1997 Kona king kikapu build xc or 1st gen dh?

Dh or xc?

  • Early dh

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Xc

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Total voters
    10

chillibiker

Retro Guru
I'm really split on how to build this 1997 Kona king kikapu I picked up. In to sure if I should do xc light build flat bars, long stem, v brakes, narrow rims, narrow tires. Of early dh with riser bars short stem, wide rims, wide tires, hs33 brakes. Any ideas ?
Thanks!


 
I agree that it should be a cross country build. You should also put lighter forks on it and sell me that bomber. It would go nicely on my 97 santa cruz heckler. ;-)
 
Haha I have gotten lots of people wanting the forks.
I have decided to do full race face
Xy seat post.. the right way around ;)
System stem
Air alloy bar
Red turbine cranks
For the drive train I'm doing
Xtr m950 derailleur
Xtr m950 shifters
Avid speed dial 7 levers
Avid arch rival 40 brakes
For wheels I'm a bit undecided but so far I have
White industry's front hub
Xt rear hub
Black Sun rhyno lite xl welded rims
 
Re:

Without doubt go xc.I have the exact same bike with m950 and Z1s and the thing is a blast.They are great all rounders.I made mine more user friendly with a slightly shorter stem,risers and discs(A2Z converter on the rear).My bike frequently shows the modern full xc sussers a clean pair of heels,they are great :cool: .
 
Re:

Bitd the LBS team used to race DH on these... At 110mm the gen 1 Bomber was the must have downhill fork when it hit the market in '97. Plus, the idea of riding XC on a full suspension rig when this was released would have been rather controversial.

That said, I tend to think of the '98 Stab (the blue and yellow one with triple clamp bombers) as the first true Kona DH bike.

Hard to call. It's your bike - build it and ride it however you please. Just one thing - I rode one of these plenty of times when new (a buddy had one). Those old fox shocks had quite a lot of bob in them, even when new. If you're riding XC on it, better practice a smooth pedalling style!
 
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