Help identify this Kona frame please...

[mullinino]

hey all-got this delivered this morn off the 'bay... the guy who sold it was clueless,he sold it as an aluminium kona cowan(!) so i took a risk and on delivery checked it over and found the tell tale kona stamps on the dropouts...top cable routing means its surely a later model,only thing is i dont know what model or what year!one of you geniuses is bound to know,though....

-the serial number if it helps is GUOU 2254.

many tas in advance,paul m.

 

[Anthony]

The serial number isn't a Kona serial number. Is there another one? It looks vaguely like a mid-90s steel frame, could be any model lower than Kilauea. The cable routing could have been changed when the disc tab was added. If all three main tubes are 31.8s, as it appears, then it isn't a Kona.

Does it really matter whether it is a Kona? I should have thought its weight would be the most telling indication of its quality.

 

[mullinino]

hey-its stamped kona around the dropouts same as an old cinder cone i had...it would be a lot of effort to get this stamped if ye were faking it...ive it nearly built up now,and for steel it seems to be pretty darn light,plus its got that tapered seat tube ive seen on a few old konas

to answer your q...i dont really care what it is as im liking it.how do ye know its not a kona serial number though-is there anywhere i can check this?anyone?

 

[Anthony]

My gut feeling is that it is a Kona, but I don't see a tapered seat tube in your pictures. Below are examples of two different kinds of shaped Tange seat tubes. Is your frame like either of those? [but most companies used Tange, it isn't evidence of Kona]

The G serial number could have been applied by the firm that did the alteration. Konas have either F or H numbers, denoting built in either Fairly or Hodaka. There may be a bike plant in Taiwan beginning with G, but I don't know what it is and Kona haven't used it.

If we can't retrieve the weight, what about the tube sizes? I can't really tell from the photos, but if the top tube is a round 28.6 and the down tube is a round 31.8 and the seat tube is a 28.6, then it's a 96 Kilauea if it's a Kona at all. If the top and down tubes are both 31.8, then it's below Kilauea level, but it doesn't seem to have the same seat tube as the 94 Cinder Cone.

Most likely it's a decent frame, as you wouldn't bother to have all that work done on a Hahanna.

 

[mullinino]

r

...thanks a million,man-you am legend!

the seat tube only tapers down a wee bit,not like the cindercone you picced...not sure how to measure the diameters of the other tubes,but hey-it doesnt really matter,i took it out today and its fantastic...well,good enough for me,anyway.ill get it stickered up as a kilauea for the hell of it,too...

ta again,
p.

 

[Anthony]

It's simple - if a 28.6 band front mech will fit round the top tube, then it's a 28.6 top tube. If not, not.

 

[FluffyChicken]

I know the serial doesn't look like a Kona one.

But what about the 1998 bikes or later steel low end one's
They still used this style dropout iirc and had moved to top routing.. did they change serial numbering in the 2000+ era ?

Did they still have ovalised seat tubes at the bottom bracket ?

This is of course directed to Anthony who is our resident Kona guru.

what stand out to me is the thick seatstays especially canti to seattube section.


Send the serial to Kona see if they know.

P.S. Why stop at a measly Kilauea, why not badge it up as a HOT