Cindercone V Lavadome differences

[Wold Ranger]

Picked a nice 16 inch Lavadome up off the bay a bit back in the Purple Eggplant livery, one of the last steel ones to be produced, It's virtually as new, but apart from the drop out detailing and all top tube cable routing, it looks and weighes identical to my 95 Cinder cone.
Weight is only 1890g.
I always thought the lavadome was a much lower spec frame? Or did they upgrade these when the higher models went Aluminium?
I once read that they often would substitute frames when they were short of one type, as the components were the main cost difference and you could often get a better frame badged as a lower model?

 

[cce]

lava dome and cinder cone were often the same frames

there was only about £100 between them as bikes at retail, and that was the nicer kit the cinder cone had

 

[Wold Ranger]

CONE V DOME

The drop outs are different, but otherwise the same, makes me wonder if the spec list was the only real difference on quite a few of the Konas?

 

[cce]

i have my suspicions that hahanna/fire mountain and lava dome/cinder cone had the same frame at least in some years. Kilauea and Explosif utilised branded tubesets and so were probably unique from other models and from each other

 

[Anthony]

It's not so much that the Kilauea and Explosif tubesets were branded as that they were heat-treated, and heat-treating strengthens the tube, so that you can obtain the same strength with a lighter tube.

I would be very suspicious of any scales that said a size 16 1999 Lava Dome weighs 1.89kg. That is a lot less than Kona's claimed weight, which is itself less than the weights that magazines took. I had exactly that frame and on my scales it weighed 2.05, which is in line with the magazines and still quite light for a non heat-treated db 4130 frame.

From 1993 onwards, the Lava Dome and Cinder Cone frames were identical, and in all years they were always a higher specification than the Fire Mountain. The FM was also a db 4130 frame, but of a lower quality and thicker gauge. The Hahanna was generally plain-gauge, although it had a db frame in 1997, but even then it had high-tensile stays.

American consumer protection laws are very strong, so I would be surprised if they ever sold frames to a different specification than that advertised. Kona always used to give an unusual amount of detail of their frame specs, and it wouldn't make sense to have done that if they were going to mess around.

 

[FluffyChicken]

What size frames did Kona quote their weight at (I know Rocky Mountain used 18" frames BiTD) but the in no mention in Kona catalouge ?
.. given they have 7 different frame sizes ..



opps forgot to post this so...I went to find out... popped of to the 1997 Kona website and

CINDER CONE & LAVA DOME
· Constructed with chromoly double-butted tubing.
· The top tube and down tube are butted .9/.6/.8 and the seat tube is 1.0/.7 with an external seat tube reinforcement.
· Made for 27.0mm seat post, 28.6mm front derailleur, 68mm bottom bracket, & 1-1/8" headset.
· 4.5 lbs for an 18" frame.

They measure on 18" frames.. 4.5lb is the 2.04kg they claim

 

[Anthony]

Yes, all the quoted weights are for size 18.

I have two 97 frames, a size 17 Kilauea which weighs 4.2lbs, implying a size 18 would be just over 4.3 (claimed weight 3.9) and a size 16 Lava Dome, which weighs 4.55, implying a size 18 weighs 4.8 (claim 4.5). I think the genuine weight of a Fire Mountain was c5lbs and of a Hahanna about 5.3.

 

[murf]

My 18" 1996 Cindercone, if its any use.

 

[plain lazy]

i used to have a 92 lavadome in purple. as i remember i think the lavadomes were butted tubes and the cindercones were double butted. i think i have an old brochure at home so i'll check. aint there any into on the archieve pages?

 

[jez-4-bikes-max]

I was under the impression Hahanna and FireMountain = same (single butted)

...and Lavadome and Cindercone were same = Double butted.