1996 Kona King Kahuna - does it exist?

I've got a '96 Hei Hei but wanted to know if they actually made the ti King Kahuna in '96? I've seen a '97 so I know they were definately made a year later.

Thanks, Andy.

The 1996 Hei Hei King Kahuna is quite rare but there are a few of them. They weren't all that different from standard Hei Heis, just minimal gussets and 6al4v dropouts.

I understand there was at least one For Play built, and that it was used as a promotional exhibit. I don't know who built it though, and I'm not aware that any photos survive. Presumably it didn't generate any orders, as you would think that if it had they would have been fulfilled. On the other hand, assuming that Mountain Goat/Altitude Cycles was the builder, their own full-suspension frame hadn't been spectacularly successful. So it's not impossible that, even though they were equipped to build the Ku (the Mudslinger was also made of Easton aluminium), there may have been elements of a full-suspension frame which they didn't have the facilities to undertake to the same standard as the Taiwan builders of the Sex Three.

[Edit, I see you've now deleted your reference to the For Play!]

Hei Hei

Thanks for your help!

I've read that although it was slightly heavier it was also stiffer.

I'll post pics of mine as soon as it's finished. Black Cook's came today!

Andy

I don't know exactly the year, but a friend owns a kona full 6-4AV titanium made. Quite rare because it was really a team bike, and very very stiff.
But I don't remember if it's a king kahuna or heihei… and the year

konasexthreerider":2qz7u5iv said:

I've read that although it was slightly heavier it was also stiffer.

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Well adding a gusset makes it weigh a bit more, but also makes the front end a bit stiffer, so that figures!

konasexthreerider":2qz7u5iv said:

I'll post pics of mine as soon as it's finished.

Click to expand...

That will be good. What is the serial of your Sex Three? F or H?

24pouces":2qz7u5iv said:

I don't know exactly the year, but a friend owns a kona full 6-4AV titanium made. Quite rare because it was really a team bike, and very very stiff.
But I don't remember if it's a king kahuna or heihei… and the year

Click to expand...

In 1996 and 97, they were called Hei Hei King Kahunas, it was only from 1998 that they were called simply King Kahuna. The difference between the Hei Hei and the KK became steadily greater and by 1998 the KK appears to have largely supplanted the Hei Hei in terms of sales.

I believe it is indeed correct to say that the HHKK was initially produced to address the concerns of team riders that the HH wasn't stiff enough for full-out racing. It is perhaps worth bearing in mind that, although Hei Heis were never light by the standards of Litespeed or Merlin, ti bikes generally had been designed for compliance in the era of rigid forks. Once you have suspension forks, compliance in the front end of the frame is the last thing you want.

In general bike fans seem to be obsessed with the fallacy that lighter equals better. The King Kahuna is one of the few examples from those times of a frame that is heavier than its alternative, and yet the market has been pursuaded that it is better (and has paid a higher price for it).