I'll be riding them!

[mfargy483]

I am going to build the Voodoo with Dura Ace 7700 group! And it will get dirty! Rims will get taco'ed, etc.

My 97/98 Hei Hei gets ridden, and ridden hard!

The '96 frame may be a retro build w/ purple and the like parts. I may also just keep it as a backup frame.

The Hot or Caldera, whatever it may be, is a singlespeed that I ride daily.

I'll post more pics of the steeds when I get back to Northern California

 

[Anthony]

Hey Michael, I'd be very interested to see pictures of the 97 Hot or Caldera and hear about its history.

You remember I put you in touch with Steve Ball (Headtube on here), well he has a particular interest in seeking out a 97 Caldera. He did establish from Kona that a small run of them were actually built, but that is the only evidence of its existence, nobody seems to have seen one, except perhaps you.

Altitude Cycles (formerly Mountain Goat) had gone out of business by the time the 97 catalogue came out, but they built batches of Hots (from Reynolds 853) for 1996 and some of 1997, so they could have built a few 97 Calderas at the same time. Although the Caldera was supposed to be made out of a cheaper tubeset, a proprietory double-butted cromo, it was still heat-treated so of quite high quality and would make a very nice bike, as well as an exceptionally rare one.

 

[mfargy483]

I spoke to the Kona tech about the possibility of it being a caldera or indeed a Hot and he will get back to me after I provide him with more pictures. I am planning on a white respray in the mean time.

 

[haggis]

Would love to see it as well dude, especially if its a Caldera. Hots are rubbish anyway Seriously though i have heard tale of these US built Caldera's but never seen a pic of one never mind in the flesh.

 

[haggis]

Just had a look at the '97 Kona catalogue in the archives and one of their pages which has all the bumf about their suspension design has a picture at the bottom which mentions the Caldera's, Hot's and Ku's being built by Altitude in '97.