Early Kona Explosif - Please Date!

mrkawasaki

Retrobike Rider
I have a Tange Prestige Concept Kona Explosif frameset on its way from Poland (thanks Marcin!) - interestingly it has original curved forks and a decal set I have never seen before. In my head I'm thinking post-Cascade, pre-European sales model circa 88/89, perhaps hawked around dealers/shops this side of the pond, before decals were finalised, splatter paints mixed and the triple clamp Projects came into being. Is Anthony still around these parts...??

Not worried if it's a sham - only paid £25... ;)
 

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mrkawasaki":7qzlpgay said:
Is Anthony still around these parts...??

Not worried if it's a sham - only paid £25... ;)
Not often actually, but always glad to be of service Mr K! It's a 1992 Explosif, size 19. The fork isn't original, but still excellent value. They had a copyright issue over the name Kona in a number of continental Europe countries at that time, which led to them having to market the bikes a K Mountain Bikes for a while.
 
Anthony":1nl1rehx said:
mrkawasaki":1nl1rehx said:
Is Anthony still around these parts...??

Not worried if it's a sham - only paid £25... ;)
Not often actually, but always glad to be of service Mr K! It's a 1992 Explosif, size 19. The fork isn't original, but still excellent value. They had a copyright issue over the name Kona in a number of continental Europe countries at that time, which led to them having to market the bikes a K Mountain Bikes for a while.

Oh Anthony, Anthony! You could have of least waited a few more minutes before crushing my dreams of stumbling upon retro bronze! :LOL:

Whilst I have your font-like attentions, what are the differences between 91 and 92 Explosif?
 
1"or 1"1/8 ? looks like a 92 to me, the cat says black and gold (same as mine) iirc the 91 were different colours and 1" headtubes. explosif pro was black as well
 
magas":1q843x6d said:
kermitgreenkona88":1q843x6d said:
They had a copyright issue over the name Kona in a number of continental Europe countries

Anything to do with coffee :?:

not, dont think so - KOGA maybe ?

It was Koga, indeed! Koga Miyata claimed the name Kona was to close to Koga....Kona couldn't sell the bikes as kona in the Netherlands and Germany at that time (1991) and created K- mountainbikes!
 
mrkawasaki":2jzvl3se said:
what are the differences between 91 and 92 Explosif?
I believe the tubeset spec is identical, but there were some changes to the geometry, mostly small ones except that the catalogues show the virtual top tube length for the 92 and 93 frames as half an inch shorter than either 91 or 94 onwards. If that is a size 19, I believe it should have a seat tube length of 19 3/4" (centre bb to top of seat tube), top tube length measured along the tube centre to centre of 56cm and head tube length of 17cm.

It's interesting that Retrobike enthusiasts always tend to wish that a frame was older than it really is, whereas the designer would make changes each year intended to improve the frame.
 
Anthony":3mp37u21 said:
It's interesting that Retrobike enthusiasts always tend to wish that a frame was older than it really is, whereas the designer would make changes each year intended to improve the frame.

There's definitely something in that statement - interesting observation. In this case, I was buying in the hope that it was another 20" variant to go with the HHKK/91 Explosif/Kinetic to compare subtlety of rides. I was more wishfully hoping that it was a 'fabled Kona with the rare Spinner fork' than an aged thing - looks like I'm wrong on many counts! :roll: :LOL:
 
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