'96 Kona Kilauea - The Anti-white

[stevecrx]

I finally finished building this last night. Sorry its a bit dirty, I've been out on it all morning:

As you can see I did go for the orange in the end. Kind of wondering weather to leave the decals off as I like it like this.
I've gone for a retro modern build, I don't have the patience to hunt through eBay for NoS and I had all this stuff already from my DeKerf build so it made sense to do it that way.
So, how does it ride? In a word, small:- it feels tiny compared to my Dekerf and Caloi, it's really flickable through the trails and I can really hoof it up hills, bars could do with being a bit wider though.

Spec list is as follows:

Frame: Kilauea made from Columbus Cyber steel

Fork: Suntour Epicon - not to everyone's taste but great for the money and as good as the 2nd hand stuff I was looking at.

Headset: Sunline One - the second one I've used, and again great for the money (IMHO).
Stem: Bontrager Race
Handlebar: Easton Monkeylite XC Carbon Riser
Grips: Cane Creek - had these years - love 'em.

Brakes: XT V-brakes
Brake Pads: Yep, it's got some, cant remember who made them though.
Brake Cables: Shimano M-system
Brake Levers: XT

Shifters:
Front Derailleur: Deore
Rear Derailleur: '09 XT
Derailleur Cables: Shimano SIS
Cassette: Shimano Hyperglide HG
Chain: Wipperman ConneX
Cranks: '09 XT
Chainrings: As above
Bottom Bracket: As above
Pedals: DMR V12 - no clip ons here.

Hub Skewers: Bontrager
Rims: Bontrager Race Lite Tubeless
Hubs: Bontrager
Tyres: Specialized Storm 2Bliss
Tubes: Nope - Tubeless

Saddle: Bontrager Race Lite
Seatpost: NoName Carbon jobbie
Seatpost Binder: Woodman

Weight: Bloody light

 

[stevecrx]

Forgot to mention that now I've built it, it'll probably be up for sale soon as I've put my name down for one of those new fangled 29ers through the cycle to work scheme. It's a GT Karakorum 1.0 and it'll be the first new bike I've ever owned. Just got to wait until July 4th when they bring some into the country...

 

[Anthony]

If you're going to sell it, it would definitely enhance its value if you added decals authentic to the model and year. Although there are many people on here who like to respray their frames, it is interesting how many of them then proceed to sell soon afterwards. They then find the bogus-looking paint harms the value, even though it is new paint and the frame has been recently shot blasted, which in theory ought to add to its value. Buyers like certainty and authenticity, and they don't get it from a resprayed frame - unless you are careful to establish your evidence.

In your case, neither the paint nor the decals that it had when you bought it were original, so you haven't lost anything, but on the other hand they don't give any guide to what it is. Serial number H5C1 could be either a 95 or 96 model. It could be a 96 Kilauea, but it's more likely to be a late 95 number than an early 96. It isn't a 95 Kilauea, but I can't see anything in the photos to rule out a 95 Cinder Cone.

What did the frame weigh after you had stripped it?

 

[Ernie]

I like it anyway..heres a pic of mine with decals..to give you an idea

Ernie

 

[stevecrx]

I've got a set of '96 decals to go on it. The only thing I'm missing is the Columbus label. I've had a look for one but haven't found the correct one yet.

I don't know what it weighed when I stripped it, I will check when it gets its next strip down though. Does anyone know the difference in tube wall thickness between the two frames?

 

[stevecrx]

I like it anyway..heres a pic of mine with decals..to give you an idea

Ernie

Ha ha, that's very similar. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Ernie]

http://www.hlloydcycles.com/index.htm this guy{ Nick} is really helpful.. it will be about £7.00 -/+ for the columbus decal..

Ernie

 

[Anthony]

Why are you buying a Columbus decal when you don't know whether it is a Columbus frame?

 

[stevecrx]

Because I believe it is. I bought it in good faith from a close friend who apparently stripped turquoise paint off it before having the last powdercoating put on (see pics at the start of the thread).

What I have done for piece of mind is contact Kona to see if they can give me a definitive answer. If it does turn out to be a cindercone then I won't buy the decal as I have no wish to mislead anyone as to is authenticity. Hope this makes you happy.

 

[BobCatMax]

Is it an 18 or a 17 inch frame?