Explosif 2000 Scandium

[Pipmeister]

Well it took a mighty long time to find this beauty, but at last I have a 2000 Scandium Explosif.

There is another thread here with regards to the discovery on e-Bay.

Scroll down to al-onestare 11th May.

viewtopic.php?f=40&t=319060&start=0

The seller would not split the sale for the19” 2000 Explosif and the 17” 2000 Kula. It was also collection only, which worked out at 220 miles from my place. I am fortunate to have family in Malvern in Worcestershire where I often go to ride on the Hills.

So after arriving in Malvern on Friday evening, my bro-in-law and I set off on Saturday morning in his van for the trip to North Wales. The seller had intrigued me as to why the he had bought two bikes that are higher up in the Kona range, but they appeared in the e-Bay pictures to be virtually unused. When I saw them there in his garage, they were indeed immaculate.

He had all the original paper work – Kona Owner’s Manual all filled out with date of purchase, Kona window stickers too. The Rock Shox manual with the SID adapter valve was still in its sealed bag along with the Mavic Bearing adjuster – also never opened. I would say that both bikes have only done a few hundred miles, if that.

The guy said that when he bought the bikes, he was told that they were good models and well kitted out, but he knew very little about what he actually had bought. He said, “We liked the colours of them”.

When I got back to Malvern, I gave the Explosif a clean – not that it was really required, but it gave me a chance to study it carefully. You could still see the original Green Shimano Grease, along with both rubber gators on the rear Mech. I used my chain checker on both and was astonished to find that the Explosif had 30% wear, and the Kula had 25% wear! They even had the front and rear reflectors fitted to the Forks and Seat Post.

I set the forks up, but there was nothing else to do apart from the Seat Post height. Front and rear wheels are true, brakes are still spot on, indexing is accurate – they are very nearly NOS.

I’ll take some better pictures when I get back home at the end of next week, but here a few to be going on with.

Pip

 

[Ernie]

Beautiful....nice find bud..it looks NOS/Mint ..really glad you found what you were searching so long for

Ernie

 

[markwashington]

I'm glad it was as good as you hoped mate, looking lovely!

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

Thanks guys.

Rightyho then, with regards to discovering more about this particular model;

The Frame number is H0A00118.

I believe this means that it was welded in the Hodaka factory, and I’m assuming the first zero stands for 2000 as I have seen a 7 for 97 ect. What would be nice to know is how many were produced. The Kona Spec says quote, “Our lightest, limited production cross-country mountain bike frame”.

Can we suppose that my 118 serial number is sequential? The seller told me that he had to wait for the Explosif, while the Kula was already in the shop. The Owner’s manuals do indeed have date of March for the Kula and June for the Explosif. Anyone shed more light?

I have now ridden it proper. I blasted up to the top of the Worcestershire Beacon this morning, so I can have a little think about what to do with it next – leave it as stock, or more likely tweak it a bit to suit my “Princess and the Pea” idiosyncrasies. I’ll let you know what I thought of it, but needless to say it made me feel pretty good looking down over the Three Counties.

Pip.

 

[superstu]

Good find! Looks great

 

[Kona-Ian]

Awesome

 

[slope]

No pics of the Kula??

 

[Pipmeister]

No pics of the Kula??

It's a bit of a performance doing pictures while I'm away. If you click on the link at the top, it will take you to the thread where they were first outed on e-Bay. There are 6 pictures of the Kula still up there.

Pip.

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

Okay back home now, and time for an update.

Overall it can definitely be described a fast and nimble.

It climbed really well on my first assent to the top of the Worcestershire Beacon. I cycled to the Clock Tower Car Park at the North end - near the Back On Track cycle shop. I thought the tyres would be an issue - 26 x 1.95" Hutchinson Chameleon. They were a bit unsure on the damp rocky hard pack bits – it had rained overnight and early morning. Anyway, it flew up that first steep section; I never got out of the saddle once, although that is normal for me. I didn’t like to hammer it too hard as things flattened out - not with those tyres anyway, so maybe a better report is due in drier conditions or if I change them.

Once I was above St. Ann’s Well, it was the slog of a climb parallel to Green Valley that I chose and once again, never out of the saddle. Along the last bit of Lady Howard De Walden Drive, and then hacked it to the top around the North West side – easy for this 56 ¾ year old

It is currently nibble enough for me, but I feel that I will be sending those forks off to TFT to have the Axle to Crown reduced to 430mm. We all know deep in our hearts that 63mm travel is the way forward

I reckon that the Head Tube is slightly too slack and the front end is a little on the high side. Like I said earlier regarding me being very particular – some might say peculiar!

I went back down on the West Side and it felt as balanced as my 2003 Kula Primo. I only make reference to that bike as I have ridden it many times on the Hills and they are the same frame material, although I’m not sure if they are the same geometry.

As expected, the lateral stiffness is slightly less that my Kula Primo – the Primo is an 18” frame and has very pronounced ovalising on the Down Tube and some gusseting.

Is this Explosif a better ride than my Kula Primo, not sure if I want to commit at present, as I still have a bit of tweaking to do. Does it compare to a Steel Explosif – not really apart from the name and where it stood in the kona hierarchy.

Some better pictures taken at home.....
Just check out the almost unused condition – astonishing to think that this and a Kula were bought new from a shop called The Bike Factory in Cheshire 15 years ago, and then both of them were hardly ridden anywhere.

f%20Rear_zpsmlkkttp8.jpg[/IMG]

Pip.

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

Rightyho, I have now given this bike a makeover, so here’s an update:

I wanted to get the Headtube angle slightly steeper and bring the front-end down a touch. A drop in height between the Rear Axle and the Bottom Bracket is always desirable, and you will be able to detect the slope in the new pictures.

The forks are 2007 World Cup SID, so they’re 7 years younger than the Stock O.E. SID SL that were fitted from new - I reckon it is in keeping with this era of biking. In my view the 2007 W.C. were the finest developed SID that Rock Shox produced – I have 3 pairs of this model currently in use. I’ve had the Crown to Axle on these reduced from 450mm to 430mm at T.F.T. I feel that Kona would have made this particular Explosif even sweeter with a 63mm travel SID, so that’s now sorted on this one.

Everything else is just a standard era friendly upgrade with more refined Shifters, Rear Mech, Brakes, and Chainrings. That Saddle has to go too, but I am still deciding what to fit.

Pip.