1997 Kona Refinish

[OrangeRetro]

Having almost finished the 1994 AA I'm now turning my attentions to the 1997 Kula that I am hoping to turn into a single speed.

Part of the Kula project will include a refinish as the original red paint has seen better days.

The question is, do I stick with the 1997 kona jungle decals or go with the simple lines of the 1994 style decals?

I'm torn, I know the AA is going to look great! :?

 

[guybe]

I would stick to the correct decals for the bike's year.

 

[Pickle]

I would stick to the correct decals for the bike's year.

x2

 

[Sam R]

in contrast '94 Kona paint schemes were the coolest - as you're going to be singlespeeding it why bother doing a pristine period paint job? Or go mental and choose a colour that will suit the frame/build. Dark met. green would be

 

[OrangeRetro]

So far this is looking how i expected it to. I'm thinking that maybe I should maintain the 1997 style and just go for a different colour choice.

I was originally thinking a white finish with grey graphics as apposed to the standard yellow ones?

 

[Geoff]

I think the 97 decals were the best of the Jungle font ones. Stick with em!

 

[messiah]

Paint seen better days... and what of it? It's an old frame so why shouldn't it wear it's battle scars with pride?

I believe singlespeed bikes should be thrown together as cheaply as possible in a utilitarian type stylie, see my Kona Explosif for inspiration

If you feel the need to touch it up I recommend Hammerite in whatever colour happens to come to hand for free.

 

[Ziggy]

Paint seen better days... and what of it? It's an old frame so why shouldn't it wear it's battle scars with pride?

I believe singlespeed bikes should be thrown together as cheaply as possible in a utilitarian type stylie, see my Kona Explosif for inspiration

If you feel the need to touch it up I recommend Hammerite in whatever colour happens to come to hand for free.

Wise words! My Orange is black, so the black hammerite doesn't look toooo bad...!

 

[OrangeRetro]

see my Kona Explosif for inspiration

I have to say that I have always admired your explosif for being so original and it wears its scars well, it looks damn handsome if you ask me...

The difference here is that you have owned that bike since new, and the history is all yours, This Kula is new to me and I want to stamp my mark on it!

Makes me wish that i'd kept one of my bikes from BITD!

 

[Anthony]

I confess to being biased towards the Hawaiian-style decals in any case, but a point in their favour is that I think they were designed to be bigger and bolder to suit the fat tubes as aluminium bikes began to be the biggest sellers. I know a lot of people like the under-stated conservative look of the 1994 decals, but if you look at the 94 Kula there is a case for saying that the decals are a bit too small for the downtube and that the 94 decals were really designed for skinny steel frames.