97’ Kona Hei Hei - Completed build

[romanrinos]

Re:

Well I got some inspiration from a few well informed build threads ;-)

The forks actually came from a sale offering on Pink Bike. Have been looking for best part of a year for these. Unfortunately I didn’t get much change out of Mark in the States, as he was also sold out of anything shiny metallic resembling a Z2 atom.

According to the Californian seller, i bought them from (very nice chap who also emailed me service instructions) said he’d installed an extension kit on these to achieve 80mm travel without adjustment to overall stand-height. Will see how it looks with the new stiff strings whether that's true!

 

[romanrinos]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

Build stash

 

[Pipmeister]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

Build stash

Wow Sándor, that is an excellent collection of components for a 1997 Hei Hei. This build is going to look top-notch .

Did you decide to go with Smoke and Dart, and have you sorted out a choice of wheels?

Pip

 

[al-onestare]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

Build stash

Nothing to see here, move along.

<grabs stash runs off>

Interesting you're going with the octolink BB and cranks. I've not heard good things but I'm curious how they'll fair especially as they always seem to get scuffed and tatty quickly.

 

[magas]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

follow with interest - nice assortment of parts.

 

[romanrinos]

Re:

Wow Sándor, that is an excellent collection of components for a 1997 Hei Hei. This build is going to look top-notch .

Did you decide to go with Smoke and Dart, and have you sorted out a choice of wheels?

Thanks Pip. My favourite are the Porcipaws!

Have managed to secure a fresh set of Lite S Michelin Wildgrippers or pairing with a white pair of Panaracer Dart / Smoke for Summer that I also have stored away.

Interesting you're going with the octolink BB and cranks. I've not heard good things but I'm curious how they'll fair especially as they always seem to get scuffed and tatty quickly.

Yep, seen the mixed reviews, but they came up for sale as a honest sum as opposed to the crazy price elsewhere, so decided to go for them. If well maintained, they should last, and they'll be light. I'll use crank boots on them for the rougher trails if you want to buy them when I'm done!

 

[romanrinos]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

Blank canvas

>Cuts zip tie<

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

Well I'm aroused. And I've just noticed she's got 98 cable routing so I guess she was made in the second half of the production run.

 

[romanrinos]

Re: 97’ Kona Hei Hei

Yes indeed featuring the 3-stripes. Bottom bracket now out which was a lump of junk.

Looking forward to testing the Z2s which have been internally intensively cleaned.

 

[romanrinos]

Re:

A snapshot of the build completed during summer that follows on from the early 90s Joe Murray builds. Once again, as with the 92' Hei Hei it's been a bit of a challenge.

The Z2 Atom bombs, coming from California, undertook a full service upon arrival with springs upgraded to a factory set of Marzocchi heavy gauge.

Although the legs and stanchions were in fine condition, some minor leakage was occurring and a fresh set of seals were needed. A huge thanks to Ewan (Biffa), who reached out, and incredibly kindly donated me a NOS Z2 seal kit with bushings in order to complete a full overhaul, returning them back to riding fresh, smooth and supple, feeling like new.

A shorter control-tech stem was also sourced to quicken up the steering, with braking enhancement via some NOS ceramic Cross-Max rims, in lieu of previous Mavic 217 sunsets, paired with an XTR SM-M950 carbon booster and a fresh set of KoolStop pads.

Lastly, some spacers were installed to the BB shell to help improve the chain-line across to the smallest cog in using the M950 Octalink BB.