1997 Kona Hei Hei 20'' New Pics 14/04/2008

[Average Mark]

Looks darn nice Mark, saying that Chris, shall i put the advert up? Easter weekend maybe?

 

[andrewl]

Re: 1997 Kona He Hei 20'' Pics Added...

Frame:

Despite wearing 1998 decals I have done some trawling and serial number chasing and have found the frame to be a late 1997 - originally supplied with orange decals. The last owner fitted repro 1998 decals and for the mean time they will remain as I quite like them!

If it were a 1997 model year frame, it would have had down-tube routed cabling for the rear mech. Therefore the decals are period correct (albeit replicas) and this is a '1998' model Hei Hei. Admittadly it could have been built in late '97 as the 98 bikes would have been available from around September '97.

Actually cable routing wise for a 20" Ti Kona frame that's not true. The 97 20" King Kahunas and Hei Heis have top cable routing. Why this is the case I have no idea, but they do.

Easiest way to tell between a 97 and a 98 onwards Hei Hei or King Kahuna is the serial number. 97 will be B20xxx for Hei Hei and 98 will be KH20xxx. Similarly King Kahunas will be K20xxx for 97 and KK20xxx for 98 onwards.

Decals for the 97 Hei Hei were also power blue and not yellow like the King Kahuna. I have pics of the powder blue if interested.

Anyway nice bike

 

[Tallpaul]

Re: 1997 Kona He Hei 20'' Pics Added...

Actually cable routing wise for a 20" Ti Kona frame that's not true. The 97 20" King Kahunas and Hei Heis have top cable routing.

Easiest way to tell between a 97 and a 98 onwards Hei Hei or King Kahuna is the serial number. 97 will be B20xxx for Hei Hei and 98 will be KH20xxx. Similarly King Kahunas will be K20xxx for 97 and KK20xxx for 98 onwards.

Ooh, interesting. So why was the cable routing differant just 'cos it was a 20"?

Did they do this in the steel/alloy frames too?

 

[andrewl]

Re: 1997 Kona He Hei 20'' Pics Added...

Ooh, interesting. So why was the cable routing differant just 'cos it was a 20"?

Did they do this in the steel/alloy frames too?

To be honest I don't know why, all I can tell you is that every 20" Ti Kona frame from MY97 according to its serial number that I have tracked down either for sale or with a happy owner (about 20 frames including my own) has top cable routing. My 20" King Kahuna is also from the first batch of 20" frames if that helps.

 

[letmetalktomark]

Cheers for the comments chaps.

All Ti Thetford meet sounds on the money

Re: The forks. Been really impressed with the Salsa forks on my Saracen so I wanted to do something different and wasn't sure on carbon forks

RE: The decals. The only original decal is the made in the USA one which is a nice touch.

The Kona chaps said the same thing about it being a 1997 as the serial number tallys with the BXXXX logic. I've managed to track down some early pictures of the frame - not that it matters either way.

Look forward to getting more time to ride now :roll:

Edit>> Bike is now wearing proper pedals

 

[letmetalktomark]

This is an early photo of my frame ( frame number confirmed ) with what I believe to be original decals:

One more:

Kona peeps thought late 1997 like TP said.

Either way I loves her!!

 

[letmetalktomark]

good to see some Salsa forks on a Hei Hei too as I'm thinking of getting a se for mine, how does it affect the handling/head angle?

The forks make for a very favorable ride I did have some 440mm P2s fitted but they were to tall. :roll:

The ride is ace comfort wise too - the flex in all the right places

I did have some running a 185 disc up front and this wasn't a problem for them either.

Well recommended

Mark

 

[Neil G]

Looks much better now Mark Geared up than in that pic. above in SS setup.

Got some Dukes on my Hei Hei which I think are too long, have set them up with a lot of sag though to try and get it back to something normal but still feel the itch for rigids again for that proper, direct ride!

 

[Tallpaul]

This is an early photo of my frame ( frame number confirmed ) with what I believe to be original decals:

Those were Repros; cut vinyl like the ones on there now. Also if you look closely you can see that there is an ever so slight 'grain' to repro graphics - original decals (like the thumbs up) don't have this.

 

[letmetalktomark]

Those were Repros; cut vinyl like the ones on there now.

Cool thank you for the update

Kona peeps said:

I’d say late 97. Grey seat collar so not 98 as those were black. Early 97s still had the front derailleur under the BB shell, later in the season they got V-brake stops and all 3 cables on the top tube.

That coupled with the serial number points at 1997.

I quite like the 98 graphic and think they will stay until she is painted at the end of summer. :shock:

In talks with Argos to have something like this done

Had spoken with one company about getting this paintwork being recreated but it was uber expensive :shock:

Brushed Ti is so pre 2000