Mackerel
Dirt Disciple
I bought this 91-92 Explosif frame from Alex (retrokona) last week. It's my first Kona, and I paid what felt like a stack of cash for it, but the frame is just lovely to ride. I am a totally satisfied customer... It's like the whole frame has built in suspension - my Bear Valley is nice but this thing makes me chuckle when I hit dips in the trail and the bike just springs forward.
The forks are a marriage not original - P2's from Bikeman in the US (excellent service by the way, cost about £65 and weigh 100gms less than stated), they're probably 20mm longer than the frame would like but it still rides well and climbs just fine.
The crankset is an ugly as sin Deore that I'll replace soon, and all the other parts are current rather than retro as I initially built it up with whatever I had lying around. Rear mech will be replaced with XT Shadow, cranks probably with SLX, seatpost with retro XT, stem with new shiny Kona BC/XC to match the bars. The steerer spacers are ridiculous but I have a stiff back and need the bars high so just have to live with that...
I might keep the canti on the back - I thought it would be totally inadequate but actually it's fine and I can easily lock up the back wheel if I squeeze hard. The front is an LX V that weighs nothing and works just fine. Wheels are Mavic XM317 on LX hubs from Merlin and tyres are Kenda Tomac SB 8. The whole thing weighs 10.9kg right now, and that feels light enough to be honest.
Anyway, I think I've got the Explosif bug. Fully rigid, fast & light. If I find something huge that I can't ride over then I can just stick the bike over my shoulder and stroll round it.
The forks are a marriage not original - P2's from Bikeman in the US (excellent service by the way, cost about £65 and weigh 100gms less than stated), they're probably 20mm longer than the frame would like but it still rides well and climbs just fine.
The crankset is an ugly as sin Deore that I'll replace soon, and all the other parts are current rather than retro as I initially built it up with whatever I had lying around. Rear mech will be replaced with XT Shadow, cranks probably with SLX, seatpost with retro XT, stem with new shiny Kona BC/XC to match the bars. The steerer spacers are ridiculous but I have a stiff back and need the bars high so just have to live with that...
I might keep the canti on the back - I thought it would be totally inadequate but actually it's fine and I can easily lock up the back wheel if I squeeze hard. The front is an LX V that weighs nothing and works just fine. Wheels are Mavic XM317 on LX hubs from Merlin and tyres are Kenda Tomac SB 8. The whole thing weighs 10.9kg right now, and that feels light enough to be honest.
Anyway, I think I've got the Explosif bug. Fully rigid, fast & light. If I find something huge that I can't ride over then I can just stick the bike over my shoulder and stroll round it.
