1998 Kona Hot

I recently said very publicly on here that I couldn’t fit any more bikes in my little palace. This was inspired by Ernie who outed a mint 1997 Kilauea SE. It was listed on U.S. e-Bay for piffling $370 BIN. It was then reduced still lower when it didn’t sell. The problem was that the seller wouldn’t ship, and it was residing way up into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.

There are obviously ways around getting hold of a bike when the seller will not ship, but I made the lame excuse that I didn’t have room, so I passed on taking things further…. this despite the efforts of both Ernie and al-onestare who were “encouraging” me to go for it.

Within a fortnight, Al was on the case again. I received a P.M. late one evening saying, “Red alert, literally!”

This time it was a 1998 Kona Hot frame residing in Florida. I was still regretting not pursuing the Kilauea SE, so this time I did the sensible thing and decided to decommission one of my current bikes, with a view to replacing it with a Hot. The axe fell on my 2000 Kula, which to be realistic was not a bike that I had planned on owning. At that time I was looking for a 2000 Explosif, and found a hardly ridden example in North Wales. Curiously, the seller listed a 2000 Explosif and a 2000 Kula together in one sale, and would not sell them separately…..so I ended up with both.

Anyway, that is a bit of background, and in retrospect, it does seem unforgiveable that I have never owned a Hot. Al did all the work with arranging the sale and organising the method of shipping as the frame was on Facebook, and I am not a member.

The frame arrived at my work today and all was well, although by the time I had got home this evening the light was fading, so better pictures to follow.







Pip.

Like it a lot. Very nice project. will be watching the progress

very nice, what tubeset is it out of interest? looks like a 17" or in other words, my size

Looking forward to seeing more pictures and curious to see what spec it ends up with

Mark

Re:

Thank you gentlemen,

It has a Reynolds 853 Main Frame with the subtlety bi-ovalised Downtube of: Centre 35.5mm, Top 37mm x 33.5mm, Bottom 37mm x 33.5mm.

The Stays are still undetermined, but I am working on that. It is possible that they are Reynolds 725. The bare frame weighs in at 1,950 grams on our very accurate calibrated scales at work, so that rules out generic 4130 non heat-treated stays found on the 1999 Explosif.

I’ve seen weights quoted of just over 2 kg for the 1998 Explosif, which has 853 / 725, so I’m wondering if it is a FrankenHot with Columbus Nivacrom Max OR stays – that would be cool.

It is of note that there are the same Rack Eyelets on the Seat Stays, and the same Dropouts found on my 1997 Explosif – I’ll get measuring with my Vernier later.

It is an 18” frame, and pleased don’t be alarmed when you see the build. I don’t do period correct, so all components will be of a later vintage than the frame’s manufacture.

More picture later.

Pip.

That's very cool. I had no idea that 853 could come with cross-ovalised tubes. That's got to be one of the last Hots every made too. Is there any reason the stays couldn't be 853 too?

Re:

Very nice Pip, congrat's!

This could be of interest if you haven't already seen it

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=111778&start=10

Adam_S":2vcofzl9 said:

That's very cool. I had no idea that 853 could come with cross-ovalised tubes. That's got to be one of the last Hots every made too. Is there any reason the stays couldn't be 853 too?

Click to expand...

Cheers guys.

The link that Canuck us showed in his post confirms that the difference between a 1998 Explosif and 1998 Hot was the bi-ovalised Downtube. So apart from cost, I don’t know if there is another frame design requisite where Kona also chose Reynolds 725 for the Stays of the 1998 Explosif. So an 853 rear end for this late Hot is still a possibility Adam. When you consider the low weight of mine, and that it has a lot of thick paint on it, this could reveal the full Tubeset.

The serial number of mine is H9N1 7857, which is a different format from the Hot in Canuck’s link. Mine indicates a very late production if the format is as follows:

H=Hodaka, 9=1999, N= don’t know, 1=January?, 7857= serial / batch.

Must crack on now, as I nearly have it in a rideable state.

Pip.

Re: Re:

pipmeister":jyuvma5f said:

. The bare frame weighs in at 1,950 grams on our very accurate calibrated scales at work....

Click to expand...

VERY nice looking frame you have there and with my lowly 2001 kilauea coming in at 1971g... that pleases me!
Looking forward to the build

G

Re:

Ta Dah!

That was one of the quickest builds I’ve managed – although I did used to work in a LBS!


I have taken it out for a quick spin around the block. First impressions are that I am very pleased with the feel, as it seems a bit livelier than my 1997 Explosif. I guess that overall it should be somewhat better than an Explosif, but I need to take it for a proper ride to compare.












Sadly the sun is not shining on West Berkshire, so you’ll need to bear with me regarding the pictures. The camera doesn’t show the violet and gold metal flakes in the sparkle paint finish – so let’s hope the sun shines here later and I should be able to show you.





Pip.

Very tidy looking bike..
I would be very happy with that..
What model and year are the forks ?I like the look of them..