99 Kona Hei Hei

[Pipmeister]

Too big for me - Oh well, I'll just keep looking for my dream machine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0479664408

 

[Tallpaul]

That frame was for sale on here and MTBR. I thought it sold through MTBR, looks like the new owner is looking to punt it on already (for a small profit too?).

 

[Anthony]

I don't like the red-painted front. It's as though someone in Marketing said 'what can we do with the Hei Hei for next year? We can't just leave it as plain titanium.' To which the correct answer would have been 'why not?'

There used to be a saying 'a man who is tired of London is tired of life'. Maybe they should say the same about titanium.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Being a Ti frame, did they actually change from year to year.
I know the steel frames did, but with Ti I would have thought there was less choice of things like dropouts, tubing etc... to improve them.
and iirc (from you) Kona didn't really alter their frame geometry.

 

[Caramba Kid]

There used to be a saying 'a man who is tired of London is tired of life'. Maybe they should say the same about titanium.

I like that - "a man who is tired of titanium is tired of life"

Mind if I use it in my sig?

 

[Anthony]

Being a Ti frame, did they actually change from year to year.
I know the steel frames did, but with Ti I would have thought there was less choice of things like dropouts, tubing etc... to improve them.
and iirc (from you) Kona didn't really alter their frame geometry.

Well you may like to note that they upgraded the Explosif dropouts between 1996 and 1997, as the previous type were prone to snap! But I don't know of any difference whatever between say the 1998 and 1999 Explosifs.

Similarly, there was quite a lot of change to the ti designs leading up to 1997, but I think they kept them the same from then on. The Hei Hei had geometry slightly different to the other Konas from 1994 to 96, in terms of the flatter top tube. That may have been to make the frame stiffer, as heavier riders had complained of excessive flex. That was quite a common complaint about ti bikes at around that time, perhaps because it is possible with ti to build a really light frame that is still strong enough for mtb, in the sense that it won't break, but not stiff enough for the most demanding riding styles. i.e., despite the myths, light doesn't necessarily equal fast. And I guess as suspension forks lead riders to ride in a more aggressive style than in earlier times, the case for a light and more flexy frame became weaker. I believe that Litespeed in particular went to great lengths around then to stiffen up their frames with sophisticated tube shapes.

Kona's response was the King Kahuna which came out in 1996 as the stiffer, racier option, initially just with fairly minimal gussets. For 1997, they went over to the standard Kona geometry for the ti bikes, with the King Kahuna having fatter, shaped tubes that make it a fair bit stiffer and a quarter of a pound heavier than the Hei Hei. Interestingly, despite being 25% more expensive, the KK seems to have taken over in the sales and by 2000, the last year of the ti frames, they had dropped the Hei Hei in all markets as far as I can make out, and offered only the King Kahuna.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Thank you for that Anthony.

 

[Harryburgundy]

I don't like the red-painted front. It's as though someone in Marketing said 'what can we do with the Hei Hei for next year? We can't just leave it as plain titanium.' To which the correct answer would have been 'why not?'

There used to be a saying 'a man who is tired of London is tired of life'. Maybe they should say the same about titanium.

For once (or twice) I disagree Anthony. I think full bare metal Ti is rather boring.....the decals on this look good. although I would prefer a diff. colour.
Oneday when I have my Ultimate..it will be half-painted Ti

 

[Anthony]

For once (or twice) I disagree Anthony. I think full bare metal Ti is rather boring.....the decals on this look good. although I would prefer a diff. colour.
Oneday when I have my Ultimate..it will be half-painted Ti

All a matter of taste Carl, but funnily enough I believe that the 1999 Hei Hei was also sold without the red front* and almost all of the ones I've seen have had the ti front and not the red. But personally, I like the look of Mr Zero's 1998 example the best of these.

* An alternative hypothesis is that the plain-front ones were 2000 Hei Heis, even though such a thing was never listed. The look is not dissimilar to the 2000 King Kahunas, aside from the red flash on the decals.

 

[homegrown]

I've got a 16" in great condition. I'd consider parting with it. Been hanging in the garage for years now.

-blue