1996 Kona (Kilauea) fork length

[kaledi]

Hi all,
Been away from MTB for some time. Anyhow, decided to buy a new Kona full suspension frame and build it up.
For my old 96 Kilauea, I want to get rid of the Judy XC forks and return some P2 rigids on to it.
Question is, what length P2 can I get away with for the geometry of that bike. I'm making an assumption that the P2 forks being sold today are longer than those from 1996?
Cheeers

 

[Kona Paul]

I'm sure Anthony will back me up and say the P2's for a '96 Kilauea will have been 41cm a-c.

 

[Anthony]

Hi all,
Been away from MTB for some time. Anyhow, decided to buy a new Kona full suspension frame and build it up.
For my old 96 Kilauea, I want to get rid of the Judy XC forks and return some P2 rigids on to it.
Question is, what length P2 can I get away with for the geometry of that bike. I'm making an assumption that the P2 forks being sold today are longer than those from 1996?
Cheeers

P2s have been 41cm a-c since 1994, except they do make some 44cm ones, which are easily identifiable by their appalling ugliness.

For a 96 frame, the best colour is the gunmetal used in 96 and 97 - if you're staying threaded, you need a 96, if you're going ahead you need a 97. They come up on eBay quite frequently. The modern ones are functionally the same, but fairly expensive and don't look quite right.

And of course for a Kilauea you need the triple-butted variety, identifiable often by the tb stamped on the steerer, and always by the weight c800g, compared to the 1.05kg of the plain-gauge P2s.

 

[kaledi]

Ok thanks.
So are you saying they still make 41cm forks, and not just the 44cm ones?
Also, I can't say I have noticed any of the P2 forks looking ugly, but from what you are saying it is relatively easy to identify them?

I plan on replacing the headset, so will go threadless, and you are right I want the triple butted variety, which appear to be the ones WITHOUT the disc brake mounts, is this correct?

Cheers

 

[Anthony]

This is what the 44cm version looks like.

 

[suburbanreuben]

Ok thanks.
So are you saying they still make 41cm forks, and not just the 44cm ones?
Also, I can't say I have noticed any of the P2 forks looking ugly, but from what you are saying it is relatively easy to identify them?

I plan on replacing the headset, so will go threadless, and you are right I want the triple butted variety, which appear to be the ones WITHOUT the disc brake mounts, is this correct?

Cheers

Triple butted P2's won't have disc mounts, but just because they don't doesn't mean they are TB.
They don't still make 410mm forks. Just 440mm, and they don't necessarily look like that monstrosity. They are heavy though, at about 1100gm. They can also look like the ones on the right, here... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kona-Fork-Project ... 286.c0.m14
The ones you need are 410mm, which come in Triple or single butted. The CroMo/TB stamped on the steerer can be so faint as to be almost invisible. The key here is the weight - 880gm for 220mm steerer models. 800gm is a tad optimistic.
Depending on what size your bike is, it can be easy or VERY difficult to find them. Long steerer triple butteds are nigh on impossible to find. Shorter ones are more common.
They are lovely forks though, with the TB's giving a noticeably more forgiving ride than SB's.

 

[Anthony]

Depending on what size your bike is, it can be easy or VERY difficult to find them. Long steerer triple butteds are nigh on impossible to find.

There's one of around 225mm on this size 20 97 Cinder Cone, which nobody would fork out £150 for (no pun intended!) It would have been cheaper to have bought that bike, split it up and keep the 96-friendly P2 than to buy an (inferior) new P2.

 

[kaledi]

This is what the 44cm version looks like.

I think the penny has dropped - is the 44 cm version (and its perceived ugliness) due to the headset lower crown lip sitting someway off the top of the crown?