Explosif?

[Anthony]

I find it surprising that people list bikes in this way. The seller offers no evidence at all that his recently-resprayed frame with 98 Explosif decals is actually an Explosif -other than his 100% feedback I guess. I'm not saying it isn't an Explosif, I don't know, but I wouldn't dream of bidding on it myself without evidence and just on the basis of trust.

He says early nineties, but if it is an Explosif the dropouts tell us it is 94 or later and the cable routing tells us it is 96 or earlier - except that it has a brazed-on brake cable stop, which could have been added when it was repainted. It it's a 94 Explosif, it should have a fluted downtube and if it's a 95/96 Explosif it should have biovalised top and down tubes, but the photos aren't good enough to be able to see for sure IMO.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KONA-EXPLOSIF-19- ... dZViewItem

For comparison, this is a 95 Explosif:

 

[one-eyed_jim]

You were happier with it a fortnight ago when the photos failed to show the new cable stop:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... =explos%2A

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0223277480

FWIW I think it's clearly a Columbus Max Explosif. The ovalisation and taper of the top tube visible in the first picture is more extreme than for a Tange Kilauea (which would also have a flared seat tube) and you can see the messy mitre that comes from joining the broad oval top tube to a narrower seat tube.

 

[Russell]

'96.

 

[stevext]

explosif frame sale

Hi
It's my Explosif frame that you are debating and i dont like people hinting that i'm trying to mislead anyone.I'm not,i bought the frame after waiting ages for an explosif frame to come up and thought it looked right even though the colour seemed diferent from the explosifs i looked at.I bought a clockwork orange advertised on here a while ago and i'm just raising funds for it,i cant give any guarentees that it's anything other than what i bought it as as my knowledge of older kona's isnt as good as the retrobike massive's!.
cheers

 

[one-eyed_jim]

Re: explosif frame sale

It's my Explosif frame that you are debating and i dont like people hinting that i'm trying to mislead anyone.

I don't think Anthony was hinting that. But there can be pitfalls for the unwary when buying a repainted frame at a distance with just a couple of low-res pictures to go on. Paint can hide a multitude of sins.

When I bought my repainted Kilauea a few years ago, the seller (a local shop owner I knew and trusted) told me it was an Explosif. It's likely that he was simply mistaken (and I'm happy with the frame I bought at the price I paid) but confusion can occur.

All that said, if your frame were an inch bigger, I'd be very tempted to bid.

 

[stevext]

point taken mate,I don't know alot about the explosif's but have always wanted one so i went for it when i saw it hence it going in 15mins.Bit of a reluctant sale tbh but ive bought a set of mavic 517's in great condition on xtr hubs from a mate and dont have an unlimited budget.If my clockwork looks anything like some of the bikes on this site i'll be really pleased.
regards

stevext

 

[konamad]

1995 EXPLOSIF FOR SURE!