i'm gonna annoy you with this one, 2024 Kona Explosif! update 16/01/25 page 3
- Thread starter jonnyboy666
- Start date
Absolutely love itso a while back you saw my retro Kila Honzo, my retro aluminium O, these are really ticking boxes for me, modern bikes that look retro, to me at the moment this is the way to go, you're gonna hate me for saying but the older stuff doesn't ride that well, especially on modern trails, they're not that comfortable, especially if you're older, because of the agressive positions they have so to me it's all about the paint jobs, i know that sounds dumb but think about it, all the benefits of a modern bike but it looks as cool as your retro bike.
that's where i am at the moment, so i built this because i'd sold my fat bike which had been my winter bike, i have 2 sets of wheels available to it, 27.5 with 3" tyres and 29 with 2.6" tyres.
it's a Kona Unit, repainted as the alternate champayne gold option from 1992 kona explosif, i changed a few parts from stock, obvs the wheels in this pic, put on an XT mech, i had a thomson stem that gave me a better position i then added the Surly bar, i needed a more upright position, i wasn't going to go that high initially but i just thought i wanted comfort and initial spin feels really nice, the upright position is needed because of this cancer thing, the lump on my kidney means when leaning forward and pedalling i can now feel it being squeezed (it's the size of a tennis ball) so i decided to go higher than i would usually. quick spin and it feels great.
anyway, thoughts? love it? hate it?
View attachment 877807
View attachment 877808
View attachment 877809
View attachment 877810
View attachment 877811
View attachment 877812
They're great bars. Don't get why anybody would hate on a mx bar, been fitted to mountain bikes since the very beginning. I like seeing them take off too, it's given a lot more people an opportunity to reuse old frames and make them fit. Comfort is king. I run alu renthal mx bars on my heavier bikes as I like the stiffness on a heavier frame.
Huh, dressing up an old bike with new parts is resto-mod, is the opposite, a mod-retro? I have no problem with this idea whatsoever. My only beef is that I would have chosen jungle graphics (97-9. Whatever it takes to keep you rolling, man. Stay strong
On the other hand, over at Ratrod Bikes, a guy did fake patina on a modern Rocky Mountain. He painted it to look rusty and old, did a fantastic job, but I just couldn't get on with it. Rust on an aluminum frame? Makes no sense to me View attachment 878055View attachment 878056View attachment 878058
He even faded the decals on the rockshoxView attachment 878057
But I never would criticize. It's a bike, nothing sacred. He rides it, no harm no foul
Appreciate the effort, but it just looks weird. Especially as it's not in the places where bikes typically rust.
- Feedback
- View
so i decided to have a little play with this, s i built this so while i still had that annoyong tumour i could still comfortably ride, hence the highrise bar, i had some suspension forks lying around in the shop in black which i felt suited the bike better, as in the P2 fork should have been black but whatever, i don't mind but i thought i'd chuck the fork in, this meant i needed to change the bar set up. i had this pair of bar/stem lying around so i've stuck that on, car park test feels ok so i'll have top go ride it properly to see if i need a higher rise bar as this one is only 15mm, but the fork is 25mm longer a-c than the P2 so it's not as big of a positional change as you'd think. also fitted some 29er wheels out of curiosty
thoughts?
thoughts?
Takingabreak
Dave Yates Fan
- Feedback
- View
Very nicely done, I prefer it to the previous build 
highlandsflyer
Retro Wizard
- Feedback
- View
Thumbs up for the 29er wheels. I actually can't see riding anything smaller these days, apart from large volume 27.5s. Someone someday might be asking what the heck that is on a site like this!
Black forks looking good!
