1993/94 Kona Hot Part 2

[Anthony]

Anthony,
I emailed Tom T. and what he said, and I must say he was very vague about it, was that it was built in very late 93 or very early 94. He could not tell me for sure. He did say that the Disc Tab was added later, that he did not put it on. He did mention that the frame was not painted in his shop, that he sent the frames raw to Washington. My only guess, and it is a guess, is that it was made in 93, sent to Wa, sat around, pulled out, disc tab added and painted in 94. I talked to a fellow that I bought a team jacket from, see photo, and he told me that the color frame that I had was team issue in 94. Not sure if he is right but he lived in Bellingham in 92-96 and knew biked with a lot of Kona crew. That is how he got the jacket.
I love playing Detective

I know the fork is not correct but it is a lot better then the Manitou that came with it when purchased. I found a NOS P2 from 95 that I think will work but they guy that has it cut the steerer down, decided not to use it and it sat. Not sure if there is going to be enough length.Cheers,
Lawrence

I think Tom is just laid back, I'm sure he wouldn't be vague to the point of being unhelpful - and I think you do need a bit more help from him.

I felt it was a 1993 frame because the series production Konas had those dropouts up to the 1993 model year. But the latest 1993 bikes would have been built in early 1993. If he says your frame was built in late 1993 or early 1994, I think you need to find out from him whether it has 1994 geometry, because that will determine which length of P2 it was designed for. If it is a 1994 bike, then the P2 you have there is fine for it. It's only if the frame has 1993 geometry that you might be better off with a shorter fork.

You're then left with the question of why it has 1993 dropouts, but maybe he just used up the ones he had left. Waste not, want not.

Please forgive me if I'm repeating myself from your previous thread, but I don't know where to find that. I may have already asked you for the dimensions, but if you give me the precise (in mm) lengths of the seat tube c-t, the top tube c-c along the tube, and the head tube, they might tell us which year's geometry you have there.

I must say even I might be tempted to wear that splendid team jacket if I had the matching bike to go with it!