To Decal or Not

[Err]

I anxiously await the arrival of my Hot. As per the pics in the Ebay forum, it is not decaled at present.

My inclination at present is to leave it naked. I know what it is, and I live in Baltimore. Now, i probably won't be parking it outside too much, but still reducing the theivability would be good. I already lost an explosif here.

Alternatively i thought about just applying a hot decal. Shouldn't mean too much to all but the connoisseur bike thief, but identifies it to other retrobikers.

My ideal would be to find the tange ultimate foil decal and leave it at that.

 

[jez-4-bikes-max]

I think decal it.


Shame not to?

 

[juiceboxx]

decals

i think the days of every kona in the world getting stolen are almost over. it is the junkies favourite brand......including bike junkies. they were the most recognizable bikes with most resale value....to a heroin junky. i think they now take anything and it doesn't matter what it says anymore. decal it

 

[Err]

OK. So I had an explosif with the fluted down tube, and I was not keen on the special cut decals to fit it. MY hot will also have the same DT, but i think I will go with the regular decals. OTOH it does emphasise the ribbedness.

Also, if it has the Tange prestige ultimate ultrastong DT, would it be appropriate to use that tubing sticker? Does anyone know what the 93 and 94 teesdale hots came stickered with?

 

[tintin40]

decal it. all makes have a name

 

[Xesh]

[hijack]

I'm in the same dilemma with my Kili Ultra.

I also have the question of what colour decals to get. The originals (going by the catalogue) were tangerine orange. With the build I'm doing a mid blue would look better. Which do I go for? :?

[/hijack]

BTW I think you should decal it.

 

[Anthony]

OK. So I had an explosif with the fluted down tube, and I was not keen on the special cut decals to fit it. MY hot will also have the same DT, but i think I will go with the regular decals. OTOH it does emphasise the ribbedness.
Also, if it has the Tange prestige ultimate ultrastong DT, would it be appropriate to use that tubing sticker? Does anyone know what the 93 and 94 teesdale hots came stickered with?

Alex, the ribbed decals were on the 1993 Konas only and your new Hot is definitely not a 1993 frame. I reckon it's a 95, although it could be a 94 - it may well be that when you receive it, the serial number will establish the age, perhaps with Tom Teesdale's assistance.

Many resprayed Hots have no decals, and I guess this must reflect the difficulty in obtaining Hot decals. I believe Kona didn't allow them to be sold except by authorised frame repairers, and even then they were supposed to sell them only on proof that they would be applied to a genuine Hot. I doubt if it was always thus, but I think they made at least some attempt to prevent counterfeiting. So 14 years down the line, you might find it difficult to obtain authentic decals, even if you decided to go down that path.

The Kona decal was the same in 94 and 95, except for colour. I don't see any disadvantage in applying a Kona decal, as it's only announcing the obvious. And I don't know if you could find a Hot decal, so maybe your problem is obviated anyway.

They did have the Tange Ultimate Ultrastrong decal on the seat tube, as below. I could supply you with a better photo of one if you needed it for copying.

 

[Err]

Ah, good news on the ribbed decals, I would imagin they wouldn't be fun to apply either.

I contacted gil to see if he can help me out with any of them, presumably the kona DT and HT are going to be fairly easy.

 

[adamgent]

That HOT is beautiful. Is it yours Ant?

 

[Pickle]

All bikes need decals. Look wrong (and cheap) without.