Kona A'ha 1997

[SpearedHot]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

Very cool bike! I can confirm that the stars and bars on my '96 Hot are indeed painted. It looks like white was shot on the front part of the frame and then the stars and bars were masked. After that the blue/red fade was applied and then the masking was removed to reveal the stars and bars.

 

[magas]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

ah, OK now I see, you wanted to know, if the stars are painted or decals - I thought you where asking about the writings on the frame, like "KONA" and "Ku" - my mistake

can confirm, that also on my KU the bars are painted and not decals - sorry for confusion.

 

[DM]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

Yeah, actually, the stars & bars are painted on mine, too.
Mostly.
There are a few "extras" stuck on top of the clear coat, which look like they came from an Airfix kit :facepalm:

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

Very cool bike! I can confirm that the stars and bars on my '96 Hot are indeed painted. It looks like white was shot on the front part of the frame and then the stars and bars were masked. After that the blue/red fade was applied and then the masking was removed to reveal the stars and bars.

Phew, good to hear they didn't scrimp; I'd be gutted if they'd applied them as decals. BTW your Hot is the nuts.

Stuff to note:
BB:
It has a US BMX BB shell. DMR do adapters so you can fit a square taper or outboard BB.

Hub spacing:
Basically, there are few cassette hubs in the spacing you need. And screw-on hubs don't give much option to tweak rear chainline. So you need to do your homework.

Rear ends on non-disk Humus were 110mm, 112mm, and 120mm. All are variations on old-school track or BMX spacing. My A'ha is 112mm with a perfect "track standard" 42mm chainline. This limits your rear hub choices to BMX, track or older dirt jump bikes (DJ bikes now all seem to use 135mm disk hubs). So the options are somewhat limited unless you go upmarket to Phil Wood, Campagnolo Pista, Profile BMX (drool) etc. Or put a screw-on freewheel on a narrow old road hub. Maybe Surly or On-One do one? Alternatively, go to Alans BMX: He has some old-school BMX hubs that will do the job and look the business.

The curved top tube is a lot thicker walled than the Humu. Combined with the gas-pipe rear end and the big BB shell, it's no lightweight.

Yes, stars and bars are presumably decals, but are under the clear coat.

Kanerdog has the most awesome A'ha ever:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18821

This is proper good advice, many thanks indeed. Kanerdog's is cool...apart from the paint but that's just me preference.

I've got the BB, cranks and chainring so no worries there.
I have the rear hub which I will service and defo keep.

I'm now thinking I build up the wheels (not by me cause I'd like them to be round ). Question is, what rims should I use? Can I use "normal" period Mavic rims or do I need to have something specific for the hub? I also have a spare 97 Kona front hub (called the 999 in the catalogues) I assume I could use that if I find the right "pair" of rims.

Looking into the catalogue, it had Sun AT18's, 32 hole. Could I use some nice Mavic 221 / 220's like I have on the Explosif and Manomano?

 

[DM]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

You can use any rims. They just need to have the same number of spoke holes as your hubs.
Then your LBS will calculate the spoke length and just make sure the rims are centered, the same as with geared hubs.
Having the original rear hub, BB and crank to hand means it should all line up perfectly, with no problems of jumping chain or crank/chainstay interference.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

Super news - thank you! I have my eye on a doner bike that could help significantly with the build...let's see how that goes. Failing that I'll treat it to some nice Mavics It also means I can go a bit flashy with the nipples, we all love the nipples right? Blue front, red rear...

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

I had fun giving her a good clean this weekend, I think she came up proper good (my camera phone is shite - it looks much better than this). I also managed to win a donor bike on the 'bay; a 97 Hahanna. Whilst that was bottom of the range it means I can take the P2's and canti hanger (ticky to find), stem and rims (they used the same). I have a spare front hub from the 97 range, so with that and the bullseye hub (is it really?), plus the rims, they'll make a sturdy set of wheels especially with the blue (front) and red (rear) nipples they'll be treated with. Curve canti's will look the part and I'll use white cabling.

That just leave the saddle and bars...still not sure what to do there.

Imagine my surprise when I had a good look in the parts bag that came with it and this popped out...

Is it really a Bullseye hub or just a cheapy one with a cheeky sticker?

These got the usual strip down, clean and autosol treatment - lovely results:

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

It doesn't show well but the red is a really deep burgandy metallic - very very nice whilst the blue is a traditional navy but not metallic (bit of a shame if I'm being really picky).

 

[raidan73]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

Looking great mate. Will enjoy watching this

 

[magas]

Re: Knowing me knowing you - (Kona) A'ha! (1997)

very nice result you have here