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'92 Gold Explosif?
- Thread starter haggis
- Start date
I'm pretty sure that in 1991 and 1992 the quoted size was the length of the seat tube itself - i.e., starting from the bb shell, not from the centre of the bb.sancho":1nyvh14w said:
So this bike, which does look like a 'size 18' to me, would have a seat tube length measured on the c-t basis of c18.75". Which is why it looks a bit like what they would have called a 'size 19' in later years.
You may well be right that it's a 19. I find it hard to tell because of the long fork, but I agree the head tube looks quite long. And no, you can't tell much from the serial number I'm afraid.sancho":2ymm6jh6 said:
Why don't you post up a nice sideways-on shot of your bike and tell us what the length of the head tube is, and also the length of the top tube (c-c, along the tube). Might not get us anywhere, but everybody likes to look at an Explosif and anyway it's better than working.
That's very interesting, I've never seen one like that before. It seems certainly to be a 92 frame as the seat clamp is removable, but as for the size, that looks like an 11cm head tube, which is too short for a 1992 size 18.
If you compare it to the bike below, which is certainly a 1992 size 16, it looks as though your seat tube is 1" longer and your head tube is the same 11cm. Look at where the line of the tops of the tyres intersects the seat tube - yours is about 1" higher, no way is it 2" higher. Logically that means your bike is a size 17.
If so, this is the first indication I've seen that Kona made size 17 frames as early as 1992. We know that they made size 17 for the US market before they imported them to the UK - e.g., there are size 17s in the 1993 US catalogue but not in the 1993 UK catalogue. For 92, we only have the UK catalogue so we didn't know whether there were US 17s in 92, but it now looks as though there were.
If you compare it to the bike below, which is certainly a 1992 size 16, it looks as though your seat tube is 1" longer and your head tube is the same 11cm. Look at where the line of the tops of the tyres intersects the seat tube - yours is about 1" higher, no way is it 2" higher. Logically that means your bike is a size 17.
If so, this is the first indication I've seen that Kona made size 17 frames as early as 1992. We know that they made size 17 for the US market before they imported them to the UK - e.g., there are size 17s in the 1993 US catalogue but not in the 1993 UK catalogue. For 92, we only have the UK catalogue so we didn't know whether there were US 17s in 92, but it now looks as though there were.
