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I think I've just had a 'moment'...
The only thing that spoils it is the saddle in my opinion
I'll post some more pics when it's got a silver seat post. That'll sort it. 🙂
Looks gorgeous - I hope its going to be ridden.
Yes, but to be fair for Summer trail riding only. I ain't getting it muddy, I've got a plastic On One for that!
This is excellent. Always loved those Sachs wavey shifters. Stil got a pair somewhere....
Nice.
Might have to get my Raleigh Activator done up now.
Class!! '90's steel Konas are the nicest looking bikes ever made.... I had a '96 Kilauea which was a fantastic bike. I should never have sold it.
Might have to get my Raleigh Activator done up now.
No, don't.
I found this over on retro bike, I want one badly.
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lovely looking bikes. Another former Kona owner.. I had a 1992 Explosif.
lovely bikes, particularly loving the maguras, though can't help feeling that the retina burning yellow should be on there for maximum gnar
Skywalker. That is a 95 Cinder Cone I had one in the lovely turquoise colour. Mine didn't have disc brakes though(they weren't invented then)
I just built up a 97 Cinder Cone, rides lovely
Stop tempting me to spend money, I'm happy(ish) with my retro kona as it is.
I do not need more lovely looking examples making me feel bad.
Nice one PP, makes me even sadder that my Principia is dead. (It had those cranks originally). Although that never had the feel of a proper steel Kona 🙂
[i]Out of interest what would the geometry be on that?[/i]
Made me chuckle. There was no such thing as geometry back then 😉
Lots of lovely details - so what BB - Royce or Hope?
I love old konas but as with 70s motorbikes I like them with all the bits we wanted added.
Flite ti, hope wheels, pace forks etc. Oh and definitely those white smoke/dart panaracers.
Out of interest what would the geometry be on that?
Made me chuckle. There was no such thing as geometry back then 😉
yeah fair dos Dez 🙂
they look bloody lovely, the picture skywalker posted, very nice. Might, just might, have to have a look at doing something like for a change 😀
Rossi46
This was my '92 Cinder cone after it had been resprayed by Argos and with Gil's stickers. Argos did a great job as the original seatpost was stuck fast 🙁
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My Kona at the moment.
Love it..!
My (purple, natch) 92 Lava Dome is almost intact. Only non original items are bars, grips, rear wheel, rear tyre.
It's currently SS'd, but to be re-geared next week as a baby-trailer towing machine. Sacrilege, I know..!
I'm on the look out for one for the Mrs (me really, just an excuse to buy one). My first "proper bike" was a 14" 1995 Kona Lava Dome at the age of 12. I loved that thing.
I had one like the OP. It now lives in a friend's garage. Probably rotting away.
I think it's still equipped with a USE seatpost, x-lite barends and ringle bottle cage.
I sat on it a bit ago and was really taken aback by how long it was! I was proper uncomfy on it.
and my Kilauea 🙂
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Amazing work peter. Fantastic bike, as usual you did a great job :D. It's putting my last restoration to shame.
For anyone looking for a 90's kona, my LBS owner is going to sell his wife's cinder cone. All with custom bits from the 90's (marzocchi forks etc etc).
if some are interested I can get him to do some pictures and ask for details.
I still ride my '93 Cindercone, it is pretty much restricted to fine day rides with my son on his Islabike. He says that it's not fair to ride with springs.
It's mostly original but a bit tatty, I often wonder about restoring it, but then I think that I'd lose the history, the scratches and scrapes, and the original 90's Mint Sauce stickers.
Juan, what year and size is the Cindercone please, I am interested.
as we are all showing of nice Kona's here is mine 🙂
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Still trying to buy back my 1990 explosif with track 2 forks and the splatter paint job/ suntour xc pro. Its local and some old guy rides it on the roads but not selling. That will teach me to get interested in aluminium!
Lots of lovely details - so what BB - Royce or Hope?
Hope? None of their tat on that bike. That's Royce, m'boy, Royce. Should last well enough to give away in my will. 😉
There was no such thing as geometry back then
I know that was said in jest, but the geometry of these old Konas is spot on. They were built to race, really, so they are very direct by modern standards, but I defy anyone ride one and not be amazed by they climb and flick around, seemingly by telepathy alone. That's why they are still such collectable bikes 🙂
More Kona porn courtesy of the web
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That is one [i]hawt[/i] hot 😀
What a peach! My number one frame, the Explosif... Well done sir! 😀
Just put some springy forks on my old Hahanna intending to give it to pass it onto our lad, although now thinking of a new paint job & keeping it for myself!
My old 1996 Fire Mountain (nicked by a lowlife chav scumbag piece of excrement last November). The frame was extensively reworked by Mercian Cycles in Derby, shaving the rear canti bosses, brazing on an IS disc mount, adding in a strut to brace the disc, standard brake hose guides replaced with larger items to accommodate hydraulic hoses, Crud Catcher bosses under the down tube and then stove enamelled white.
I kitted it out with a full (brand new at the time) 2005 XT groupset, Fox F80 RLT forks, Hope Mono M4 front and Mono Mini rear brakes and floating rotors, Hope headset, stem, XC hubs, ti skewers and seat QR, Easton EC70 flat bar, X-Lite Enduro Stubbie bar ends and a USE Alien carbon post.
I absolutely adored this bike and never felt the need to change anything on it from the day of it's makeover, it rode beautifully and, after so long with it, I knew every nuance of it's handling, it was like an extension of my body. Having it nicked actually brought me close to tears.
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Those Hots look incredible. I've seen pics of a couple, probably the best looking MTB ever made IMO.
Tat Fire Mountain is sweet too. I can imagine how gutted you were when it was nicked. 🙁
PP - lovely looking bike, seeing the old stem etc reminds me of my first bikes. Aaah brake boosters and Dart/Smokes.......
I reckon Sanderson make the closest modern equivalent to 90's Konas.
Just in case interested parties haven't looked at the classifieds today...
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/1993-kona-explosif ]Explosif for sale[/url]
(nothing to do with me btw)
PP - lovely looking bike, seeing the old stem etc reminds me of my first bikes. Aaah brake boosters and Dart/Smokes.......
I reckon Sanderson make the closest modern equivalent to 90's Konas.
Cheers 🙂 Not too shabby is it?
Just about every [s]steel[/s] hardtail available today borrows from early Konas. They are the DNA that's been passed down ever since. 🙂
Oh, if I must 🙂
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She's a Beauty! Good work OP
I rode to work on a SS'd old steel Kona (with DB p2s) this morning, and I can't think of any other bike I'd rather use TBH, 90s Konas FTW...
I'd have been riding a Diamond back Ascent in 1993 finally got a Kona in 96 IO think, kept if for well over a decade...
I do like a proper classic Kona with period parts, but I don't miss threaded headsets and quill stems, Impact headsets were about as good as they ever got, if I'm honest though I'm still not a fan...
I do like a proper classic Kona with period parts, but I don't miss threaded headsets and quill stems, Impact headsets were about as good as they ever got, if I'm honest though I'm still not a fan...
I know exactly what you mean. Impact headsets didn't come loose, but the loose bearings and sealing was crap, so they didn't last very long.
I was wary of that headset when I got it (It came with the Cinder Cone I had before this) bacause it's just a lock ring jobbie. But these days I have a single headset spanner. I fitted it, tightened it once after the first ride (all headsets can come loose first time out) and it never budged again. It must be becasue it's a VERY high quality headset that it stays locked down so well, and it so easy to adjust. It's no worse then any Aheadset I've ever used, and it's buttery smooth.... Noticeably smoother then the Kings/Cane Creek/FSAs/On Ones we have on our other bikes!
I have an impact threaded headset on Mrs Clubber's bike but I converted it to ahead (cut off the lock ring, filed out the threads). It works perfectly.
its beautiful Peter!! when you were showing me the frame and stuff in your garage i couldn't quite imagine it built up so all i could feel was jealous at the rims and the price you got them for! now its all built i'm jealous of the whole thing. i wouldn't even ride it, it'd stay on the wall and replace the TV as the thing i sit on the sofa and watch in the evenings 😀
john_l - Member
That looks really lovely. Think it's a '94 though if the seat tube's fluted. I had one in that same green & Tange Ultimate tubing. Wish I'd kept it, but sold it on to fund a '98 853 Explosif frame.
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This is mine and it's a '94 with no fluting but you can see the butting.
Lovely bike PeterPoddy, The explosive was also my dream bike form back in the day and the Hei Hei my wet dream bike - but they are rare as rocking horse ***t now and cost twice as much.
I'm thinking of Hyrdo rim brakes as well, but not sure whether to single speed it, but I do have the sugino impel cranks. It's in the loft hiding until I make my mind up.
🙂
and the Hei Hei my wet dream bike
Sorry. Here's some pics of my Hei Hei, now sadly gone.....
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3513/3996271090_eb5052626d_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/3996271090/ ]ygpC8C0[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2234/3995510947_c39247ea08_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/3995510947/ ]ygpC8C1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2627/3995511005_1be5d352c1_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/3995511005/ ]ygpC8C2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2564/3996271342_ef0b8e4b60_z.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/3996271342/ ]ygpC8C3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/peter_atkin/ ]PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr
Yep. That's a titanium USE seatpost. That's the seat post that cracked the frame. That's why I'll never use a shimmed post ever again. 🙁
Wow, that really is a pisser.
I'd be raging about that to this day if that was my Hei Hei,
I've got a USE on my Kona Kapu, with a shim let hope it doesn't go the same was as yours.
What did you do with the frame and was there no way of repairing it?
Also you don't have a spare bung for a Velocity stem do you I'm missing mine, I did ask on Retrobike a while ago but was met by a deafening wall of silence.