Unusual Kona models or colours

[Smotzer]

Sorry to disagree with you @moonlite, but I think that is a genuine 2001 Kaboom (although pretty messed about with), the silver chainstay and sliding dropout is a giveaway, not many of them about.

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Very cool! So how does one go about calling/classifying this one compared to the other normal kaboom?

 

[Smotzer]

Oh hell, my bad! I hope @Smotzer hasn't been put off by my negativity. I didn't realise the Kaboom had continued in that form . . .

And no not at all!!

 

[W7Ford]

Very cool! So how does one go about calling/classifying this one compared to the other normal kaboom?

It's the 2001 model, there are 3 in total that I know of, 99 (gold), 2000 (olive green) and 2001 (black), all of which arent very common bikes. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on here if you need more info. @murphy79 springs to mind for Kona questions.

 

[spanglebug]

I have one. Not as fancy as most here, but still fun. A 96 / 97 ish (best guess) steel Kona Lanai. Australia-only it would seen. This was years before the first catalogue Lanai, and even then they were Ali. I have seen a few of these come up in Australia (and I had the one pictured before I sold it - way too big for me). The 'Australian' sticker on the seat tube was under the clearcoat. Really nice colour (likely recycled from another year / model). The frame looked v. nicely made, but it was a budget spec. The orange no. 5 rims in the background were the original ones on it. I heard a rumour that they were made for or around the 1996 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Cairns, QLD, Australia (though I cannot seem to find a reference for that now)?

 

[spanglebug]

I have one. Not as fancy as most here, but still fun. A 96 / 97 ish (best guess) steel Kona Lanai. Australia-only it would seen. This was years before the first catalogue Lanai, and even then they were Ali. I have seen a few of these come up in Australia (and I had the one pictured before I sold it - way too big for me). The 'Australian' sticker on the seat tube was under the clearcoat. Really nice colour (likely recycled from another year / model). The frame looked v. nicely made, but it was a budget spec. The orange no. 5 rims in the background were the original ones on it. I heard a rumour that they were made for or around the 1996 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Cairns, QLD, Australia (though I cannot seem to find a reference for that now)?

Oh.. and a colour matched P2!

 

[Stressed]

Over the years I've come across some unusual Kona models and base models with unusual colours. Some of the models appear to be rental bikes that were rebranded and as for colours, possible mid-year models, frame only options or region specific colours.

In advance, I'm sorry if anything in here is newer than 1997, but I really wanted to explore everything from 2000 and down.

If anyone has any odd-ball Konas that you don't see in the catalogues, can you please share them in this thread along with any information you might have about them!

Thanks!

I've included a couple of examples:

-Yellow Fire Mountain - 1991 mid-year model?


-Red Metallic Hahanna - 1995 mid-year model? It has 1995 forks and headtube decal, but has the 1996 font on the top tube?

That looks to be a '95 Explosif with a '97 Hahanna decal.

 

[moonlite]

I have one. Not as fancy as most here, but still fun. A 96 / 97 ish (best guess) steel Kona Lanai. Australia-only it would seen. This was years before the first catalogue Lanai, and even then they were Ali. I have seen a few of these come up in Australia (and I had the one pictured before I sold it - way too big for me). The 'Australian' sticker on the seat tube was under the clearcoat. Really nice colour (likely recycled from another year / model). The frame looked v. nicely made, but it was a budget spec. The orange no. 5 rims in the background were the original ones on it. I heard a rumour that they were made for or around the 1996 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Cairns, QLD, Australia (though I cannot seem to find a reference for that now)?

Oh wow . . . I've seen a couple of these come up for sale here in Aus but never looked further than the name, just assuming they would be aluminium. I'd love to find a good Aussie-only model.

 

[murphy79]

I have one. Not as fancy as most here, but still fun. A 96 / 97 ish (best guess) steel Kona Lanai. Australia-only it would seen. This was years before the first catalogue Lanai, and even then they were Ali. I have seen a few of these come up in Australia (and I had the one pictured before I sold it - way too big for me). The 'Australian' sticker on the seat tube was under the clearcoat. Really nice colour (likely recycled from another year / model). The frame looked v. nicely made, but it was a budget spec. The orange no. 5 rims in the background were the original ones on it. I heard a rumour that they were made for or around the 1996 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Cairns, QLD, Australia (though I cannot seem to find a reference for that now)?

That's nice and interesting. As you say, the Lana'i name did not appear until a few years later. It has '98 cable routing and decals, so I don't think it would have been made much before then. Would be interesting to see the serial number on it to confirm the year. The colour looks quite similar to the '97 Lava Dome. And specifically matched P2 forks are a nice touch, there were not many models that had that ('92 Kilauea is the only one I can think of).