Kona (Explosif?) ID Please...

[mrkawasaki]

My cheap Kona frame arrived this morning - the original owner informs me that it is an Explosif. The 20" geometry matches my 20" Hei Hei. The top tube swells slightly as it reaches the head tube. It has underside cable routing with two cable stops at the top of the downtube and the seat tube has a slightly oversized section where it intersects with the BB. It has rack braze ons on the rear triangle too and is very light

The unclear numbers on the BB are: F9080469 also stamped - 1h 075 in different and larger font.

Anyone able to give me a year?

Mr K

 

[legrandefromage]

F = 6 = June 1990 ?

 

[Anthony]

F9 says which factory it was built in, the 0 in the next position says it was built in 1990, so it is either a 1990 or 1991 bike.

If it is an Explosif, it should have a bulge-butted seat tube, although I personally would use the word 'significantly' rather than 'slightly' to describe the bulge on a Concept seat tube.

Concept top and down tubes are ovalised and tapered - 27(wide) x 30(high), up to 30x34 at the front. This is the thing that immediately strikes you. And therefore of course the top and down tubes are the same diameter, which is also unusual.

I don't know the weight, but I wouldn't have thought it would be all that light - I'd guess somewhere around 4.8lbs for such a big size, but if it weighs anything under 5 then that would be strong evidence that it's an Explosif.

 

[Anthony]

Incidentally if you look at Stew-B's 1991 Explosif below (and recent thread), it disproves something that the 91 Kona catalogue says and opens the possibility of your frame being a 91 Explosif. i.e., it has a braze-on seat clamp (which says 91 and not 92) and it also has rack braze-ons on top of the seat stays (which the Kona catalogue says applies only to lower models in the 91 range). So not the first time that a Kona catalogue turns out to be misleading!

 

[mrkawasaki]

Kona Island

Concept top and down tubes are ovalised and tapered - 27(wide) x 30(high), up to 30x34 at the front.
quote]

Thx as ever, Anthony...

The bulge at the bottom of the seat tube is 34.4, going to a 28.8 tube. The top tube is 28.2h/29.9w at the seat tube end, going to 30.0h/34.1w at the head tube.

Weight is 4lbs 12oz.

Everything else is as the Explosif pictured.

Mr K

 

[Anthony]

Excellent, that's a 91 Explosif then, and a real bargain.

Apologies for giving wrong advice when you were considering it - as I say, as soon as I saw Stew-b's bike, I thought 'that's not supposed to be there, but at least it means Mr K's got lucky'. But it's not luck, is it? You've either got it or you ain't.

And fancy me being 0.05lbs out with my weight estimate, I should be ashamed of myself!

I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

[mrkawasaki]

Exasperated

So - now I'm stuck with the missing seat collar issue... :roll:

Looking for one as pictured above, so I can run some cantilevers please...

Why, oh, why, oh, why did they do without a braze on solution???? Surely not to save money or weight??

Mr K

 

[albash82]

Exasperated

i had the same problem when i came to start rebuilding my '94 lava dome. god knows what happened to the original "dog collar". i did, however manage to find one down at my lbs so i can now run the onza cantis i bought off a mate!!!

 

[Anthony]

Re: Exasperated

So - now I'm stuck with the missing seat collar issue... :roll:
Looking for one as pictured above, so I can run some cantilevers please...
Why, oh, why, oh, why did they do without a braze on solution???? Surely not to save money or weight??
Mr K

My God, he pays £30 for an Explosif and he expects perfection, I don't know, some people, honestly.

I've got a cable guide of the later type, but it wouldn't fit over your seat tube because of the braze-ons, and the ones you need must be quite rare.

Nothing to stop you using a clamp-on V-brake stop of course. And if it was me, being a cheapskate, I'd just stick a bit of carbon frame protector to the end of the top tube and glue 5mm of outer onto it. Not that I've tried it TBH, but it only needs to be a guide.

 

[mrkawasaki]

Neither use nor...

Anthony - I thought you, of all people, would at least be able to answer the question - 'why???'

You're right of course, it was so cheap I might as well make a wind chime out of it... ;-)

Mr K