Kona Explosif 1997 team edition
- Thread starter al-onestare
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romanrinos":2f64k1q1 said:
Yep, it looks like it doesn't it. I'm doing some digging to try and confirm...
Pipmeister
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Here he is riding the same, or similar bike. The flatter Top Tube / shorter Seat Tube extension is clearer in this 1997 Catalogue picture:
We understand that it was indeed the case that some Team Rider said that they required a stiffer rear end than the standard Hei Hei, which resulted in the 1996 King Kahuna that featured the 6-4 rear triangle. These frames retained the Hei Hei Top Tube Decal seen in the new picture.
You can see these frames listed in the Kona Titanium Serial Number list:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=396211&start=80
Pip
Here he is riding the same, or similar bike. The flatter Top Tube / shorter Seat Tube extension is clearer in this 1997 Catalogue picture:
We understand that it was indeed the case that some Team Rider said that they required a stiffer rear end than the standard Hei Hei, which resulted in the 1996 King Kahuna that featured the 6-4 rear triangle. These frames retained the Hei Hei Top Tube Decal seen in the new picture.
You can see these frames listed in the Kona Titanium Serial Number list:
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=396211&start=80
Pip
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I love it when we can put our theories and speculation to rest. A certain snake kindly sent me this from MBA:
:mrgreen:
Who fancies making one - you've got the full spec and everything
:mrgreen:Who fancies making one - you've got the full spec and everything
al-onestare":16ujd1jk said:I love it when we can put our theories and speculation to rest. A certain snake kindly sent me this from MBA:
Who fancies making one - you've got the full spec and everything
great article
Pipmeister
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We now have more confirmation that Kona were indeed painting Titanium frames for their Team Riders. This does however open up the alleged controversy between Columbus and Kona regarding the 1996/7 Team Issue Rasta Yellow / Green painted Titanium frames.
My view is that poetic licence, and Chinese whispers have distorted the truth, and that there was no falling out between them. Columbus tubing was after all still being used by Dario Cioni in 1999 for his Foco Steel Team Bike.
A few years ago, I wrote to Kona asking them about the 1996/7 Team Issue Rasta Yellow / Green painted Titanium frames, and they were very open with their reply. They gave a different story from the example below that was doing the rounds at the time.
This is a direct quote from someone selling a Rasta Team Issue Explosif 10 years ago – it is similar to Alasdair’s example in this thread. This person (Moops) could be merely quoting the poetic licence, or Chinese whispers that I mention:
The back story:
This bike was a remnant from the year that Columbus provided the sponsorship of the Kona Pro Team. This is one of the Explosif they painted up. If anyone recalls, there was a fair amount of controversy that year because the Pro Team refused (whined too much) to ride steel so Kona also painted their Hei Hei the with the same flame job and decals including the Columbus sticker. Columbus eventually discovered this and threw a fit. Subsequently the Hei Hei's were removed from service and the team was forced to ride their "Free" Explosifs (steel). Bunch of babys... Moops
Pip
We now have more confirmation that Kona were indeed painting Titanium frames for their Team Riders. This does however open up the alleged controversy between Columbus and Kona regarding the 1996/7 Team Issue Rasta Yellow / Green painted Titanium frames.
My view is that poetic licence, and Chinese whispers have distorted the truth, and that there was no falling out between them. Columbus tubing was after all still being used by Dario Cioni in 1999 for his Foco Steel Team Bike.
A few years ago, I wrote to Kona asking them about the 1996/7 Team Issue Rasta Yellow / Green painted Titanium frames, and they were very open with their reply. They gave a different story from the example below that was doing the rounds at the time.
This is a direct quote from someone selling a Rasta Team Issue Explosif 10 years ago – it is similar to Alasdair’s example in this thread. This person (Moops) could be merely quoting the poetic licence, or Chinese whispers that I mention:
The back story:
This bike was a remnant from the year that Columbus provided the sponsorship of the Kona Pro Team. This is one of the Explosif they painted up. If anyone recalls, there was a fair amount of controversy that year because the Pro Team refused (whined too much) to ride steel so Kona also painted their Hei Hei the with the same flame job and decals including the Columbus sticker. Columbus eventually discovered this and threw a fit. Subsequently the Hei Hei's were removed from service and the team was forced to ride their "Free" Explosifs (steel). Bunch of babys... Moops
Pip
romanrinos
Kona Fan
Re:
Well done on obtaining that article. What a find! It lists everything apart from the man’s tire pressures!
I agree about the Columbus falling out story. Maybe obtaining feedback now from some of the old ex-racers can only clarify?
6-4Av frames would have been extremely limited to supply and their top racers likely would have needed more than one steed.
Well done on obtaining that article. What a find! It lists everything apart from the man’s tire pressures!
I agree about the Columbus falling out story. Maybe obtaining feedback now from some of the old ex-racers can only clarify?
6-4Av frames would have been extremely limited to supply and their top racers likely would have needed more than one steed.
Pipmeister
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This is the short exchange that I had with Joe Shlabotnik at Kona on the subject when I asked about the Titanium frames being painted with Yellow and Green Rasta Flame.
Pip:"I heard that some Kona Team riders wanted to compete using the titanium Hei Hei, but the co-sponsorship deal at the time was with Columbus (used on the Explosif). Were any titanium frames painted up to resemble the Columbus tubing?"
Joe:“Hi, you bet that’s true. The year Dave Weins came on board (1996) Columbus came on as a late sponsor. They couldn’t get frames to us in time for the season so they supplied decals and the team ran with Ti frames.”
This was off the top of the guy's head, so maybe the passing years muddied the waters.
Pip
Err....romanrinos":1u1280az said:
As you know Sándor, I don't do Social Media so I'll leave that sort of enquiry to you and Alasdairromanrinos":1u1280az said:
This is the short exchange that I had with Joe Shlabotnik at Kona on the subject when I asked about the Titanium frames being painted with Yellow and Green Rasta Flame.
Pip:"I heard that some Kona Team riders wanted to compete using the titanium Hei Hei, but the co-sponsorship deal at the time was with Columbus (used on the Explosif). Were any titanium frames painted up to resemble the Columbus tubing?"
Joe:“Hi, you bet that’s true. The year Dave Weins came on board (1996) Columbus came on as a late sponsor. They couldn’t get frames to us in time for the season so they supplied decals and the team ran with Ti frames.”
This was off the top of the guy's head, so maybe the passing years muddied the waters.
Pip
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BTW, can you imagine running on 60 PSI...that's for the black stuff not dirt...unless you're a pro-whippet 
Mortonm
Kona Fan
It must have been an absolute pogo.BTW, can you imagine running on 60 PSI...that's for the black stuff not dirt...unless you're a pro-whippet
60 psi must be the max pressure for most mtb tires
I run 40 or 45 on my explosif if there is going to be tarmac...
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