Re: Kona Caldera 1997: performance upgrade (P1
I should add that recent information has added (and backed-up) some additional evidence towards Altitude challenges in the workshop. More to be revealed soon
Linked to this and earlier comments in the story, I recently acquired a set of MBUK and MBI's from 1996 through to the end of 1998. If you have any interest in this thing called retrobike and perhaps like me, were not in the scene back in the day or if you were, your memory is a little hazy, then reading up via the sources that mattered is a great acid test for what was going on.
The internet was in it's infancy and whilst sites were being created and used, it was by no means the leading source of information. Written media in hard copy was, and these magazines give a great glimpse of what was going on.
Sure, you had the same issues of bias to manufacturers or skewed views of the future i.e. what's good now is best or, more frequently, what's next is best. But read inbetween the lines, the readers letter pages and the adverts and it's striking to see that literally within 6 months, specifically spring 96 to Christmas / early 97, the entire industry flipped on it's head.
High-end hard-tails were yesterdays news: full suspension, down-hill and 'free-ride' was where everything was pointed. Even readers in their 30's were complaining why the need for these new bikes, and what was wrong with single-track?
This isn't a comprehensive guide to the seismatic changes, there are better sources and more experienced folks than I. These are just some and all contributed to the change in market and the bikes and components made, including why the Caldera never sold. It was the wrong time (just as the market changed), the wrong place (Altitude were not capable to produce the volume - or quality - of frames they had committed to), and the wrong price (why spend £1500 on a custom hard-tail with average components when you could have something 'better').
The 96 Olympics: MTB included. Whilst our BBC coverage was terrible, the global impact was massive
Racing in general including the UCI: down-hill was getting the views, dual slalom was introduced, single-track was still a big part but the big manufacturers were being more 'professional'...
...drugs in the sport: The days of cobbling together a team or picking out a rider to join (and win), were long gone. The corporations were running the show.
...down hill and free-ride: you can forget riding 'boring' single-track. You need to ride off cliffs and have a shit-ton of travel and a bike that doesn't break.
Mass production skill-set increased: Taiwan and the far-east were now able to produce very high quality frames at a much lower cost.
Marzocchi Bombers: don't underestimate just how much impact these had. A fork that actually worked - it transformed the way bikes were designed and ridden.
One final thing for now. Did anyone shop with or work at Sshockwave in Nottingham or Cranx II in Benfleet back in the day? They were, to my knowledge, apart from JP, the only stores that imported or could order custom Kona custom frames into the UK during this time. The Caldera is listed in their adverts which I'll scan in. Apparently it took 6-12 weeks and cost £549.99!
