so changes are best avoided on a climb. The 2008 model has had the spec improved to a 105 FD, which will have fixed this problem. The rear change was silky smooth and the close ratios are a pleasure to ride.
Overall, this bike works excellently for a light tour as well as being a really fast and fun commuting/training bike.