‘96 Kona Kilauea (was ‘95 “Kilueua”)

But why a fake Chris King?
It’s a good question. When I wrote the update, I went back and forth over justifying the purchase and in the end couldn’t really think of a strong argument for or against it. A friend had one on his fixie a couple of years ago and I found it funny that something that costs so much could be had for so cheap. I’m not saying the quality is anywhere near the same, but from a distance, it looks the part. (I was also unsure on going blue, and this trial and error was a lot cheaper).

I might buy Chris King hubs if I had the money, but something about a >£100 headset feels a bit trivial when a £15 one feels the great. I guess the same could be said for other components. It’s not just about their feel, but the quality, design, reputation.

As you can see I’m conflicted too. I can change it in the future if necessary. I’d never claim that it was real, and even mounted it upside down (@TreaderSteve) to invite conversation about it. It also looks funny. I’m open to discussion about it for sure!
 
Updating this thread on the painting process! Since Saturday, I've stripped, etch primed, high-build primed and (today) painted the frame. It's been a fantastic process, something I've always wanted to try. I learnt a lot from @enc's Youtube videos, and then later his more in depth threads. If you're interested in painting your frame, his threads are as insightful as they are entertaining. So thanks @enc! I've filmed some bits of my own process, and might put them into a video of my own if all goes to plan.

Here's the frame mid-strip. It took around 3 hours and a can of Autotek stripper to remove it all. Three paint jobs added 107g to the frame, which isn't as much as I'd expected (skinny tubes take less paint i guess).
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It was nice to reveal all the small details of the frame, especially the brazed sections.

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Rust treatment on some spots of the frame. There were actually a number of patches where the frame had begun to rust, a good few rust worms that must have crept under the numerous coats of paint. So I'm really glad I took it down to metal to address them.

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First couple of coats of etch primer bought out the little imperfections in the frame, of which there weren't many! You can definitely tell where I missed spots of paint, mainly in harder to reach areas. These were addressed with some sanding and the high-build primer.

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I added the high build primer, then splattered it with black acrylic as an indicator for wet-sanding. I went over the frame with 800 grit until all the splatters were gone. Really recommend this technique, I picked it up from a car painter on YouTube.

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Here's the first coat of paint! The metallic looked super metallic. Almost too futuristic. Like a robot costume for a fancy dress party. Now it's had a few coats, and the decals put on it definitely looks a lot better!

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1996 blue decals have been put on this morning, they look AMAZING. I am super pleased, and will share the result once I've cleared over the whole frame this weekend. Just got to find a respirator, as 2K turns out to be nasty stuff
 

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