My ’93 Explosif – rebuilt with some NOS & some contemporary parts in keeping with the original theme

Frame: ’93 Explosif 16”
Fork: Project Two triple butted
Headset: Chris King Threadset
Crankset: Middleburn RS7 170mm w/ Middleburn rings 46/26/24
Pedals: Shimano PD-737 (NOS) w/ ti spindles (Action-Tec)
Bottom bracket: Crank Brothers Cobalt Ti ISIS
Cassette: M910 XTR 12-32 (NOS)
Shifters: XT Thumbies (NOS)
Front mech: M900 XTR (NOS)
Rear mech: M910 XTR (NOS)
Bar: Bontrager Titec Ti
Stem: Joe Murray Velocity w/ Ti bolts
Grips: GT (NOS)
Brakes: Dia-Compe 987 (NOS) with Onza Chill Pills & Koolstops
Brake Levers: Dia-Compe SS7 (NOS)
All cables: XTR SP41
Hubs: Chris King
Rims: Mavic XC717
Skewers: Control Tech Ti
Tyres: Panaracer Cinder 2.1 foldable
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR
Seat post: Thomson Elite 420mm w/ Ti bolts
Seat clamp: Salsa
All boss bolts: Ti

looks nice but you need a bigger frame IMHO if your seat is that high!

Excellent and tasteful. You're obviously a true retrobiker, judging from the old school saddle height less handlebar height! I think that's the longest seatpost I've seen on a size 16 for a while.

I have a 1994 Explosif in size 16, which is a similar tube selection, just slightly different geometry, and that weighs exactly 4 lbs, which is pretty much the same as the subsequent Columbus Max Explosifs. Does yours weigh much the same as that?

yep it's high! It comes from having a 20in GT as my 1st proper bike &, at 5'8" & after a season racing it, deciding that a smaller frame was the way forward. Maybe i took it to the extreme but i've never felt more comfortable on any other frame! Anthony yep it's pretty similar - 3.8lbs but i remember agreeing with the guy at sShockwave in Nottingham back in '94 that the major difference between them was that a decent layer of paint had been put on the '94, rather than the wafer thin coat on the '93.

Very nice, where was it repainted?

That was my first reaction as well

Lovely bike though

Nice bike, I had the 93 Kilauea whcih was red at the back. One of there nicest colour years.

Where abouts in Sutton are you? I live there to, meet up for the ride in the park some time??

Cheers Kneedowndean - I'm near Walmley - yep a blast in the park is always welcome - give me a shout when you're free

Tallpaul - Dave Yates did it at the beginning of the year. I wasn't too happy with the shades (too light) & it's taken me until now to decide to actually build on it - still not long-term-happy though & will have to try again sometime in the future. Getting the decals is a big part of the pain - anyone know somewhere good?

Yeah, the blue is too light and the silver too 'silver'. Did they supply those decals too?

Gil_M supplied me with a proof of his 1993 Explosif decals but they weren't an ideal match for the originals so he is very kindly re-drafting them for me based on the photos and measurements I've supplied him.

Here's mine that is waiting for the decals before going to Argos for them to (hopefully) match the original colours:




Here is the original proof Gil sent, as you can see there are a few things that need changing for them to better match the originals:

nice.

that sure is a long seat pin

looks cool. very subtle.

i love 93 konas

cool

None of that garish ano , nice and simple . looks stock unless your in the know



Got to agree with that . fookin road sizing

I have a seat height of 27.5" on my 16" . its nice having the frame out of the way , keeps the center of gravity low . Having the seatpost flex a little does'nt hurt the back either .

Excellent info TallPaul thanks. I nearly cried when I picked it up from Dave but just wanted to get it home after planning the build for so long! Interestingly the seat tube decal on your proofs differs to what was on mine originally - as per this photo my original didn't have the blocked colour in the "K". Ket me know how Argos get on with the colours?

And on further inspection, the highlighting on the downtube "Kona" & top-tube "Explosif" is purple on the originals not green... easy enough to change?