1991 Kona Hei Hei - Finished pics on page 5

Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

al-onestare":2p319pcz said:
Excellent insight as ever. Silly question: were TI Sports, Sandvik? Or were they two separate companies?

They were two separate companies.

Sandvik is a huge conglomerate and their titanium tubes division is just a tiny bit of it. They produced titanium for the Aerospace industry and the Military. I read somewhere that Kona were their next biggest customer after those two, although this seems unlikely. Perhaps Kona were the largest bike manufacturer to utilize Sandvik titanium - there are other bike manufactures that have use the same tubing.

Titanium Sport Technology seem to still be a going concern based in Washington.

There is rumour that the arguably more desirable but difficult to work 6.4 version of titanium tubing was at some point entirely commandeered by the Military from Sandvik. This may explain why Kona were only able to use it to build a few frames. It was used on the Seat and Chain Stays (four tubes) of the 1996 King Kahuna. We also think that there was one or more 1999 King Kahuna frames made using 6.4 for all eight tubes. Kona Team rider Dario Cioni rode one of these 1999 frames, which I came close to buying some year ago.

The Dropouts are made from 6.4 on the Kona Frames, and I think that the Score has a Bottom Bracket Shell made for 6.4 as well. I know that the Headtube on that frame is milled from a solid billet of Titanium, but I don't know if it is 6.4 or if this method was use on the Hei Hei and the King Kahuna.

Pip.
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

SpecializedSworks15":1nde0wya said:
This will look cool Tim .

Cheers Darren, it’ll be one Ti Bike I definitely won’t be selling and then possibly regretting, done that twice now :facepalm:

I have been tempted by some Mag21’s but reckon I should keep it rigid for that lengendary Kona rigid ride. Thoughts?
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Minifreak":2gxisr2o said:
I have been tempted by some Mag21’s but reckon I should keep it rigid for that lengendary Kona rigid ride. Thoughts?

My thoughts are the bike will handle better with forks that it was designed for. It is pre-suspension correct geometry and will benefit from a Crown to Axle measurement of 390mm. I just read that the Mag21 has a C-A of 405mm, which is nearer to the intended measurement than some other forks.

The ultimate are the Titanium P2s that will fit the bill, but not your wallet as they usually fetch more than a Hei Hei frame!

Pip.
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Minifreak":36fsje16 said:
I have been tempted by some Mag21’s but reckon I should keep it rigid for that lengendary Kona rigid ride. Thoughts?

Hmm, the Ti P2's would be best choice but like pip said, expensive :shock:

Maybe a '91 P2 to match the Velocity stem you are thinking of using, but i also think the Mag 21's are good enough to compliment the frame too.
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Would have had a Track 2 as per the catalogue spec although pic is a project Two, guess the Tange is a good alternative:)
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Mine had P2s on and from what I remember handled like a dream. It was a creaky little bugger though and had a fair bit of flex at the BB.
IIRC I ran full XT with thumbies and a velocity stem.
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

tonybrown5":2p85ji4w said:
Mine had P2s on and from what I remember handled like a dream. It was a creaky little bugger though and had a fair bit of flex at the BB.
IIRC I ran full XT with thumbies and a velocity stem.

I’m hoping it’ll have the great Kona frame ride with the feel of a good Ti frame :D
 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Stage one, fix bottle cage mounting. Unfortunately the seller forgot to mention that one of the bottle cage mounting was spinning and the bolt stuck.

I found a very useful guild online for such eventualities, masked the area up nicely to prevent damage and got the bolt turning seperately from the rivnut. I intended to then remove said bolt and use a longer bolt and collar to gently tighten the rivnut in the frame, no such luck, the bolt span but wouldn’t come out :(

I had enough room to try to saw through the bolt but as the hole into the headtube I’d tiny I would have been left with a rattle from the old parts falling inside and that just wouldn’t do. The bolt appears to be made from diamond so sawing got me knowhere anyway. Thankfully I did manage to weaken the alloy of the rivnut and with some very careful use of a claw hammer and lots of checking and re positioning, she came out.

Does anyone know where to get or have a spare bottle cage mounting sized rivnut ?

The build can now begin :)

 
Re: 1991 Kona Hei Hei

Build on hold again, the forks came with a threaded and thresdless steerer both in 1 1/8”, as I’m using a threaded Deore XT headset I swapped over what was fitted and the threaded one is too long. Thanks to PACE I have one in 189 with 60mm of thread now ordered :)

 

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