Since I made the reluctant decision to sell off my collection (see nearly there thread page 16), I have tried to avoid viewing any of my previous bikes as they were subsequently sold on, as I was obviously very attached to them.
However I keep bumping to this particular bike, and would like to clarify a couple of points.
It’s true to say that the 1999 Decals that I fitted to the frame were indeed not original to the bike – however, they were not reproductions.
They were authentic factory replacements, and were supplied by Kona H.Q. in Ferndale.
The Top Tube, Down Tube and Head Tube Decal set were on an A3 Sheet, while the remainder were individually supplied. The “ones on the Seatpost” (I assume you mean Seat Tube) were therefore also not original to the frame, although they were supplied by Kona H.Q. along with the 1999 A3 sheet.
History: I bought the frame in 2009 from bestmtb (Vinnie) in Los Altos, California. It had the Blue Decals, which were available at the time alongside the Yellow decals that are documented in the 1997 Catalogue. They were somewhat tatty, but I built it up after using Duraglit to bring up the frame finish.
A couple of years later, I was inspired to refurbish the frame after seeing a Wadsy’s Yellow decalled 1997 Hei Hei. I would like to avoid getting into a debate here, however Alasdair is correct with regards to the replacement 1997 Decals on file that are available to members on here, where the Font and the Aspect Ratio is not entirely authentic – I would say that is because they are suppled on an A4 Sheet, which is not large enough to maintain authenticity. This was even commented on by people who are not necessarily experienced on the accuracy of a refurbishment.
Moving on; as my collection continued to grow with many examples from 1997, I decided to modernise just one of my 3 (subsequently 4) Titanium bikes, by fitting Discs to this particular bike. The Disc Tab was on the frame when Vinnie bought it, and is not a TST Retrofit modification, as their version has two individual tabs as opposed to the single (stronger?) Disc Tab on this frame. My view being that the 1999 Decals were a mere 2 years on from the originals, but I thought that it was in keeping with the modern disc brake set-up that Kona subsequently introduced in 2000.
I’m not sure that I should add some more pictures of this frame’s various incarnations, although I would like to add a picture that Vinnie sent me from the Post Office in California to assure me that the frame was well packed. You could have run it over with lorry and it would have been fine – when it turned up at work, it took me about 45 minutes to unpack!
Pip