Worst Kona: 1990 Lava Dome

Splatter Paint

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No sarcastic comments / jibes about Konas please... we've all heard them before! :facepalm:

In the 2009 Kona catalogue, Kona described their "worst" model, I think it was the 1990 Lava Dome, but it is bugging me and I'd like to know for sure. Has anyone got the 2009 catalogue and could confirm this, please?

*EDIT, it is indeed the 1990 Lava Dome* :( I still like 'em though :D

*EDIT 14/12/2013* This was an itch that needed scratching, see page 3 ;)

Thanks

SP
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

Anthony will be the expert on this but, as far as I vaguely recall, wasn't there a time in recent history when Kona were badge-engineering? Making their once top end steelers out of coke cans and gas piping?
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

Kona have always made decent bikes, especially mountain bikes. Their road and utility bikes are very good too. The Colin McRae bike was a decent value bike I reckon, nothing special but better than a lot of other bikes.

Even the cruiser bikes were pretty cool, look fantastic but still rideable off road, hence why they are sought after now.

However their Bike Hot Rod was a step too far. Why o why o why were they imported to Britain?
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

Well, I don't rate anything after the 1997 range apart from Hei Hei's, Hot's and Explosifs ;-)

Rob Atkin":g0pnwamx said:
However their Bike Hot Rod was a step too far. Why o why o why were they imported to Britain?

Agree, that was just ridiculous. At least that one with the extended rear end - no idea what the name of it is - had a practical use for transporting stuff, even though it looks bloody awful.

Splatter Paint":g0pnwamx said:
In the 2009 Kona catalogue, Kona described their "worst" model, I think it was the 1990 Lava Dome, but it is bugging me and I'd like to know for sure. Has anyone got the 2009 catalogue and could confirm this, please?

Interesting if this is true. I had one and it was no worse than the Fire Mountain of that year. It wasn't that much better though mainly because the Suntour kit wasn't particularly great; the black finish had the strength of an eggshell.
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

One good bit of knowledge and observartion Anthony mentioned of the 1997 range were the Rock Shox forks of that year. Kona weren't to know at the time but they were pretty shit that year compared with Bombers, Pace, etc. I though the Judy SL on my Explosif was ok....until I stuck a Pace RC36 on and couldn't believe the transformation. The same on the Cinder Cone; the Indy C was a pig of a fork and turned a decent all rounder into a sluggish pile.

Not bad bikes by any means. Just let down by crummy components.
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

I do think from the 00's onwards that they started spec'ing really badly. And nowadays the kit on their bikes are really poor in comparison to others. I expect a lot of this is the RRP though, as I don't know anyone who would buy a new Kona at RRP, given that three months later every bike shop seems to sell that at 25% off +
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

Im a big Kona fan but agree with most of the above in that post `98 or so the quality dropped.Before this the frame and spec quality was solid.Check out my `97 Kikapu,totally stock with Z1s full XT and XTR,totally dependable and a hoot to ride.Shame it went all pear shaped.....
 

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Re: Worst ever Kona?

Let me get this straight; people around here complain about bikes from a company that always wanted to look as if it didn't take things too serious that they aren't serious enough? Bike Hot Rod? Ute? Cruisers? Oh, come on! Who else would've built those bikes? Thumbs up to Kona for pulling that! Specialized had interesting concepts almost each year, but very few made it to production.

"Badge engineering" or not, Kona had a few decent bikes in the last couple of years (Stabs, Operators and Magic Link bikes come to mind) and, as a matter of fact, they always did and always chose a different route. I like that. Weird-beard bikes such as the Dudu or the Bass wouldn't be made by other companies that are as big as Kona. Who else would do a bike such as the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a??? See, I'm not a Kona fan and still know this by heart! That means that their strategy worked, whatever it was. What about the Mama and the Kuku BMX'es and all the other one season bikes that are at least interesting?

And we all love steel and know that "steel is real", but if it's unfair to point the finger only at Kona for not keeping a quality steel range. What about Marin? What about GT? What about all the other brands? Things move forward, companies change and not always for the better. But as far as Konas go, I think their spirit is still present.

At some point people booed Kona for not keeping a World Cup program anymore and forgetting overnight that Mosley and Barel won races and even Championships on those bikes. Few of those people realized that Kona put all that money in bikeparks and grassroots programs that the little guy benefits in the most.

These being said, I say "Chapeau!" to Kona for having the balls of being a "different" company! Different is good. It's what makes our sport good. It's what makes this site exist. If it wasn't for "different", we would all ride functional but plain boring bikes from Giant and Trek. So cheers to "different"!

diesel_stupid_print_09.jpg


Have a nice weekend everybody!
Mx
 
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