1991 Kona Explosif 16”

[theador]

Hi all. So here goes; don’t expect the most comprehensive build thread, but thought it might be nice to document the upgrades.

Picked up a standard Kona Explosif 1991 16” the other day in great condition, other than the paint fade. It’s pretty original other than saddle, rear mech and a couple of other little things.

Plan is to do a few period upgrades to the bike and eventually respray.

 

[theador]

Magura HS33 fitted,
Joe Murray bottle cage,
Flite saddle,
Longer stem and original ‘cut down’ bars,
XT Thumb Shifters and grips fitted.
Went for some Conti Speed and Mountain King tyres as they have Yellow and White decals, like JOE MURRAY stuff

 

[theador]

Got hold of a set of Future Shock Forks to go on, elastomers are shot. Trouble is it's a 1 1/8 in steerer and I'm on a 1" one at the mo, so looking for a:
1 1/8th JOE MURRAY Impact Headset
1 1/8th JOE MURRAY Stem, although I don't think these were ever available in black? SO maybe just a nice exotic black stem (Syncros).

 

[raidan73]

Do you have reducer cups in the head tube just now then?

 

[theador]

Do you have reducer cups in the head tube just now then?

No, the 91 Kona's were 1", or at least the smaller ones were

 

[raidan73]

So how do you plan on fitting a 1 1/8” headset?

I’m sure 91 Explosifs take a 1 1/8” headset anyway

 

[amoto65]

Lovely looking bike and just my size. Not sure how you can fit 1/1/8th forks on though.

 

[theador]

Sorry it's just the steerer tube on the fork that are bigger; surely I just need to change the headset out to take the bigger steerer tube?

 

[raidan73]

Your frame should already have a 1 1/8” headset, in which case the new fork should fit

 

[raidan73]

No, the 91 Kona's were 1", or at least the smaller ones were

You’re possibly getting confused by models. In 91 it was the Hahanna and Fire Mountain that were 1”, but the other models were 1 1/8”