1998 Kona Hot

[al-onestare]

Excellent, excellent, excellent. With some knobblies, she's good to go.

Ride report and a dual Ku shot please ;-)

 

[letmetalktomark]

Re:

Quick question .....

Do the dropouts have a K stamped into them or a Goat?

I did weigh my Caldera (the orange on in the earlier link) and for a 19'' (I have a 20'' too) it was just under 2,000g the 20'' just over IIRC.

 

[Pipmeister]

Re: Re:

Do the dropouts have a K stamped into them or a Goat?

The Dropouts on my Hot have a K stamped into them. They are identical to the Dropouts on my 1997 Explosif. I have seen the Goat stamp..... on Ernie's 1997 Rasta Flame Hot, and al-onestare's 1997 Caldera for example.

Pip.

 

[Pipmeister]

Excellent, excellent, excellent. With some knobblies, she's good to go.

Ride report and a dual Ku shot please ;-)

First impressions are that it feels like I’m more forward and upright in the cockpit, which was a surprise.

I assume that this 1998 Hot is identical in geometry to my 1998 Hei Hei, and my 1998 Ku. The Hei Hei and the Ku are also both 18” frames and (obviously for me) both fitted with SID’s and a little layback on the Seatpost. The Ku also has low risers the same as the Hot, but my Hei Hei is fitted with flats. I’d need to ride them back to back, so that will have to wait until the weekend.

Finally Al, when I’ve finished riding it to work for the rest of the week, I’ll fit some knobblies for some proper riding, then I’ll try to get a picture of all three together.

Pip

 

[Pipmeister]

Ride report and a dual Ku shot please ;-)

Okay, apart from the more urgent / raring to go / forward feel to the cockpit, this bike seems to ping along in a generally higher gear than I would normally expect. As well as running 3 x 10 XTR 980 Shifters, Mechs and Cassette, I seem to get up onto the large Chainring quicker than ‘normal’. What’s interesting to note is that the Middleburn Crank and rings run faultlessly with this 10 speed set-up…. which is nice!

I will give it some beans off-road soon, but here are some pictures as requested Al.

**********

Not the best background for a picture – the bottom of my garden makes the shots look rather cluttered.

Anyway Al, as you can see, the electric blue has long gone from the Ku.

It was a lovely looking build, but those Marzocchi Z3 M80’s were far too lardy for me, so on went a pair of World Cup SIDs. The Race Face Turbine Cranks in electric blue are now on my 1996 Ku, and this ’98 Yellow Peril now has a 4 Arm FSA Carbon / Alloy. Even though some may feel that they don’t belong there, they work for me, and far I’m happier to be wearing out a set of 4 Arm Chainrings, compared to some more precious C.D. 94/58.

…..AND, while I’m dragging bikes outside for a picture, here is the whole of my 1998 fleet.

~~~~~~ The Class of ’98 ~~~~~~

Pip

 

[mk one]

just awesome

The angles look quite different on the Hot compared to your other two bikes, or is that just the camera angle :?

Im not sure if ive seen your '96 Ku either

Mark

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

Thanks Mark, It’s interesting that you pointed out the different frame angles.

To be honest, it’s not the best comparison in those pictures, as I think the ground is probably uneven and therefore making them appear more different than they may be.

As I said in my post on Tuesday 14th, I assumed that the geometry was the same for all three frames – well according to the 1998 catalogue anyway.

However, I just lined up my Hot and my Ku here in the living room, and while the Toptube and Headtube line up, it does look like the seat tube is steeper on the Hot. ‘IF’ this is the case, then that would probably account for the forward ‘raring to go’ feel that I experienced when I first swung a leg over the Hot. Mmm… curiouser and curiouser.

Here’s a link to my 1996 Ku before the electric blue Turbines were fitted.

Scroll to the bottom:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19592&p=2483835#p2483835

Pip.

 

[al-onestare]

Hubba Hubba Hubba!

How on earth do you decide what to ride?

A superb purposeful collection!

 

[mattiamerca]

so clean, simple, racing...
damn beautiful!
weight?

 

[ryanmtnman]

Re:

I love my Hot of the same Era... It is rare, exotic and mind boggling fast. I raced it a few times, but it really shines on long slogging rides with lots of climbing.

That said....I always wanted that era of the Hei Heinor the King Kahuna. Love me some ti!

Pip - fantastic job assembling some of the finest hard tails ever assembled!!!!!