what year/decals for my hei hei?

so I had assumed my hei hei was a 97 though im not 100% certain, I guess the biggest clue it the cable routing. it seems to be a cross over year where kona couldn't make up their mind what to do. the rear brake and the front mech are on the top tube and the rear mech runs down the down tube.

pic can be found here

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=275076

I prefer the decals used up to 96 but wouldn't want to use the wrong year decals, another question is what colour? my thinking at the moment is to cut out the colour to show the ti through if using the 97 decals as they have quite a chucky font

so any ideas on the year? and ideas on decals

Hi Lumos, up to you really but since you've asked...
In the case of a Hei Hei i'd say getting the decal year right matters less because the frames are all the same colour anyway regardless the year so whichever original Kona decal scheme you like best will still look great. If you're considering to customize the decal colours then you've already abandoned originality so worrying about originality becomes a moot point.
If it were my bike i'd find out the frame year then if it's <96 i'd choose my favorite Kona decal colours from the '94 - '96 font era. If it's >97 choose a favorite from the '97 - '00 era.
As for cutting out the decal and just using the font outline, i wouldn't as i think the frame needs a splash of colour/contrast. There are a couple of examples of 'cut-out' decals elsewhere on this website and they look OK. Personal preference.
For what it's worth i'm putting '98 decals on my '99 (see link below).
Regards.

97 were the best kona decals in my opinion, so just get those and job done.

did the 96 have the short seat tube?

I'd say yours is definitely a '97 with that cable routing

I agree with Coomber, best Kona decal set

ah but was the hei hei blue? and the king orange?