moonlite
Kona Fan
I've never done a thread on this bike although it has featured elsewhere here, but was fiddling about with it today and thought it might be nice to document it a bit better.
This one goes back to early days of Covid when, like a million others, I decided it was a good time to start on a project. I wanted an Explosif as I had happy memories of a 2002 model I'd had back in the UK which had been stolen. It soon became clear that this was a tall order -- they are quite scarce here in Aus and finding a rideable size would add to the degree of difficulty.
However, after months of lurking on Ebay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, this appeared:
At 19" it was doable with the supplied setback seatpost (more on that later) but it was clearly quite rough, had been updated with SLX parts and a rather odd seat. I liked the original colour-matching (nearly) Marzocchi Atom Bomb 2s too. So I jumped.
It had been used as a commuter and rode really nicely. I changed the seat and tyres immediately, adding a Selle Italia SLR and some Maxxis Ignitors I had to hand. I put some wider bars on (no-name Chinese carbon) and a silver Thomson stem.
Then I changed the SLX crankset for an XTR M960 job with Blackspire rings. The modern stuff was fine, but I had vague notions (inspired by these forums) to be a bit more period-correct -- although it's still more modern than the bike.
Wheels were now some LX models, with the front radially spoked. I also put some Michelin Country Rocks, given that most of the trails around here were bone dry and dusty. I quite like them although they run a bit contrary to the current trend toward fatter rubber. The bottle cage is also non-brand Chinese, but I liked its robust design and the colour-match.
At some point after this, I replaced the wheels with 'period' Mavic Crossrides with those distinctive yellow hubs, although I found out later that the front wheel that came with the bike was the original, with its 'Java the Hub' hub, and wondered if it would be better to keep that. As we're pretty far from authentic spec now, I'm not sure that matters anymore.
I also added a nice Easton EA70 stem at some point, which was a better colour match to the seatpost.
And that's the way it stayed for a year or so, with occasional rides reiterating that it's a nice, responsive frame. But last week, on a short blast around local fire roads, I tried to lift the front end over a pothole and was greeted by an ugly bang as the forks topped out. They were set pretty stiff so hadn't ever bottomed out, but this was a very unhealthy sound and it dawned that they may well never have been serviced -- I had no way of knowing.
So today I sorted through the fork pile and found a nice set of Marzocchi Marathon Races which, while more modern than the rest of the bike, had the required V-brake posts and felt nice and light. These went on -- but required another stem change as the steerer tube was just a bit short for the Easton. I had an FSA 105mm with a lowish stack which fitted well although it's a bit plainer than what was there before.
So there we have it. I'll find out where to get the Atom Bombs serviced here in Aus, but for now it's in good shape for riding.
One persistent question mark is that Thomson layback seatpost. While it's perfect for getting a good position on the slightly too-small frame, I've worked out through googling that Thomson never made a 27.0mm layback version -- it's pretty firmly in there, so I'm guessing it's a 27.2mm that's been jammed in. I hope not, but while there's no reason to try to extract it, it's going to have to stay.
This one goes back to early days of Covid when, like a million others, I decided it was a good time to start on a project. I wanted an Explosif as I had happy memories of a 2002 model I'd had back in the UK which had been stolen. It soon became clear that this was a tall order -- they are quite scarce here in Aus and finding a rideable size would add to the degree of difficulty.
However, after months of lurking on Ebay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace, this appeared:
At 19" it was doable with the supplied setback seatpost (more on that later) but it was clearly quite rough, had been updated with SLX parts and a rather odd seat. I liked the original colour-matching (nearly) Marzocchi Atom Bomb 2s too. So I jumped.
It had been used as a commuter and rode really nicely. I changed the seat and tyres immediately, adding a Selle Italia SLR and some Maxxis Ignitors I had to hand. I put some wider bars on (no-name Chinese carbon) and a silver Thomson stem.
Then I changed the SLX crankset for an XTR M960 job with Blackspire rings. The modern stuff was fine, but I had vague notions (inspired by these forums) to be a bit more period-correct -- although it's still more modern than the bike.
Wheels were now some LX models, with the front radially spoked. I also put some Michelin Country Rocks, given that most of the trails around here were bone dry and dusty. I quite like them although they run a bit contrary to the current trend toward fatter rubber. The bottle cage is also non-brand Chinese, but I liked its robust design and the colour-match.
At some point after this, I replaced the wheels with 'period' Mavic Crossrides with those distinctive yellow hubs, although I found out later that the front wheel that came with the bike was the original, with its 'Java the Hub' hub, and wondered if it would be better to keep that. As we're pretty far from authentic spec now, I'm not sure that matters anymore.
I also added a nice Easton EA70 stem at some point, which was a better colour match to the seatpost.
And that's the way it stayed for a year or so, with occasional rides reiterating that it's a nice, responsive frame. But last week, on a short blast around local fire roads, I tried to lift the front end over a pothole and was greeted by an ugly bang as the forks topped out. They were set pretty stiff so hadn't ever bottomed out, but this was a very unhealthy sound and it dawned that they may well never have been serviced -- I had no way of knowing.
So today I sorted through the fork pile and found a nice set of Marzocchi Marathon Races which, while more modern than the rest of the bike, had the required V-brake posts and felt nice and light. These went on -- but required another stem change as the steerer tube was just a bit short for the Easton. I had an FSA 105mm with a lowish stack which fitted well although it's a bit plainer than what was there before.
So there we have it. I'll find out where to get the Atom Bombs serviced here in Aus, but for now it's in good shape for riding.
One persistent question mark is that Thomson layback seatpost. While it's perfect for getting a good position on the slightly too-small frame, I've worked out through googling that Thomson never made a 27.0mm layback version -- it's pretty firmly in there, so I'm guessing it's a 27.2mm that's been jammed in. I hope not, but while there's no reason to try to extract it, it's going to have to stay.
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gotta say I dig the fork that's on there, the white contrasts nicely. Makes the frame stand out more. The atom's sort of take away from the frame IMHO. But should look great either way.
