NOS 1992 Kona Explosif from Switzerland

Ohhh! Dream bike!

Push-push shifters are a little odd on a Kona.

mechagouki":34ymiuzy said:

Ohhh! Dream bike!

Push-push shifters are a little odd on a Kona.

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The shifters are LX. Funny thing was I was reading an old mag last night that talked about the fact that there was a total recall on 1991 Track two forks as they were coming loose. In return Kona offered customers a set of project 2s and a set of bar ends! I'd rather have the track twos and take the risk.

I don't think track twos every returned after that recall

Those T2s are puzzling me... I have two pairs and neither have that soft, sculpted crown (noticeably on the back) - more of an agricultural PACE-like design. Would these here have been OEM versions for Kona (subsequently recalled)?

Mr K

Anthony":1mmzt2kh said:

Although it doesn't say so anywhere on it, I believe this may well be the model called an Explosif Pro in the 1992 catalogue. I don't know how much more they cost than the standard Explosif, but they came with a custom paint job in any Imron colour you nominated (although in fact yours is the third that I've seen in that nice shade of green). The catalogue also says they came with a Suntour XC Pro groupset, but yours seems to have the Deore DX of the standard Explosif, which was an option for the Pro.

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Mechs look to be DX, but shifters / STIs are LX (or below, but look like LX).

Looks lovely, and it must be quite a rare thing to have a truly NOS bike from BITD.

congrats on a great find........thats lovely!!!

mrkawasaki":1tsa6dz8 said:

Those T2s are puzzling me... I have two pairs and neither have that soft, sculpted crown (noticeably on the back) - more of an agricultural PACE-like design. Would these here have been OEM versions for Kona (subsequently recalled)?
Mr K

Click to expand...

Are yours both 1990 with spatter paint? The only one I've seen similar to this is on the 1990 Explosif shown below, once owned by Hilts. I have no photo of a Track Two on a bike later than 1990 before seeing this latest one.

It begins to seem clear that although this bike is NOS, it is a bitsa built up by the shop from a 1992 Explosif Pro frame and other suitable parts they had to hand.

The fork may have been difficult to sell if there were known problems with them, but I wonder if the problems were exaggerated? There are lots of 1990 Explosifs still running around with intact Track Twos. I have more photos of 1990 Explosifs than of 91s for example, and I have only one photo of a 1990 Explosif with any fork other than a Track Two. Maybe the problems were just with one particular batch perhaps?

Serial N° and some more pics

Hi all, thanks for the interest so far, here's more snaps.

Serial of the frame is F9110289, length from middle of BB to top of seat tube is 51cm or 20in. I've got other measurements that I will post later on.

Cheers,
B

and more photos









thanks!

Great find!!! :shock:

I'm not at all jealous

wow!
;]