Hei Hei disguised as Explosif?

Thank you Anthony.

I will indeed write to your chap at Kona, while expressing an interest in the history of the company.

Pip.
 
pipmeister":pjp14fc2 said:
I will indeed write to your chap at Kona, while expressing an interest in the history of the company.
Maybe best to say 'is this true, sounds a bit of a laugh?'. I'm not sure whether expressing earnest interest in Kona history is the best way to win them over. They're so laid back that I get the impression they view with suspicion anybody interested in anything other than beer or whether it's time to go home yet.

This is a good page http://www.konaretro.com/articles/catal ... Page04.jpg
97 catalogue, so 96 pictures. What are the bikes? Only one of the riders is sponsored by Columbus, but some clown has got his head in the way of the bike. Dave Wiens is clearly riding a steel bike, with 96 decal and cable routing but in the colour of a 97 Explosif. Ian Cuthbertson appears to be on a 96 Kula, judging from the seat tube sticker, albeit I don't know what the head tube badge is all about. And why has he got cantis and those crazy narrow bars? No wonder he looks alarmed. Dario Cioni's bike resembles Wiens', similar colour to a 96 Kula, but that isn't an aluminium frame.

This supposedly team frame shown below may be what they're riding. Similar colour to 96 Kula and 97 Explosif, but definitely a Columbus Max frame, but no top tube sticker (like Wiens' bike).

No sign of any ti masquerading as steel anywhere here. But then again, what would we see if they hadn't chosen a picture with that ludicrous helmet with very few vents getting in the way? Hmmmm, the plot thickens :roll:
 

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Thank you very much Anthony for your helpful information. I will continue to search for pictures of the team riders, and post on here.

Anthony":3l47x3vg said:
pipmeister":3l47x3vg said:
I will indeed write to your chap at Kona, while expressing an interest in the history of the company.
Maybe best to say 'is this true, sounds a bit of a laugh?'. I'm not sure whether expressing earnest interest in Kona history is the best way to win them over. They're so laid back that I get the impression they view with suspicion anybody interested in anything other than beer or whether it's time to go home yet.
Yesterday I had drafted and then re-written a piece to send to Joe at Kona. So I have now re-written it again, this time mentioning how cool I think the iconic picture of Dave Watson’s histrionics was… and the fact that I own 8 Kona bikes!

Anthony":3l47x3vg said:
Hmmmm, the plot thickens :roll:
That is the bit we like on here :cool:
 
pipmeister":qtvnwgtz said:
Thank you very much Anthony for your helpful information. I will continue to search for pictures of the team riders, and post on here.

Anthony":qtvnwgtz said:
pipmeister":qtvnwgtz said:
I will indeed write to your chap at Kona, while expressing an interest in the history of the company.
Maybe best to say 'is this true, sounds a bit of a laugh?'. I'm not sure whether expressing earnest interest in Kona history is the best way to win them over. They're so laid back that I get the impression they view with suspicion anybody interested in anything other than beer or whether it's time to go home yet.
Yesterday I had drafted and then re-written a piece to send to Joe at Kona. So I have now re-written it again, this time mentioning how cool I think the iconic picture of Dave Watson’s histrionics was… and the fact that I own 8 Kona bikes!

Anthony":qtvnwgtz said:
Hmmmm, the plot thickens :roll:
That is the bit we like on here :cool:


Thats the way bud..you have to "win" people over and "amuse" them..very tactful taking the "diplomatic" route ;)

Ernie ;)
 
I have now received a reply from Joe at Kona after asking him did any team members ride titanium Hie Hies disguised as Columbus steel Explosifs.

This is part of my e-mail to him, followed by his reply.

"Hello Joe,
I am a huge Kona fanatic, and I’m hoping that you can tell me the story behind something that intrigues me from around 1997.
I heard that some Kona Team riders wanted to compete using the titanium Hei Hei, but the co-sponsorship deal at the time was with Columbus (used on the Explosif).
Were any titanium frames painted up to resemble the Columbus tubing?......."

Joe,
“Hi, you bet that’s true. The year Dave Weins came on board (1996) Columbus came on as a late sponsor. They couldn’t get frames to us in time for the season so they supplied decals and the team ran with Ti frames.”

Back to the topic; well this does reflect some of the suggestions made so far. Any more comments would be gratefully received.

Pip.
 
from me too, good research :)

interesting answer from Joe, but why not giving a stock 96 Explosif frame to the teamriders to overcome the problems with Columbus sponsoring :roll:
 
if you were a team rider what would you rather have..??! I know ID plump for the hei hei painted




- which is why Im riding one 14 years later... :cool:
 
bigdawg":2mviyhqx said:
if you were a team rider what would you rather have..??! I know ID plump for the hei hei painted

But that view probably has very little to do with whether it was any better for racing on and more to do with the way that we, as people who just play around on bikes, view frames made from titanium as being somehow more desirable (well, some of us, at least). A sort of holy grail......

I agree with Anthony when he said "It's the rider that counts - if you can't win a race on a Columbus Max Explosif, you weren't going to win anyway".
I know when I was racing a Columbus Max Explosif having a Hei Hei to ride instead wouldn't have made a scrap of difference to my results. Ok, there might have been a psychological advantage, but that would soon have evaporated about five seconds into one of those wickedly fast starts that I remember all too well. Where you think that you're going to die/throw up and then you wish you would (die, I mean).

Makes me sick just thinking about it now....
;)
 

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