If there's a Kona i've regretted selling its always been my 1990 Kona Explosif with the Project Two forks,which i sold a few years ago. I'm sure others have had that feeling when you see it being taking away and put in the Parcelforce van and you think what have i just done 
So last year the idea came into my head why not use my spare 93 Explosif and make a tribute to it and as a added bonus it'll be better to ride with it being a 93 Explosif, perfect!
With the idea locked into my head i found some excellent replacement decals ordered some Tamiya model paint and headed to Bettablast with the frame and forks,stem and bars to be powder coated with the initial idea to just have done in black like the 90 Explosif. Then i seen the colour you see it in now, my mind was made up straight away when i seen it turn from a bluey green to basically black depending on the light and how you were looking at it.
Five days later i pick it up and was blown away at the colour it looked amazing in the sunshine,i just knew this was gonna be a good build.
The decals were applied and then the fun bit splatting it in the pink and blue the 90 came in but i done it in the 89 splat style,very happy with the outcome.
Parts wise it started with XT then quickly ended up with XTR M900 which you may have seen it in the bike of the month it was in. Although it looked good it was to blingy for me so off those parts came and a rethink,the plan was always to make a one of one tribute to my 90 Explosif so it was back to Deore XT.
I mocked the bike up while waiting for the cables to turn up and then it dawned on me i hadn't polished the frame and forks, doh!
Off with parts again lol I can honestly say i cannot believe how polishing a frame (5 coats of polish) can transform a colour like this has,its mental. I understand your looking at photos so it may look different you really need to be standing in front of the bike to appreciate it but it's now a more deeper richer colour, the sparkle is brighter and weirdly it shows the ribs on the downtube more. The other thing what stands out more is how the light changes the colour, it just looks amazing to me i love it.
Cables turned up so on with all the parts and nick the Deore XT seatpost off the Kilauea build and this is the final outcome and i absolutely love it. The only thing what's messing with my Retrobike ocd is the silver cable hangers i'm going to swap them for some black ones when i can find some but for now i just want to get out and put some miles under the tyres and enjoy it.
So there you go a worthy tribute to my 90 Explosif iny eyes.
So last year the idea came into my head why not use my spare 93 Explosif and make a tribute to it and as a added bonus it'll be better to ride with it being a 93 Explosif, perfect!
With the idea locked into my head i found some excellent replacement decals ordered some Tamiya model paint and headed to Bettablast with the frame and forks,stem and bars to be powder coated with the initial idea to just have done in black like the 90 Explosif. Then i seen the colour you see it in now, my mind was made up straight away when i seen it turn from a bluey green to basically black depending on the light and how you were looking at it.
Five days later i pick it up and was blown away at the colour it looked amazing in the sunshine,i just knew this was gonna be a good build.
The decals were applied and then the fun bit splatting it in the pink and blue the 90 came in but i done it in the 89 splat style,very happy with the outcome.
Parts wise it started with XT then quickly ended up with XTR M900 which you may have seen it in the bike of the month it was in. Although it looked good it was to blingy for me so off those parts came and a rethink,the plan was always to make a one of one tribute to my 90 Explosif so it was back to Deore XT.
I mocked the bike up while waiting for the cables to turn up and then it dawned on me i hadn't polished the frame and forks, doh!
Off with parts again lol I can honestly say i cannot believe how polishing a frame (5 coats of polish) can transform a colour like this has,its mental. I understand your looking at photos so it may look different you really need to be standing in front of the bike to appreciate it but it's now a more deeper richer colour, the sparkle is brighter and weirdly it shows the ribs on the downtube more. The other thing what stands out more is how the light changes the colour, it just looks amazing to me i love it.
Cables turned up so on with all the parts and nick the Deore XT seatpost off the Kilauea build and this is the final outcome and i absolutely love it. The only thing what's messing with my Retrobike ocd is the silver cable hangers i'm going to swap them for some black ones when i can find some but for now i just want to get out and put some miles under the tyres and enjoy it.
So there you go a worthy tribute to my 90 Explosif iny eyes.
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,that's a Team Marin lurking in the background which is on the to do list.
