My unicorn - 1994 Kona Hei Hei - FULL SPEC/FINISHED PICS ON PAGE 8 & 9 - BOTY 2021, BOTM April 2021 & 2nd MucOff Show & Shine Malverns Classic 2021

Turned out nice :cool: not a fan of the wheels personally though, would look cleaner with normal ones but just being picky :)

Are you going to ride/race it?
 
Turned out nice :cool: not a fan of the wheels personally though, would look cleaner with normal ones but just being picky :)

Are you going to ride/race it?

Thank you 😊

Would be a boring world if everyone liked the same things.

No my retro bikes are are for reminiscing, I’ve got modern bikes for riding 👍
 
One day I'll start a thread like the recent Klein one, about how much I don't get the love for Tiaoga disk drives! ;)

But even with that, I can't help but admire the level of spec and attention to detail of this build.

It's pristine to an insane degree.

Although, if it's an "out and out race bike", it's a bit depressing to think about it never getting thrashed about!
 
One day I'll start a thread like the recent Klein one, about how much I don't get the love for Tiaoga disk drives! ;)

But even with that, I can't help but admire the level of spec and attention to detail of this build.

It's pristine to an insane degree.

Although, if it's an "out and out race bike", it's a bit depressing to think about it never getting thrashed about!

Thank you 😊

DD’s are definitely a marmite component. For me they encompass early/mid 90’s MTB of crazy designs, loads of industry trial/error and stuff that simply didn’t/doesn’t make sense design wise at all. I was a massive Tomac fan and to me they were the ultimate must have component, but I couldn’t afford one back in the day...roll on 25+ years and I own a couple of DD’s. When you see one in the flesh the design is so creative and out the box thinking it’s quite mind blowing, but in all honesty I cant believe any have survived this long as they’re quite fragile (especially the DD Pro) and in hindsight I definitely wouldn’t of wanted to have ridden one in anger especially as a privateer racer back then.

People build retro bikes for many different reasons...for me it’s purely for reminiscing, mainly building race bikes I could only dream of owning, but simply couldn’t afford back in the day. I enjoy the hunt for the original rare parts, building fully functioning period correct bikes and once finished I appreciate them almost like works of art that instantly take me back in time to where I found a sport/passion that completely took over/changed my life, a sport that took me all over the world seeing places I would of never have seen, put me in a lot of hospitals, racing at every level, being lucky to have had numerous factory sponsors, to testing prototype parts, designing bikes/component to and owning & managing a factory race team helping others to achieve their dreams/fulfil their potential. I personally have no interest in riding my retro bikes in anger as I like the efficiency and functionality of my modern bikes. I totally get that people like riding their retro bikes, it’s like I like driving my classic car and other people just don’t get it...it’s either your thing or it’s not 🤷‍♂️
 
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Amen brother!!!

Nothing but love from me, and admiration for the skill and dedication shown in all your bikes.

I know who I'll be coming to when I win the lottery and can pay someone to source and build my ultimate dream machine! ;)
 
Amen brother!!!

Nothing but love from me, and admiration for the skill and dedication shown in all your bikes.

I know who I'll be coming to when I win the lottery and can pay someone to source and build my ultimate dream machine! ;)

😍😍

When you win the lottery I’d be honoured to source/build it 👍👍
 
The Pace, GT and Kona are all stunning builds. :cool: I have to ask, what do you plan to build next?

Thank you so much, it’s really appreciated 😊

I have a 16” 1993 GT Tech Shop anodised black Zaskar and a 2000 Intense M1 that are next in line for some love, but these will just be frame restorations for the time being as I have other projects including a house build (subject to planning being authorised) and full restoration of my classic car, however I will be slowly sourcing & squirrelling parts away for their eventual builds.
 
Ive got my Hei Hei in the April Bike Of The Month poll. There are some great bikes in the poll, but if you like my Hei Hei please give it a vote 👍😍

 
Great to seeing this getting a lot of attention outside the site. The prod to get this on The Cog as a dream build is spot on. Let me know if you need a direct contact at Kona to speak with.
 

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