Early 90s Frame ID - Kona ?

[Mortonm]

I just picked this up (in my brothers possession)

Anyone have an idea ? The seller thought Kona or Brodie but both said no based on the serial number, but we all know that can be tricky business.

T9000K39

It looks early 90s to me, has a suntour XC pro headset and derailleur. But no idea if they were original to the bike or not. Some explosifs had this ?

There is a fairly distinctive seatpost noodle

 

[mk one]

First thing i would say is a 1990 Explosif, the only difference i can see, very minor though and could just be the paint, is the seat tube extends a bit far above the top tube. Can we see a pic of the dropouts please?

Im sure someone will be able to id it though.

 

[hamster]

With the brake pipe it looks very much like a 1989-90 Kona (TBG).
However on my 1990 Lava Dome I don't recall a support for the pipe on the seat cluster, IIRC it was just welded on.
1" or 1 1/8" headset?

 

[Mortonm]

First thing i would say is a 1990 Explosif, the only difference i can see, very minor though and could just be the paint, is the seat tube extends a bit far above the top tube. Can we see a pic of the dropouts please?

Im sure someone will be able to id it though.

It is in my brothers possession but I will try and get a pic, thank you

 

[mk one]

Here is a pic of the noodle on mine

 

[Mortonm]

Here is a pic of the noodle on mine

Looks pretty similar but will be hard to tell until its in my hands

 

[Mortonm]

Re:

My brother isnt really a bike guy so sent me some useless pictures except maybe this one. Flared seat tube at the bottom.

 

[Mortonm]

With the brake pipe it looks very much like a 1989-90 Kona (TBG).
However on my 1990 Lava Dome I don't recall a support for the pipe on the seat cluster, IIRC it was just welded on.
1" or 1 1/8" headset?

I think its a 1" headset (Suntour XC Pro)

 

[Mortonm]

Some more possible info from an old thread

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=237077

Posted by Anythony

"I think it may be possible that some 1991 production had a noodle like that, but the vast majority had it incorporated into the first version of the dog collar. Anyway, the number is too early for this to be a 1991 frame and the seat tube extension is too short. It's a 1990 Explosif. T stands for Taiwan Bicycle Group, a completely separate company from TBG = The Bicycle Group. I'm not aware of any Kona frames other than Explosifs being made by Taiwan Bicycle Group."

So that would line up with the frame serial number starting with a T

 

[mk one]

Yes, and the one in the thread being an '89 - T89 serial with yours being a '90 - T90 serial