Honzo
vsTorrent
Two aggressive hardtails, two attitudes.
The Kona Honzo is a playful all-rounder that wants to be flicked. The Norco Torrent is a ground-hugging bruiser that wants to plummet.
Honzo
- Lively, playful handling — short 1,176 mm wheelbase and 66.5 degree HTA make it quick to flick, easy to manual, fun on tight singletrack.
- Wide build range from $1,299 base up to $2,399 ESD 36SR — broadest entry points in the segment.
- Aggressive ESD top trim with a Marzocchi Bomber Z1 150 mm fork and SRAM GX Eagle for riders who want a Honzo that descends harder.
- Aluminum frame runs harsh on chunky terrain, particularly for lighter riders.
- Stock Shimano MT410 brakes on the lower trims are widely flagged as underpowered.
Torrent
- Slack 64 degree head tube angle and long wheelbase deliver all-mountain composure on steep descents — rare for a hardtail.
- 150 mm fork on every build — Norco gives you the travel even at the $1,519 entry price, where Kona reserves it for the top tier.
- Steep 76 degree seat tube keeps the rider centered for a planted seated climb despite the long, slack front end.
- Heavy and slow-rolling — feels like too much bike on flow trails or mellow climbs.
- Stock RockShox 35 Gold RL fork is consistently criticized as under-damped and divey, holding the platform back.
Editor’s analysis
Same wheel size, same butted-aluminum frames, same 425 mm chainstays — and almost nothing else in common.
On paper the Kona Honzo and Norco Torrent share a category: 29er aluminum hardtails with 1x drivetrains, ~150 mm forks at the top of the range, and frames built to take a beating. Read the geometry tables side-by-side and they pull apart immediately. The Honzo M runs a 66.5 degree head tube angle and a 1,176 mm wheelbase. The Torrent M sits at 64 degrees with a 1,199 mm wheelbase. That 2.5 degree HTA gap is the entire conversation.
The Honzo is the do-anything trail bike. Reviewers consistently land on the same vocabulary — zippy, snappy, lively, fun to throw around. The shorter wheelbase and steeper front end let it carve tight singletrack and hop off lips at low speed. It encourages an active style and rewards riders who pump and pop rather than coast. The trade-off is well-documented: the 6061 frame is stiff, especially for lighter riders on long, chunky descents, and four builds span $1,299 to $2,399 with fork travel ranging 130 mm to 150 mm depending on tier.
The Norco Torrent picks a different fight. Its 64 degree head angle, 480 mm reach (size L), and long wheelbase mirror Norco's full-suspension Sight all-mountain bike — minus the rear shock. Multiple reviewers describe it as planted, ground-hugging, a bruiser that craves high speeds and steep, aggressive terrain. On flow trails or mellow singletrack it's too much bike. Pointed down a black diamond it punches well above its hardtail weight.
The cleanest way to think about it: the Honzo is the bike you buy if your trails are mixed and you ride them all the time. The Torrent is the bike you buy if you live for the descent and don't mind grinding to the top to get there.
Where the builds differ.
Comparing our editor's-pick builds side-by-side. Winners highlighted row-by-row — lower price and weight, and the better-spec component, each mark a point.
Build variants & pricing
Both lineups are alloy-only and Deore-class. The Honzo spans four builds across $1,100 of range; the Torrent splits two builds within $360.
Prices are current US MSRP. Kona's ESD trims push the Honzo's range into a more aggressive bracket than the Torrent A-series covers; Norco's S-series steel frames (not in this comparison's generation) sit further upmarket with Lyrik forks and SRAM Code brakes.
How they fit, how they steer.
Both at size M. The Torrent runs 23 mm more wheelbase, 2.5 degrees slacker HTA (64 vs 66.5), 1 degree steeper effective seat angle, and 18 mm less stack — a longer, lower, slacker silhouette built for descending.
Which size should I buy?
Size recommendations come from stack, reach, and effective top tube. Both ranges line up closely at M; the Torrent's reach numbers run 5–10 mm longer per size, so riders between sizes may want to size down on the Norco.
→These are starting points. Flexibility, riding style, and preferred position all shift the answer — if you’re between sizes, a professional fit beats a chart.
What the magazines said.
Published reviews from trusted cycling outlets. Click through for the full write-up.
Which one should you buy?
If you want one hardtail for everything, get the Honzo. If most of what you ride points downhill and gets steep, get the Torrent.
Honzo
If your trails mix climbs, flow, and the occasional rowdy descent — and you want a hardtail that feels alive at every speed — the Honzo is the easier bike to live with. Lighter, cheaper to enter, and willing to play on terrain that would feel boring on the Torrent.
Torrent
If you treat hardtails as a winch-and-plummet exercise and your local trails get steep and chunky, the Torrent's geometry will outrun the Honzo down anything that points down hard. The trade is uphill speed and uphill comfort.
Questions buyers actually ask.
Short answers to the things we get emailed about most often.
01Which is better for technical descents?
The Norco Torrent, by a clear margin. Its 64 degree head tube angle is 2.5 degrees slacker than the Honzo's 66.5, and its wheelbase runs 23 mm longer at size M. Reviewers across Pinkbike, BikeRadar, and OutdoorGearLab consistently call it 'planted,' 'ground-hugging,' and stable on steep, chunky terrain that most hardtails wouldn't take on.
The Honzo is no slouch — its 150 mm-fork ESD trims handle rowdy trails fine — but its geometry was tuned for liveliness first and stability second. On a fall-line black diamond, the Torrent inspires more confidence.
02Which climbs better?
The Kona Honzo, mostly because of weight and rolling resistance. Reviewers frequently describe the Torrent as heavy and slow on the climbs (33+ lbs in the steel S-trims; the aluminum A1 HT is lighter but still no XC sprinter). The Honzo's shorter wheelbase and steeper HTA make it quicker to accelerate and easier to maneuver on switchback climbs.
That said, the Torrent's 76 degree effective seat tube angle (vs the Honzo's 75) puts the rider more centered over the bottom bracket. On long fireroad grinds, that geometry advantage matters. On punchy technical climbs, the Honzo's lighter, more agile feel wins.
03How much fork travel does each get?
Kona Honzo: 130 mm on the base build (RockShox Recon RL), 140 mm on the DL (RockShox Revelation), 150 mm on both ESD trims (Marzocchi Bomber Z1).
Norco Torrent: 150 mm on every build (RockShox 35 Gold RL on the A1 HT, SR Suntour Zeron35 on the A2 HT).
Norco gives you the travel at every price point. Kona reserves it for the top of the range. If 150 mm matters to you and your budget is tight, the Torrent A2 HT at $1,519 is the cheapest way there.
04Are the frames steel or aluminum?
All four Kona Honzo builds in this generation use Kona's 6061 butted aluminum frame. (Kona also sells a Honzo ST in steel and a Honzo ESD in chromoly — the ESD 36SR and ESD here use the Kona Cromoly Butted frame; the DL and Base are aluminum.)
Norco's Torrent A-series (A1 HT, A2 HT) is butted 6061 alloy. Norco also offers the Torrent S-series in 4130 chromoly steel, which reviewers consistently praise for added compliance — but those builds aren't in this comparison generation.
05Which has more tire clearance?
Kona Honzo: approximately 61 mm (2.4 inch) measured clearance per the platform's stock builds. MBR's review specifically called out 'poor rear tire/mud clearance' due to the ultra-short chainstays — the rear stays closer than they should for muddy conditions.
Norco Torrent: ships with 2.35 inch Schwalbe Hans Dampf rubber stock and the frame is rated for similar widths. Neither bike is a plus-tire chassis — both stick to standard 29x2.4 territory.
06What about the Honzo ESD vs the Torrent S-series steel bikes?
Apples-to-oranges, but it's the comparison serious aggressive-hardtail buyers should make. The Honzo ESD 36SR ($2,399) brings a chromoly frame, Marzocchi Z1 150 mm fork, and SRAM GX Eagle. The Norco Torrent S1 (different generation, ~$3,000) brings a chromoly frame, RockShox Lyrik Ultimate, SRAM Code R brakes, and Maxxis Assegai EXO+.
Both are properly hardcore hardtails. The Torrent S1 is the more committed descender; the Honzo ESD is the more versatile chassis. At their respective price points, they're each defensible — but they sit above the alloy-Torrent generation this page covers.
07Are these hardtails OK as a first 'real' mountain bike?
The Honzo is the easier first bike. Its livelier handling rewards riders learning to corner and pump, and the wider price range means a Base or DL build is well within entry-level budgets. The Torrent is more specialized — its long, slack geometry feels lazy at low speeds and only really comes alive when ridden assertively on terrain steep enough to use it.
If your first bike will see mostly flow trails, blue-square singletrack, and the occasional rocky bit, the Honzo will be more fun more of the time.
08Which one needs upgrades first?
Honzo (lower trims): the brakes. The Shimano MT410s on the Base and DL are widely criticized as underpowered, and the resin-only RT30 rotors mean upgrading to sintered pads requires new rotors too. Budget ~$200 for a brake-and-rotor refresh.
Torrent A1 HT: the fork. The RockShox 35 Gold RL is the most consistently flagged weak point across reviews — described as under-damped and divey. A used Lyrik or Pike pulled from a parts bin transforms how the bike rides on the steep stuff it was built for.
Similar bikes
If your priorities don’t map cleanly onto either of these, one of these adjacent bikes probably fits better.
Growler
The Rocky Mountain Growler runs the same hardcore-hardtail playbook as the Torrent — slack, long, descent-focused, often with a more competitive build for the dollar. Worth a look if you've already decided 'aggressive aluminum hardtail' and want a third quote.
Compare →
Chameleon
Santa Cruz Chameleon splits the difference between the two — Honzo-level playfulness with a frame that reviewers consistently call more compliant than the Honzo's notoriously stiff aluminum. Premium price, but a sweeter ride for lighter riders.
Compare →Roscoe
Trek Roscoe is the dealer-network answer to both bikes — modern aggressive geometry, plus-curious tire clearance, and a build sheet that lands between the Honzo DL and Torrent A1 HT. The safest first hardtail if you want shop support.
Compare →