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@gbj_tester
This sounds like you've already given up on the Kona and are looking for its replacement, in which case you're probably right to reject spending a total of £50 to sort out both the brakes and the reach issue with a shorter stem.
Seat tubes on the two smallest Dew Drops are 74°, so the only way that should feel like you're sat too far back is if you're coming from a 1970s track iron or a triathlon bike. On the other hand, the top tubes on the little ones do look long, which combines with the steep seat tube to give a long reach. Compared with a traditional 73° parallel 49cm square road frame, the "49cm" Dew Drop looks to have a full 5cm more reach, which indicates a 35mm stem would be needed for typical proportional set up with road drops. With only 45mm fork offset on a 70° head tube, it might actually work having a super short stem to quicken the steering working against the long trail, although it might not and it's an inelegant way to go about it anyway. The alternative given your fit is a standard road geometry, but at the top tube length that implies, and with a normal head angle, you'd have even more toe overlap. At this point Ed will rightly suggest that you probably need to go to 650b to get something which has acceptable fit, steering and toe clearance.