TreaderSteve
Senior Retro Guru
Thought I'd get a thread going that I will add to as and when. Always gawped yearningly at the earlier Konas as a teenager. Finally got a Cinder Cone in about '94 (cheers mum!), after a couple of Clockworks (the second snapped at the rear dropout).
That Cinder Cone went through a few bits over the next few years before it got stolen - it ended up with a single front ring, close-ratio 7sp cassette and Specialized Armadillo slicks. And some lovely dark grey F.I.R. rims with a Hope titanium front hub.
So this Explosif came up for sale fairly recently and it came home to me. I think it will be just big enough, it's not the largest size, but my Conder Cone was the same size - seat post up, @rse up, head down, as was the fashion. I'll build the wheels first and fit them and get a post in and saddle on and compare physically with my P7 daily ride which has 700C wheels fitted. I think/ hope it'll work, otherwise I need a new frame!
There's a small dent, areas of light scabbiness which I've rubbed-back to check there's nothing terminal. All good, but need to send off to someone for a braze-fill of the dent and OE purple paint. I've emailed Dave Yates, but am unsure if he's retired. Otherwise Mercian, but they charge £75 more to colour-match....their purple enamel might be convincing enough. Enough warble - some pics! Not too exciting, but I'll add-to as and when bits come together.
Fast Feather ti stem along with a new set of Tioga DL2001 bars. The bars and grips were from bicyclist.cc - the bars weren't cheap but even a used set of 'something' half decent on Ebay appears to be £20 or more, so, I had to have them. They are truly beautifully finished. My shonky photo doesn't show them up well....soz...
Luckily I've picked up a few bits over the years as thought they'd come in useful - such as this new XT hub. It was 130 OLN so this titanium axle recently acquired from Madgetts in Diss has gone in this afternoon to bring it out to 135.
These Ritchey foam hexagonal grips will go on. From memory their hex' profile is similar to the original Kona ones from the early 90's. Anyone know if the usual hairspray trick works with foam? I don't want to melt them or anything stupid with the solvent in the hairspray.....
There are a few rims to choose from in the shed of shoite - mostly 700C, but some black XC717s will be going on the Kona.
That's all for now!
That Cinder Cone went through a few bits over the next few years before it got stolen - it ended up with a single front ring, close-ratio 7sp cassette and Specialized Armadillo slicks. And some lovely dark grey F.I.R. rims with a Hope titanium front hub.
So this Explosif came up for sale fairly recently and it came home to me. I think it will be just big enough, it's not the largest size, but my Conder Cone was the same size - seat post up, @rse up, head down, as was the fashion. I'll build the wheels first and fit them and get a post in and saddle on and compare physically with my P7 daily ride which has 700C wheels fitted. I think/ hope it'll work, otherwise I need a new frame!
There's a small dent, areas of light scabbiness which I've rubbed-back to check there's nothing terminal. All good, but need to send off to someone for a braze-fill of the dent and OE purple paint. I've emailed Dave Yates, but am unsure if he's retired. Otherwise Mercian, but they charge £75 more to colour-match....their purple enamel might be convincing enough. Enough warble - some pics! Not too exciting, but I'll add-to as and when bits come together.
Fast Feather ti stem along with a new set of Tioga DL2001 bars. The bars and grips were from bicyclist.cc - the bars weren't cheap but even a used set of 'something' half decent on Ebay appears to be £20 or more, so, I had to have them. They are truly beautifully finished. My shonky photo doesn't show them up well....soz...
Luckily I've picked up a few bits over the years as thought they'd come in useful - such as this new XT hub. It was 130 OLN so this titanium axle recently acquired from Madgetts in Diss has gone in this afternoon to bring it out to 135.
These Ritchey foam hexagonal grips will go on. From memory their hex' profile is similar to the original Kona ones from the early 90's. Anyone know if the usual hairspray trick works with foam? I don't want to melt them or anything stupid with the solvent in the hairspray.....
There are a few rims to choose from in the shed of shoite - mostly 700C, but some black XC717s will be going on the Kona.
That's all for now!
Last edited:
