Koga Miyata Explosion

[Defiant]

Bought this today,..for 15 euro!

it had a broken rear rim, the previous owner took it apart and couldn't get it back together.
I thought i go there and take it with me for parts,..but it kinda looks nice.
okay, the decals are of and on some places it has some minor scratches,..
on the other hand, it has Magura's,8 speed Grip shift, XT front and back Derailleurs, XT crank, LX wheels, Marzocchi XC51 suspension, a nice Alu frame.
I guess you can do worse for this money,..

i have no idea what year it is,..does anybody know?

and from which year can we talk about retrobike?,... :roll:

 

[Elev12k]

'',..does anybody know? ''

Uhhmm, maybe :roll:

Can tell you everything on it, into the tiniest detail

1995 MY Koga Miyata Explosion. Last year of the Jp Miyata frames. Pretty expensive frames. Bonded/bolted alu 6000 contruction. Counterpart of the Miyata Elevation 5,000 in the US. See below a pic of Greg on one.

Of the same year I had a SkyCarbolite. Same lugs, carbon in the front triangle en titanium tubing in the rear.

Your bike probably has Magura brakes as the original were Koga branded brakes, that in fact were Tektros. Crap stuff. About 1995 was the beginning of the era when everybody started sourcing non Shimano stuff here and there Huge disappointment. Many lbs' replaced the brakes immediately. By 1996 Koga already learned their lesson. Really weird this happened, as only 2 years earlier Koga specced their bikes with Syncros all over.

Original specs: Groupset was a mix of LX and XT (and the crappy brakes), ITM stem/bar, 400mm Kalloy post (still present on yours), Mavic 230 rims, Conti tires, San Marco Bontrager, XC51s, 2 bottles/cages ...and touch up paint Retail 2895 guilders.

Coincidentally I give a friend the same bikes about a year ago. Was tough to part from it, as I liked it too ...BUT hey, he was my friend. His was mint/9.8 out of 10.

Yours looks pretty good too. 15 euro is good value. 15 euro bought you the best bike -with some tweaks- in your stable

...well, actually I am death serious

Get some inspiration here and create your own christmas tree downhill bomber build => click

I also have pics of the pre production 95 Explosion. It showed the ST setup as shown on several on HBalls bikes you saw in the topic. It didn't reach final production stage. Possibly Koga didn't dare it.

The Explosion/Elev5k (or other HT's like Elev7k, Elev10k) was used by Greg in DS events.

 

[Pickle]

Thats an absolute bargain!! All that kit for about £10!!
I like it a lot; lovely

If your not planning on keeping the forks, Dhphat is looking for some identical units for his Kona (see readers kit thread).

 

[Defiant]

So i guess i made a good buy then ! hahaha,...

I thought it would be a newer frame then 95,..it looks pretty good then.
The front wheel is still the original ,.with the Mavic rim, the back i today replaced with a old alu Wolber rim I had lying around (it was the first time i made a wheel myself and it worked )

So it is worth keeping it? and putting on some nice decals again?

it is kinda heavy by the way,..is that the XC51's?

 

[Elev12k]

Nothing on your bike is really light, I think that is why. My SkyCarbolite frame is easily under 2kg, way under. My 1st gen Elev5k bonded frame (much clunkier than yours!) is about 2200gr.

Not perfectly identical, but acceptable decals are offered on German eBay regularly. 10 euros. You can also go the HBall route and opt for Miyata decals :idea: (though if in Europe Greg did ride Kogas) The current decals can be easily removed using your nails and a bit WD-40. Once they start to chip, they're gone - I know from experience.

And IF you decide not to keep it: I have a kinda orphanage overhere

 

[purplewicked]

low BB. great. that frame will ride perfect w/ an 80mm travel fork. the long top tube and short stem, aluminum.. everything is set for a longer travel fork.

 

[hollister]

nice lookin home. love the rug. no idea about the bike

 

[Defiant]

drove it for the first time 15 minutes ago,..DAMN!,..that rides better then the KLEIN'S :?

it's going to be a keeper,...

Replace the Stem,..magura's for the XTR v-Brakes which come of the Serotta,..try to make it a bit lighter,...

There is somebody happy overhere!

 

[Defiant]

received an reply from Koga Miyata that the original decals are still available and i can order them through a dealer.
will do,..i like the other decals on ebay aswell but those are not the original once,...

unless they are like 100 euro,..i will order them.

 

[Elev12k]

Sounds good.

The current decals you have are for under clear coat. Please, let me know what you got and how it turned out.