My latest Kona

This isn' a build really, just a temporary lash-together so I can ride the frame a bit before it gets some much-needed TLC. Don't tell me it's been repainted, I noticed! And no it isn't a 97 Kilauea, even though it has 97 Kilauea decals (a 97 Kilauea had top tube fm cable routing, etc.)

So what is it then? Should alarm bells be ringing? Well you can see that the top and down tubes are tapered (34 deep at the front, 30 at the back). And in fact they're oval too (30/27 wide). I'm pretty sure that means they're Tange Prestige Concept, which in turn means that it's a Kilauea from either 94 or 95. Phew! Not a Hahanna then! But I did know that, or I wouldn't have bought it. But retro-kudos to anybody who can tell me whether it's a 94 or a 95, because I for one haven't yet discovered what the difference is (if any).

Finally who can spot what is unique about the frame? The clue is you can't see it - and remember it's a 94 or a 95 frame.

Cable stop for a rear v-brake?

park bench attached to the seat tube?

Dont know if this helps or not but my '95 Kilauea has a bulge on the seat tube where it meets the BB. Dont know if this is common on Konas of this era or not

Retro-kudos to that man! Shouldn't have given you a clue should I?

Thanks Haggis, but I think that's common to both years, as they both use the Tange Prestige Concept tubeset and the Concept spec sheet says the seat tube is '30.0-33.5x28.6 B.B.T. (1.3-0.6-0.9)' and I presume BBT means bulge-butted tubing. Some of the other Prestige tubesets had the same feature.

Does your bike take a 27.2 post like this one does?

No mine is 27.0

Dunno if post size is much of an indicator of anything. Mine seems quite snug with a 26.8 Thomson...

What are the welds like Anthony, can I have a look?