Kona Help Required Please

Ok guys...

Im in the process of buying the frame shown:



Is there anyone who can indeed verify that its a Kona Kula and an apporximate year?
Its apparently 1994 ish - however the rear triangle seems to differ from other Konas of that era???? Im very new to this retro scene so maybe totally wrong?

Any info on the sizes of key components would be a great help

Thankyou for all your help in advance.

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Hi,

Maybe this could help you : http://www.konaretro.com/showarticle.ph ... atalogues/

Good luck,
Ben

Yeah that is a help but the 94 model appears to have replaceable mech hanger - and the one pictured does'nt?????

Any experts?

The jungle decals are from much later (97 on), but as the paint under them isn't original, that doesn't tell you much. The 97 model was red, quite like the colour of the rear triangle.

Is that a bolt on disc adaptor on the frame?? Must be. The cable guides look like they are for cantis, and the cable for the front mech ran under the BB shell, so that will be a useful clue.

Anthony shoule be able to give you a good educated guess as to what and roughly when, even with the poor picture quality.

I can't really tell much from that picture, but I agree with you that it must be either 95 or 96 and it must be either an AA or a Kula. It might be a 96 because I think the 95 dropouts were slightly different, but I'm not even sure there was a difference between the 96 AA and Kula. They were both made of Easton Elite and though the catalogue says they weighed 3.5lbs and 3.4 respectively, I'd take that with a pinch of salt. Could be just a marketing ploy.

You might possibly be able to confirm the age from the serial number, or if like the one below it has a braze-on rear V-stop, which confirms it is a 96. But early 96 Kulas didn't have that feature, so if it was absent it wouldn't prove that it was a 95 frame. Unless you can find some traces of the original paint, I'm not sure you will be able to prove whether it was originally painted as a Kula or as an AA.

Here is a picture, just in case some detail might help you.

Thank you all for your help - the wealth of knowledge on here is amazing...

Im hoping to get more detailed pictures today - and hopefully can tell from them what we have....


Thanks again..

Ok - As promised - I now have some high quality pictures, which were kindly emailed over to me....

Any of the experts on here care to share some of thie retro wisdom...

Many Thanks (again)!!!!!

Well, I think the first thing to say is that it's a good lesson for anyone contemplating getting a frame repainted - don't do it!! As it happens, I acquired a 94 Kilauea repainted in a similar style, and that has almost as many stone chips as yours. Very artistic when it's fresh, but the enamel they use just isn't tough enough to do the job.

As to what it is, then I still think it's a Kula or an AA, and not a Muni Mula or a Koa, because I think the tube profiles were different on the Muni Mula. But you'll learn more by weighing it - without the bb it should weigh c1.6kg, whereas if it weighed c1.8kg that would be more in Muni Mula territory.

As to whether it's a Kula or an AA, I don't think it's possible to tell (serial numbers don't help), so in my opinion you might as well call it a Kula.

As to what year it is, the 5 in the serial number means it was made in 1995, but that still leaves the possibility of it being either a late 95 model or an early 96. And we know it isn't a later 96 because it hasn't got a rear V-stop (careless that, they should have fitted one when they repainted it).

So getting into really splitting hairs and 'haven't you got anything better to do?' territory, consider the cable stops. You see they're angled? Well the 96 Kula above has perpendicular ones as per usual. And is it my fevered imagination, or does the 95 Kula below have angled ones?

I rest my case m'lud.

Thanks Anthony -

much appreciated.....

Something I missed - I *think* that E in a diamond shape followed by DB could be the sign of an Easton tubeset. In which case it would definitely be a Kula - the 95 Kula was made from the double-butted Easton Elan tubeset.

I do know they used to have an E stamped at the front of the top tube on Easton frames a few years previously, so perhaps they switched that to the bb shell? First I've heard of it, but I think it was an E in a diamond. Others will know better.

Original specs http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/Bike ... &Type=bike