1994 Kona HOT in medium by TET

al-onestare":1jex36fy said:

I wonder if the paint scheme had anything to do with the lower price? For me, I associate Hots with Teesdale and the custom paint-job; usually something cheeky but as this was an earlier Hot than 95/6/7/8 where you had the classic stars and bars, rasta flames, etc, I wonder if those weren't options back then.

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I think Velographics took over the painting contract from 1996. I'm not a fan of their work myself, and I think it shows what cheapskates Kona were that they had the frames made by Altitude/Mountain Goat, but they didn't get them painted by Russ Pickett. If he had painted them, they really would have been hot.

I don't know who painted them previously, but I've sort of assumed that Teesdale used his regular painter locally. He will still get a frame of his repainted for you, and at a surprisingly reasonable cost. I assume this one below predates Velographics and I personally prefer it to anything by them.

ringo":24qw5lbg said:

Was watching this... understand the Teesdale bit etc, but what is all the fuss about. The quality of the welding looks distinctly average to me (note the shot of where top tube meets head tube...)

Still at that price it's a great buy, just would't break the bank for one... perhaps it is the wild colour schemes that make them the IT Kona...

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HOW DARE YOU!! :x

Ha! Just joshin' mate! See, I finally got my Teesdale! :mrgreen:

I know what you mean about the welding, it's actually the first thing I noticed as well(however it was more where the downtube meet's the top tube that caught my eye) Why are Hot's held in such high esteem, way more expensive & more desirable than their Explosif brethren? Of course the main reason is the TET stamped under the bottom bracket. Is Mr.Teesdale a better welder than all the smithy's who have made Explosif's from the same time period? Arguable I'm sure, but would be very hard to prove Is it the paint job's? I've seen some pretty wicked looking Hot's and I've seen some (like this one) that have a pretty mediocre color scheme. This one actually remind's me of the Kilauea from the same year so nothing overly special there. I think something that hasn't been discussed about Hot's vs. Explosif's is where they're made. Most item's made in the State's are gonna cost a fair chunk of change more than the same product produced in China for example. I'm guessing the main arguement for this would be quality control but who know's for sure. I was talking to a friend of mine once about this and he compared Hot's and Explosif's to Fender's and Squire's. More or less the same equipment but assembled in different countrie's. The reason for the astronomical difference in price? Made in the good ol' USA as opposed to made in Mexico/China/Timbuk2 I reckon
Does all this make a difference between the Hot and Explosif? Does it make a Hot ride better, faster or last longer??...not likely. Why do we raise the Hot on a pedestal above a 'Splosif? Who know's...The reason's for me wanting a Teesdale Hot? It's rarer than an Explosif and I didn't have one. :mrgreen:

...I'd like to add that I'm still looking for an Explosif with the similar tubeset ('93-'94) so if anybody's got one they'd like to sell ...(start's up the hoover )

Canuck

No that's totally fine... I roll the same way myself!

It just looks like the man can't weld!

Glad you've got one and am sure it will be a great bike for you 9at a great price...

loved this analogy..

Hot's and Explosif's to Fender's and Squire's

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That will stick in the memory!

Rich

Man that Hot Anthony posted is a wonder - lovely lovely. Perhaps the other reason why they don't resonate so much in the US is because there're Canadian. Since there are tons of home-grown US manufacturers, I assume Kona took the (wise) decision not to push that market hard, unlike Europe of course.

Personally there's are 2 Hot's I'd take ('cause you know, I'd be in a position to do that!!):

A 96 Stars and Bars
A 97 Rasta flame

I'd settle for the infamous Ti painted Rasta as well ;-)

al-onestare":3o6nrqkr said:

I'd settle for the infamous Ti painted Rasta as well ;-)

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Me too!

Diverting completely but I found a 97 ad in MBUK last night for the 98 Kilauea and there was a little shot of one being ridden by a factory rider. I shed a little tear ;-)