weapon of choice....kona or orange..what was better...?

bitd

Dr S":eendt9nu said:

sinnerman":eendt9nu said:

Dr S":eendt9nu said:

Cor blimey. We only get to choose between an Orange or a Kona?? Harsh.
Would have to be a Kona. I have never liked the way Oranges ride- tried them BITD and more recently. Konas have a decent ride and look nicer too.
Kona.

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yeh only due to tha fact that i chose the kona all those years ago, but always had a need to know how the orange rode in comparison, and i was intregued at others opinions, neither were handbuilt like the fats etc, all mass produced in the far east, but both were landmark brands for me and im sure a lot of others too....!!!!
for me back then i too chose the kona, liked the look too , and certainly the geometry got me hooked, it got me into steel first, and then onto my rocky mountain decade.....via bontrager, and indy fab etc, as years progressed....!!!!! never tried a fat though you seem pretty hooked.....any good...?

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Back then i was riding an old Cannondale, then moved onto a Saracen in around '90. I couldnt afford anything like a Fat back then. Friends had Konas and Oranges and i always prefered tye ride of the Kona- it had more zing and the sloping top tube and straight fork made for a handsome looker.
If i had a time machine and a sack of money i would probably go for a Mountain Goat. Back then i always wanted a Pace RC100 but tye reality is they dont ride too hot- good race bike but too highly strung and stiff as an all rounder. I also liked the Goat after riding one at Boltby in 1990. I had one last year but unfortunately it was just a bit too small.
I love Fats but have to say that little Goat out rode all of them without breaking a sweat. Fantastic bikes and probably one of the nicest handling bikes of all time IMO.

Si

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its mad you mention cannondale from bitd, i used to ride with steve the guy that started the yogis(a club ride,) on a wed and a sunday, he had the first cannondale i ever saw (rollercams etc), and it impressed me, steve and i continually bantered which was better, the kona or the dale, we swopped bikes many times, to compare, and i still preferred it when i got back on the kona, im sure for me at the time a geometry thing..., and it just had a little more skip in its step.!!!!! the pace, well when that showed up on the scene way back then, it just stunned me, i could only describe it them as "industrial", and dare i use the word "hardcore" , i loved the story behind the bike , and was so impressed that a couple of english guys had a go, when all around them, were big business....and these guys, thought to themselves... we can do that but we will take a different approach....!!! and it did work for them too, i had one although not a 100, and im of the same opinion a great race bike, an hour or two hard riding i found enough for me, much more and i felt it quite rigid and less forgiving, but in a race it was a weapon!!!! with a sack of money, well that would be a different story, back them we would get mba magizine, and as a young lad, it seemed to have ads and reviews that were a month or so ahead of the english mags, several american bikes were on the list for me.....the mantis/yeti/mountain goat.!!!! sadly ive yet to own any of them, the whiskytown racer was always so cool, and im impressed with what jeff is trying to achieve with it now to be honest, i am intregued to see a new model....as well as the old!!! and as for fat that came for me in the early 90"s , i worked for a guy that stocked them in his shop, but at the time, i was really feeling the bontrager race lite, for me it was the bike that i did it all on, i used it to commute/hack/race, it was steel and functional, simple almost. The fat i hope is almost upon me....!!!!!

Alex Creasey":1yjfrdz8 said:

Bitd I had an 88 Cinder Cone and rode that bike pretty much every day through my early teens and absolutely loved it. I don't know much about Orange but still have my brothers mid 90's P7 and it rides really nicely.

I would have picked Kona as they were far rarer back then and I loved the way it rode.

As DrS said a few posts back.... Then I got my Mountain Goat in 92 and I don't think I've ever ridden a better steel ht since and why it's still frequently ridden to this day.

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Alex , now thats just teasing......your link to your goat, is just teasing !!!!
i hope you are riding it...........its gorgeous.....and do pm me if it comes up for sale.......!!!!!!!!!

Re: MMMM...

miss money penny":1eygb743 said:

Well this is a difficult one. I love the Kona with the paintwork as it is and with the sloping top tube.....however, I know you are not using yours as an example but i can't help but love your Orange Mr Sinnerman.

The Kona is cool, but the orange just does it for me that little bit more! lol

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Miss money penny you shouldnt base your decision on colour, lol...lol...lol, but i knew you would like the race colour of the orange!!!!!! you are far too o.c.d for the splatter of the kona...lol..

Finally.........decision made.

It was a tough call, but i have decided.

Re: Finally.........decision made.

maverick":ib8nnuje said:

It was a tough call, but i have decided.

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so mav , how did you choose in the end?

Re: MMMM...

sinnerman":vpgtqqn5 said:

miss money penny":vpgtqqn5 said:

Well this is a difficult one. I love the Kona with the paintwork as it is and with the sloping top tube.....however, I know you are not using yours as an example but i can't help but love your Orange Mr Sinnerman.

The Kona is cool, but the orange just does it for me that little bit more! lol

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Miss money penny you shouldnt base your decision on colour, lol...lol...lol, but i knew you would like the race colour of the orange!!!!!! you are far too o.c.d for the splatter of the kona...lol..

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I don't know what u mean! Lol. I like them both but the design of the orange is just cooler in my eyes! And, I love that height rite too!

Well, despite being a Kona fan, I'd opt for the Orange. In my experience the early Konas are over-built, heavy and poorly constructed. The welding on all three of my 1990 bikes is poor and the threads look like they have been cut by a monkey. The handling is fine, but nothing special.

Last year I rode my 1992 Orange in the Merida Brass Monkeys, coming 19th in a field of 80 riders on modern bikes. The Orange is an excellent bike, even today. I rode it in 6 hour race and it was fine, the Kona would have broken me over 2.

Asthetically the Kona wins hands-down, which is why I keep it!

SP

well, I had the choice back in about 1991, I had a lot of friends with Konas but when I went on my exotic family holiday to Exeter, I saw the bike of my dreams, an Orange Aluminium O, sitting in the bike shop, 18" Grey (or was it silver), Full DX with Mavic M231s, powerstays...and that was that.
Parted with the £875 (saved over a year and halfs dedicated paper rounding) and the Orange was winging its way to the good north.
Loved that bike, even took my racing to new unheard of winning ways at the Sidlaw hills. It was the business and I am still looking for one to replace it...due to it being nicked from school about a year later.
Sadness ensues
At least it was locked though, and I spent the insurance money on... A Kona Kilauea, i think a 1992. And a GT Dyno Air bmx. And a new stereo.

Not that you should read too much into that, i didnt replace a duff Orange with a great Kona, the orange was in my opinion the better bike. still loved the Kona though. Hmmmm. The Orange was really lively despite being aluminium, and just had a general feeling of quality that I didnt feel the Kona had. Maybe if I'd been comparing it to an explosif, it might have been different. The geometry on the Kona was great too though, and since the Kilauea got pinched I've had two more over the years and never been dissapointed.

So in conclusion.
Both great.

cocodemer":1ft4kq86 said:

well, I had the choice back in about 1991, I had a lot of friends with Konas but when I went on my exotic family holiday to Exeter, I saw the bike of my dreams, an Orange Aluminium O, sitting in the bike shop, 18" Grey (or was it silver), Full DX with Mavic M231s, powerstays...and that was that.
Parted with the £875 (saved over a year and halfs dedicated paper rounding) and the Orange was winging its way to the good north.
Loved that bike, even took my racing to new unheard of winning ways at the Sidlaw hills. It was the business and I am still looking for one to replace it...due to it being nicked from school about a year later.
Sadness ensues
At least it was locked though, and I spent the insurance money on... A Kona Kilauea, i think a 1992. And a GT Dyno Air bmx. And a new stereo.

Not that you should read too much into that, i didnt replace a duff Orange with a great Kona, the orange was in my opinion the better bike. still loved the Kona though. Hmmmm. The Orange was really lively despite being aluminium, and just had a general feeling of quality that I didnt feel the Kona had. Maybe if I'd been comparing it to an explosif, it might have been different. The geometry on the Kona was great too though, and since the Kilauea got pinched I've had two more over the years and never been dissapointed.

So in conclusion.
Both great.

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Having got an Aluminium-O frame next to me, the quality in my opinion is not very good. It will have been grey (or Satin Silver as it was). They are mass produced frames (for the time) by A-Pro and bought in batches for Orange to spray up and decorate. Designed by them though.
Heavy things as well.
The Kileuea would have been quite a bit lighter. Not saying the Kona quality is any better mind
You shouldn't find it too hard to find an Aluminium-O
If you post up a wanted you could even get down to the correct batch if you have any pics or can remember any details about the frame.

clockwork

the steel frames (clockwork) were made for orange by A-PRO as well.