It’s getting HOT in here ….

[Monkeeee01]

Well the next one that pops up please let me know man!

 

[d8mok]

Yeah, I’m good thanks. Hope you are too.

Yep, I have a ‘96 Hot in Stars. I’ve had it 15 years. It’s the frame that lead to me joining here. I had no idea this site existed until I found it while researching my frame.

Also have a ‘97 A’ha in Stars if you wanted to compare the factory and custom paints.

So it was the gateway bike into the realms of N+1

I’ll try to come have a look at some point. I’m not quite as free on time currently as I was a bit ago though so may be after Xmas

 

[konaman1]

To be fair I’ve only wanted one for about a month - and in that time several have popped up so they seem likely more common than I thought.

This is true if you are not fussed on size or colour!
If, like me you are only in the market for 18's in original paint then they are very few and far between.

 

[d8mok]

This is true if you are not fussed on size or colour!
If, like me you are only in the market for 18's in original paint then they are very few and far between.

Compared to say a GT Psyclone there’s a lot more around for sure.

I wasn’t fussed on size but would prefer an original paint. But as you say you have to either wait ages or take one that’s not idea.

 

[Monkeeee01]

This is true if you are not fussed on size or colour!
If, like me you are only in the market for 18's in original paint then they are very few and far between.

I’ll take a 16,17,18 or even a 19 at a stretch!

Would prefer OG paint but I’m not adverse to a respray job either if it’s the right size (not crazy import/shipping) etc

If you’ve got another one tucked away to sell me Mr @konaman1 let me know

 

[konaman1]

I’ll take a 16,17,18 or even a 19 at a stretch!

Would prefer OG paint but I’m not adverse to a respray job either if it’s the right size (not crazy import/shipping) etc

If you’ve got another one tucked away to sell me Mr @konaman1 let me know

Sorry dude these days I only have the one Hot! It's actually my only Kona now as well.

 

[Monkeeee01]

Sorry dude these days I only have the one Hot! It's actually my only Kona now as well.

No worries man, is that one of the Rasta flames ones in your photo on the other thread?

 

[konaman1]

Compared to say a GT Psyclone there’s a lot more around for sure.

I wasn’t fussed on size but would prefer an original paint. But as you say you have to either wait ages or take one that’s not idea.

You are right there! I would love a Psyclone in Team Scream but I've never seen one come up for sale. I guess few were sold bitd.

 

[konaman1]

No worries man, is that one of the Rasta flames ones in your photo on the other thread?

Yes, bought from Ernie a couple of years ago. Lifelong dream achieved!

 

[al-onestare]

I much prefer the traditional scheme to that.

I also prefer this decal style too.

Did they do this colour with the 96 decal style?

Okay, so prepare for a geek out. This is one of my favourite pictures in recent times.

In the background you have a 1997 Altitude built, Velographics painted Hot. In the foreground you have a 1998 Hodaka built, Enigma painted Hot. Can you spot the differences?

Cable stops on the top tube and lack of stops on the downtube but for this conversational purpose, the flame start and end points. You can clearly see there's more yellow, more flame build up on Enigma painted Hot's than Velographics.

Why is this important? Well, in the grand scheme of things it isn't but in terms of decal placement, especially on the downtube, the "cleaner" look is the shorter flame, the Velographics scheme, as the body of the flame, the yellow in this case, is firmly ahead of the K of Kona which aligns with the downtube cable stope and only the tails of the flames underneath the decal. When you have a longer flame it starts to look a little messy, to the point where frames knocked up in a hurry mid-season 1997 by Hodaka/Enigma...say like my Team Explosif ...the downtube decal placement is way off the normal line/edge of the downtube cable stop.

As @murphy79 points out, my Hot is a 1997 model but the original owner didn't like the 1997 decals or rasta flames colour way - BLASPHAMEY! So they used some leftover 1996 decals and went with a stars and bars colour-way flame livery although I've pointed out the white is cream, plus the red and blue are deeper shades.

What does this all mean? It's a Hot. You have license to run wild but if you ever want to resale, make sure it "looks" like a Hot

One final point. Whatever you do, don't buy any of the decal sets on ebay or other sources. Have them properly measured and recreated by Gil (and triple check they are exactly as they should be - PM me for more details in you need them) or someone else skilled enough to notice the differences. I'm talking the different black outline thickness, the changes on the N between seasons, and so on.