Model year of my Kona Hot?

Hello,

I bought a used Kona Hot steel frame but I´m not sure about
the model year and if the frame has Reynolds 853 tubes.

Serial no. on the bottom bracket is H911 3649
Size of the frame is 20"

The Hot sticker and another sticker was removed from the previous owner.

Can anybody help please?

hot

def not a teesdale. looks like 97 or later. jeff lindsay made possibly?

I'd agree. The cable routing and 853 tubing would exclude it from being a Teesdale.

Also surprised that there are eyelets on the seat stays?! is that normal for a Hot?

The paint scheme, decals and cable routing are consistent with it being a 1998 Hot, but I would be concerned about the serial number and it may be worth checking it.

An H9 number would usually signify that the frame was made in 1999 at Giant's Hodaka works, whereas the 98 Hots were made in the US by a company called Enigma (and yes they were made out of Reynolds 853). I'm not aware that there was any such thing as a 99 Hot, and I would be surprised if a Hot was given an H number. But then I've been surprised before.

I'm afraid that if you hadn't told me it was a Hot, but just gave me the number and the shape of the frame, I would say it was a 99 Explosif (also made of 853). Reasons are first that the number is consistent (my 98 Explosif has an H8 number), second the dropouts are of a pattern used only for the high-end frames, third the down tube looks fatter than the top tube, which was the case with the Explosif but not the Caldera (hard to tell for sure from a photo though, so worth confirming that the top tube is a 31.8 and the down tube a 34.9).

I would suggest that you pm kase1983 and ask him what his 98 Hot's serial number is. If it is an H number, then I apologise for disturbing you and you must have the first 99 Hot we've ever heard of.

Anthony":3f2h6byd said:

The paint scheme, decals and cable routing are consistent with it being a 1998 Hot, but I would be concerned about the serial number and it may be worth checking it.

An H9 number would usually signify that the frame was made in 1999 at Giant's Hodaka works, whereas the 98 Hots were made in the US by a company called Enigma (and yes they were made out of Reynolds 853). I'm not aware that there was any such thing as a 99 Hot, and I would be surprised if a Hot was given an H number. But then I've been surprised before.

I'm afraid that if you hadn't told me it was a Hot, but just gave me the number and the shape of the frame, I would say it was a 99 Explosif (also made of 853). Reasons are first that the number is consistent (my 98 Explosif has an H8 number), second the dropouts are of a pattern used only for the high-end frames, third the down tube looks fatter than the top tube, which was the case with the Explosif but not the Caldera (hard to tell for sure from a photo though, so worth confirming that the top tube is a 31.8 and the down tube a 34.9).

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Top tube is a 31.8 and down tube is a 34.9

In the meantime I send a mail to Kona directly. They answered extremely fast. Excellent service!

Following answer directly from Kona:

"Right now based on the info I see my best guess would be it is a 1999
Explosif frame that was repainted by someone who is not an authorized
painter. The tubes don't appear to be correct for a Hot. The decals are also not properly placed, and also appear to be from miss-matched years."

and

"The shape of the tubes, the placement of the decals & the colour of the decals, plus the serial numbers just don't sync up for it to be a Hot from
that time period..."


Has anyone a Explosif frame from 1999 and can tell me his frame no. or where I can find the Kona catalogue from 1999 or pictures of bikes or frames?

its got rack mounts on the seat stays as well. I thought Hots never had these? i would agree with Anthony (cos he's right 99.9% of the time when it comes to Konas)

tobibikes":3t4eiiyx said:

Has anyone a Explosif frame from 1999 and can tell me his frame no. or where I can find the Kona catalogue from 1999 or pictures of bikes or frames?

Click to expand...

You could try Ratbane who contributed to this thread the other day http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... t=explosif

Obviously you bought it as a Hot and you expect it to be a Hot, but looking on the brighter side there are worse things in the world than owning a 99 Explosif and for riding the thing there isn't a whole lot of difference.

I'm not quite sure what Tech meant by tubing profiles, as I would have said they were very similar for the size 20. A Hot would have 853 stays, whereas an Explosif has Reynolds 725 stays, but I'm not sure that makes much difference. If anything, a 725 frame is likely to be straighter - Reynolds specified 725 stays for 853 frames built in production line facilities because cold-setting is easier with 725. I admit there is a cachet about US-built, but I think Giant do a very good job and I don't believe their work is inferior to Enigma's.

If the frame was mine, I think I would want to have Explosif decals on it and ride it with pride. A custom-painted 1999 Explosif is a very nice bike.

Anthony":1sdgbgyu said:

If the frame was mine, I think I would want to have Explosif decals on it and ride it with pride. A custom-painted 1999 Explosif is a very nice bike.

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If my frame is a Explosif from 1999, I will rebuild the frame originally.

Colour was Phantom Grey but this tint is manifold.

Has anybody knowledge about the tint which was used
from Kona originally?

Anthony":12h59a3m said:

tobibikes":12h59a3m said:

Has anyone a Explosif frame from 1999 and can tell me his frame no. or where I can find the Kona catalogue from 1999 or pictures of bikes or frames?

Click to expand...

You could try Ratbane who contributed to this thread the other day http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... t=explosif

Obviously you bought it as a Hot and you expect it to be a Hot, but looking on the brighter side there are worse things in the world than owning a 99 Explosif and for riding the thing there isn't a whole lot of difference.

I'm not quite sure what Tech meant by tubing profiles, as I would have said they were very similar for the size 20. A Hot would have 853 stays, whereas an Explosif has Reynolds 725 stays, but I'm not sure that makes much difference. If anything, a 725 frame is likely to be straighter - Reynolds specified 725 stays for 853 frames built in production line facilities because cold-setting is easier with 725. I admit there is a cachet about US-built, but I think Giant do a very good job and I don't believe their work is inferior to Enigma's.

If the frame was mine, I think I would want to have Explosif decals on it and ride it with pride. A custom-painted 1999 Explosif is a very nice bike.

Click to expand...

I've responded to tobibikes. Mine is indeed an H9***** frame. Also, those eylets , and stamps on the dropout, are pure Explosif.

You won't see many '99 853 Explosifs, so get the grey paint out, and restore with pride.

Anthony, do you know how many '99 853s were produced? Poor year for steel, as everyone was convinced that alu was better. I've never seen another one. I've seen a few blue '98s mind.

ratbane":2zwrl4mi said:

I've never seen another one.

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I have

IOW ride yesterday , Really nice looking bike, a kinda metallic flip grey colour which has to be appreciated in the flesh.

The guy who owns it is not a member here yet

Have a look in the IOW ride aftermath thread for more shots http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 17&start=0