A 1999 Kona Explosif Down Under

[moonlite]

Sometimes patience does pay! I'm now in the habit of checking eBay and Facebook Marketplace regularly for retro stuff, and my eyes nearly popped out when I saw this yesterday. It's rare to see a retro steel Kona here (even if it is post-1998 . . .). A bit of back-and-forth and an hour's drive with cash in pocket and it's mine . . .

First impressions: it's a 19", in pretty good nick overall. The seller works in a bike shop, so he's replaced the cassette, chain, grips etc. The Marzocchis are very clean (although I've never seen boots on a Marzocchi before). I really don't like the brown seat though -- that will have to go . . .

 

[Paul R]

Nice find looks tidy

 

[MattiThundrrr]

That is beautiful. I would love to try that on the local loop

 

[moonlite]

A rare morning without rain, so here are a few iPhone pics. Overall the few issues seem to be related to neglect rather than being thrashed: rusty bolts, mainly. There are some chips in the paint which look like it's fallen over or been stashed with other bikes, but no signs of high-mileage wear.

I'm looking out for a better-looking saddle and will see if those tyres (Mitas Ocelot) are worth keeping. Anyone heard of these?

 

[W7Ford]

Lovely bike, that brown saddle really does stand out, pleased to hear you'll be replacing it. Not familiar with the tyres myself.

 

[haggis]

You sure it's a 19? Long headtube on it. More like 20" to me but I may be wrong.

 

[moonlite]

You sure it's a 19? Long headtube on it. More like 20" to me but I may be wrong.

Haha not sure at all . . . that's just what the ad said. It's comfortable for me to ride and I'm 6'2" so maybe you're right -- a 20"

 

[moonlite]

Spent a bit of time today swapping parts and fettling.

First, rusty bolts were taken out and polished up or replaced. This led me to replace the stem -- although the original Kona item is OK, the bolts were badly rusted and I happened to have a Thomson of the right length hoarded away.

This in turn made me I reconsider the bars. One modern trend I like is wider bars and the original Ritcheys just felt too narrow and cramped. Again, the hoard yielded a no-name carbon flat bar from China which went on, followed by some Ritchey grips in honour of the discarded bars.

The brown saddle was replaced by a nicely worn-in black Flite and I took the opportunity to clean up the seatpost bolts and hardware.

I've put some well-used XT SPDs on it too, so it's ready for a proper test ride, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[al-onestare]

You sure it's a 19? Long headtube on it. More like 20" to me but I may be wrong.

Defo 20"

 

[albash82]

Hmmm I thought it was a 20" too. I'm pretty familiar with 19" konas as I've kept most of my old ones. I'm also 6'2" and if that's your saddle height on a 19", then you must be the blueprint for knuckle dragging.
If you ever decide to sell, let me know. I'd love to try it out.