96 Kona Kilauea

[lewis1641]

i had a frame that i sold before building so i never rode it. your pictures fill me with regret.

good to see something different on the front end

 

[claud butler]

very nice, just looking at building my own first build which is a kona, nothing as nice as that tho, i like the forks too! gettin lots of ideas from everyone looking round here!

 

[Anthony]

Thanks guys. I haven't used thumbshifters since BITD and it's taking a while to get used to them again but I love the simplicity! I wanted to do P2's on there but trying to find non-sus corrected threadless P2 forks is proving quite difficult and/or expensive. I have a Kelly 410mm rigid but it looked and felt a little "long" in the front so it's waiting for a frame to go on...

It's a nice looking build, although it is cheating a bit to have a size 17 because all size 17 Konas look quite good!

I agree with Geoff that the fork looks good on it, but I'm puzzled by what you say about the axle to crown length. The frame is definitely 'suspension-corrected', and was designed for a 41cm a-c fork. That's from the centre of the axle to the base of the crown race. So it would have a 71 degree head angle with a 41cm P2 or with your Kelly fork and that is what it was designed for. There's nothing wrong though with fitting a non suspension-corrected fork if you prefer even livelier handling - a 38/39cm fork would give you a head angle of 72-73 degrees.

 

[meyekel]

Thanks Anthony, I know that you're the resident Kona guru around these parts. It could be the rigid fork (which I haven't ridden one in decades) or the gummy Michelin tires or a combo of both but the bike felt like it was pushing around corners and not too confidence inspiring. It rides a lot more snappy with the current forks on the bike but I am sure that it is a fact of getting it dialed in properly for my riding. Thanks again for your valued input! One last parting shot...

 

[Anthony]

It’s worth bearing in mind that although the slightly shorter fork and higher head angle makes for quite lively steering, you also have quite a long, low stem and bars with little sweep back. A riding position with your hands well ahead of the steerer/pivot point makes the steering less lively. So if the combination of that bar/stem position with the shorter fork gives you the kind of steering that you like, then clearly it’s good design.

 

[Agency_Scum]

Well hello Killy!