Worst Kona: 1990 Lava Dome

Yeah this sounds reasonable. The guy (forgive me for forgetting his name) in the factory tour video emphasised how much they prided themselves on making life easy for people that worked in bike shops. Sounds like they got it a bit wrong on that occasion!
 
Pleased to add that I've just become a member of the Kona Owners Club as of a few seconds ago too! Snapped up a decent looking '93 16" Lava Dome frame for the princely sum of £22 off fleabay.

This opens the door for two new projects:

A P7 Resto and a Kona "raid the parts box" type build. Wahey!
 
Personally the only thing I find annoying about Kona are the names of the bikes. The old names were OK but all the Hei Hei Kikapu, Stinky, Coiler, Hard On, Nipple Twister crap is just slightly pathetic. Graphics look really cheap and childish too
 
Re: Worst ever Kona?

ernie":1095dpu4 said:
http://cog.konaworld.com/archives/9824

Dr Dew says on this inteview there were a few mistakes..

Great clip..last for about 17 mins :D

Ernie ;)
Click to expand...

Everytime I see this vid I have to pause and have a trouser moment at Roland Greens Hot...
 
My first ever half decent MTB was a 1990 Lava Dome; bought very lightly used for £300 (it was about 3 months old and RRp was £440 if i remember right). I'd been drooling over the catalogues for months and just loved the way Konas looked. In reality, it was pretty average. The tyres were crap and the Suntour X1 stuff sucked! The 1" thready headset worked loose every ride, the BB was cup n cone cheapiness and the seven speed block was screw on. But; i don't think it was any worse than any other bike from the same time at the same price. i kept it for 6 months before upgrading to a nice custom built Overbury's :D The Dome must have done something right though...........23 years later, I'm still riding MTBs.
 
hydorah":1hvyjlny said:
Personally the only thing I find annoying about Kona are the names of the bikes. The old names were OK but all the Hei Hei Kikapu, Stinky, Coiler, Hard On, Nipple Twister crap is just slightly pathetic. Graphics look really cheap and childish too
Click to expand...

I agree. I liked the old Kona names. They started getting too down with the kids imo.
 
Here's my Lava Dome with the titanium tiser bar:

dsc01693mv0.jpg
 
I had to buy one :LOL: I've been looking for one for ages and found this. on eBay, includes back wheel and stuck seat post! 4 hours of strip-down and then struggling with heat and penetrating oil the seat post stub is out. £5.99 got me a brand new 26.6mm post from eBay. I'll clean it all up and sling it together, no big resto project planned. The frame is an eye-watering 2.8kg!

Who else has a white 1990 model? I know Konafan78 does. This is not a colour listed in the 1990 catalogue, but is listed on the Basic Frame specs document: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/d/7 ... 99+_2_.pdf

SP
 

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