Ball Burnished Chute?

Hi folks,

Quick one - does anyone know the story behind ball burnished '99 Kona Chutes? My mate got one back in the day from Second Level Sport as a replacement for his knackered Fire Mountain (win!) and I picked one up from eBay last year. These are the only two instances I know of, I can't even find a picture of the damn thing on Google. Does anyone know what the deal was? I'd guessed they might be team issue but I remember we asked Scott Beaumont at Bike '98 and he'd just said he'd was trying to get hold of one.

Currently building it as and when I get a bit of money in the project fund. It's showing signs of being chucked about (which is fine with me, it's meant to be used) so it's going to be more of a workhorse than a sparkle pony. I managed to pick up some '97 Z1s fairly cheap, which I was pleased with. Will post pics when I fit them.

I've asked Kona directly and they've yet to get back to me. Figured I'd quiz the collective knowledge on here too.

Cheers!
-Mark

Please don't quote me on this but I think they might have been a mid year release, sort of like a 1999.5. I've got the full year of MBUKs from 1998, 99 and 00 and I think I remember them being advertised. I'll see if I can find some more info.

Cheers man. Yeah, I don't remember seeing it in any of the mags when it should have been. Still no word from Kona so any info appreciated

Hi there

I worked at a Kona dealership in 1999 and markwashington is correct. It was released (quietly) sometime after the release of the complete bike and was only available as a frame only.
We had a couple in as warranty replacements.

There was also an all black version released at the same time which appears to be even rarer. I've only ever seen one which is mine that I bought at a very nice price (kona offered a superb discount to dealership staff) I built it up with 98 Z1's, Raceface cranks, MRP chain device etc.

I still have the frame today. I'll post some pics up when I get home.

Re:

In fact I've just found a couple of pics of it with a slightly later build including shiver SC's, Hope DH4 front brake and XT/XTR parts.

I'll get some pics of the bare frame as it is today though.