It’s a Joe Murray love-in thread, apart from his Halfords stuff…

Closest ride I’ve found to an old Kona (I had a late 90’s explosif) is a Voodoo Sobo, don’t think you can still get them in the UK anymore but last time I looked they were still available in America. Joe Murray design, fast, light and nimble handling.

TurnerGuy
Replied to your email, it’s only fair I give first refusal to the OP now he has expressed an interest in your frames, let me know though if it doesn’t happen
I was in touch with Joe Murray last year too and got sent replacement decals for my old Voodoo, had a good conversation about the old bikes, sent him some pics of it in various disguises, really good friendly chatty bloke, main thing that’s stopped me getting disc tabs fitted and re sprayed is loosing the “hand built in USA” and “designed by Joe Murray” stickers
Mine is a 1995/6 model frame number 37, was one of the first imported to UK by sShockwave in Nottingham, went in for an Orange Clockwork, got talked into the Voodoo, somehow don’t think I’d still be riding the 1″ headset Clockwork today had I not been persuaded otherwise

I got ONE OF THESE, I haven’t ridden it yet though as I’m waiting for some Soma forks to arrive, I’m hoping it will bring back memories of my Raliegh RSP frame of the 90’s 🙂

Mailed the OP !

But not in a rush to sell, if you want to watch that Sanderson Life that is cheap on ebay at the moment…

I always thought that the chromag sakura might be a good modern equivalent. Didn’t Scapin used to make an xc frame from 853 as well?

I’ve yet to find a frame as good as my 99 explosif. And I’ve tried a few.

I have both a 14″ and 18″ 2002 Kona Explosif frame or full bike for sale. This is the same as Turner Guys with the Platinum OX Tubing.

Thanks Turnerguy. And thanks also to iain1775. What a lovely bunch you guys are! Much appreciated.

Shame neither of you are close so you can ride them.

Cheers pebbles. I’m hoping for the Bizango. Thank you for letting me know 🙂

Ive noticed that the more hardcore my bikes have become the less I enjoy riding them. A colleague gave me some cross tyres that I put on my old knackered commuter as it’s my only working bike out of the two. Had loads of fun and the bike was tons more responsive. Got me thinking about why and what I do really needs 140mm of travel and box section seat stays…… I’m not slow by any means but at the same time I’m not Josh Bender either. I just ride on the South Downs and explore really.

I just didn’t get on with the Soul. I’m still gutted that I don’t. Got it resprayed and everything 🙁

Waller do you still have the soul?
What size?

iain – what model and size is your current Voodoo.? I’ve got one of the first run of Taiwanese Erzulies, bought sight unseen..
I was a bit disappointed when it wasn’t one of the US made frames from the description

I’m quite happy to run v-brakes and might be interested if you’re thinking of moving yours on..

Sorry Yunki not for sale, it has sentimental value and is set up as the ‘family bike’ with child seat on
I couldn’t sell it even if it comes out of service I’ll stick it on garage wall as art

aaaah right.. fair do’s 😀

Yeah sorry was my 21st birthday present and first ‘proper’ mtb
Been all over the place on that bike built it up and rebuilt it so many times and its seen evolution from cantis and rigid forks to aheadsets, various suspension forks, Vees and front cable disks
It’s only the Hoodoo so was pretty much the base model at the time, pretty much equivalent to a Cindercone but still one of best bikes I’ve riden

lovely lovely bikes..

Find an old kona and renovate it? This is my first MTB, a 97 Cindercone now with discs and 100mm forks. Tis just as good as I remember.

In rigid guise:

Oh, go on then (I have no advice for the OP by the way).

’97 Hei Hei, now with Rebas, Middleburn cranks, Hope Race, Hope Pros on Stans and Thompson/Easton finishing kit.

’93 Kilauea now used as general dogsbody.

Nice Explosif by the way PP, I think it must have been you I was chatting to at the 2012 BBB.

Just wondering pebble… Would there be a chance to email me what you were looking for the 18 inch frame only? I might be interested in the running a 2nd bike with a baby trailer on.

Cheers 🙂

I ride a Cotic Soul and also a ’97 Kona Kilauea.

The Kona feels faster on more xc type stuff in that the back end is a bit more direct but still compliant where as I find the Cotic a bit too flexy. The Soul is a bit more sluggish uphill aswell. I run 100mm Z1’s and 120mm Rebas on the Soul but overall the handling is very similar.

However discs on the Soul make a massive difference and if I ride Glentress then the Kona feels a bit out of its depth. The extra compliance of the Soul really helps there.

My advice if you don’t like the Soul would be restore an old Kona from 96-99, 100mm fork and discs added.

Wozza and alpha your bikes look the business.

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OP – you should try a Charge skinny Duster, closest thing I’ve found that has more modern fittings for disks etc. to my early 90s Kona.
Feels very whippy and none too stiff, but I like that in a mountain bike.

Here’s my, probably not so posh, but still very enjoyable to ride, 97 FireMtn… with a P2 fork (Only DB, but AH steerer, with a disc mount), I acquired it almost two years ago now to use as my winter SS machine, due mostly to my memories of of my old fire mountain, it’s done me proud.

19″ frame, Short stem, Wide High rise bars, 2.3″ front tyre, SS, it’s every bit as good as I remember my old Fire mountain being in ~1995…

Except it is of course almost completely different that bike which was: 17″ frame, Canti brakes (later Vs), 3×7 speed (gripshift/STX, Mmmmm) had a threaded fork and Quill stem (110mm “Velocity”? I think) with flat narrow bars and it all rolled about on crappy 1.9″ tyres…

So apart from being completely different to the bike I remember, it’s exactly the same!

I still need to sort a rear disc for it, not sure if I fancy having it re-welded with a mount, getting Sliders or Horizontal Dropout’s put in or trying to just bodge an A2Z disc mount or some carbon and spoons, but it needs doing somehow really.

Very very very nice bike Gunz.

I loves me a Hei Hei.

Thanks you eye, I must take a more recent picture as, bar the frame, it’s a proper Caesar’s sword.

For me the 94-99 kona’s were the best… Paint jobs/looks .. Just my opinion I had a few 🙂

This is my refurbished 95 cindercone used mostly on cafe run 🙂

Untitled by Plus one2010, on Flickr

If you want it to ride like the Kona but away better go for a 100mm steel hard tail frame. Any more travel and it’ll be just like your soul.

Enigma, 26″ are long like the Kona, classic geo but 100mm up front and disc of course. Quick on the ST. A million times better than the Kona ever was to be honest – I’ve got both and more…

Here’s another before and after of some late 90’s skinny steel. Disc mount, cable guides swapped for hydro guides, canti bosses removed, respray with fork done to match.

cookeaa: Have a look at eccentric BBs, You might find something 2nd hand. I got lucky finding a Phil Wood one s/h. I thought about swapping the dropouts, but the work on the frame was already getting pricey, and it would have been a shame to loose the dinky Ritchey dropouts.

Dead happy with it, great to get back to razor sharp steering, and really enjoying it SS.

Do the uni-crown style seat stays create a less compliant ride? I would imagine they do, I remember my old P7 feeling much less ‘zingy’ than my splatterpaint 89 Explosif – which incidentally, has to be the vintage to look for with old Kona’s?! Tange prestige, with Switchblade forks, it was a lovely bike.

No idea at all how the ride would be affected if you kept everything else exactly the same and used a different seatstay junction. But I wouldn’t fancy my chances in a back to back test with a polysytrene block hiding the seatstay junction!

The advantage of the pierced seatstays was partly for strength, mostly for showing off framebuilding skillz and having a distinguishing feature.

As for compliance, on my first few goes on it I was amazed at how much it seemed to soak up bumps, and had me clicking up the gears and riding faster because it seemed to let me. I was coming from a Cannondale Beast of the East, so it wasn’t really a comparison with anything similar!

Dekerf’s are indeed works of art IMO. Love the new colour too.

The forks being the Cromoto’s from your other thread NR? How fat a tyre will they take?

Apologies for slight thread hijack.

What a cracking thread! Absolutely lovely bikes, nice simple tubing, not oversize this or that or ‘tapered’ this or that.

I particularly like the red lava dome on page and the blue cinder cone on this page.

Well, I’ll try and join in with the inspiration 😀 I don’t have any pics of my splatter Explosif 🙁 , however, this is my new project build to be put together over the Xmas break. I’m very eager to find out how it rides and feels 😀

And to give the Kinesis Virtue another shout… here’s Mrs Slack’s replacement for her stolen P7. She likes it 😀 So much so, that I have yet to have a spin on it.

alice, there’s 3&5/8″ of clear air between the fork legs.

dannyh is right, the blue cinder cone on this page looks ace. 😀

Stop this thread now or I will start to regret it if the op takes my bizango off me!

@nedrapier & dannyh: cheers for the compliments. It’s a great bike to ride and hold great sentimental value so it’s awesome to be riding it again. I did the Welsh C2C on it in the summer and it performed brilliantly.

This was it back in the day. Fond memories…

Meet the “Ditch Magnet”.

“I WILL KILL HIM”

I couldn’t resist the Joe Murray love-in a moment longer..

Sorry for crap phone pic, lawn, weeds and pointing

Sorry turnerguy 🙂 I neeeeeeeeed some voodoo 🙂

Some lovely bikes. Got to admit just love the aesthetics let alone how they ride. Every single picture that’s been posted you know is a hoot to ride!

Stunning pictures and bikes.

Alpha 1653 I’ve got a marine rift zone hanging in the garage 😀 new shock n it that’s never been used. Another one of my brilliant buys. I’ll keep it long enough to make me feel like I got some value from it….

Ha ha…the guy in that photo bought it with a pair of Pace RC36’s and promptly removed them to be replaced by Z1’s, a short Azomic pyramid stem and wide bars – the original free ride! I’m pretty sure he still has it in his garage.