Kona Caldera 1997

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

So this story has turned full circle. The initial views weren't particularly complementary about what was going on with Altitude. I'll be honest and say I didn't buy into that view and I wanted to prove that there was something else - what I don't know - that was fueling the flames of the rumour mill.

However, as we've dug into this model's history it's becoming more and more difficult to ignore the facts which back-up the theories. Things were not rosy at Altitude.

As listed previously, we've got 4 examples, each different in some shape or form. They might be small differences but these are pretty 'basic' differences and that latest example with what looks like Tange Prestige tubing means we need to take another look at what we know for sure.

I tried to get in touch with Jeff Lindsay: why not go to the source I thought. It was a long shot as he left the mountain bike business a long time ago and set up Red Hot Metal. I suspected that he and the firm would be getting a few enquiries from geeks like us wanting to know more from BITD so I crafted my message carefully. My expectations were really low for getting a reply, so when I got one (not from him but from a collegue) I was careful not to get excited.

While Jeff Lindsay was involved with Altitude, his position was to oversee the manufacturing of Mountain Goats. The manufacturing of bikes for Kona was another division of the company. For the ultimate history on mountain bikes and the early years, including Mountain Goat, I refer you to, Fat Tire Flyer, Repack and the Birth of Mountain Biking, by Charlie Kelly.

I think this is a very polite way of saying, please don't bother us and Jeff really doesn't want to talk about this. I totally respect that! It reveals a nugget of information we might not have known about: he had very little oversight of what was going on for what was meant to be, a pretty notable part of the new business. I wonder who was running it. (And if you haven't already read Fat Tyre Flyer, sort yourself out and get a copy!)

If you haven't read the mombat entry, that's worth checking out, particularly the time-line in the mid-90's:

http://mombat.org/Mountain_Goat.htm

As posted previously, the newly formed Altitude got the contract from Kona in 1996 for the 1997 range but, thanks to Anthony and Pip (on his 1998 Ku thread - another unicorn rarity) it existed for barely 12 months:

Well from our researches, I think it most likely that this Ku was welded together by a former Mountain Goat welder. After Jeff Lindsay closed Mountain Goat in 1995, he started a new business called Altitude Cycles in 1996 and they took on the Hot and Ku and the Caldera (if any Calderas were actually built) before they closed towards the end of 96. Enigma Design and Manufacture took over the contract from December 96, but my guess is that means they built the 98 models.

That's barely 6 months of Caldera, Hot and Ku production.

So, 'new' company, big contracts (not just Kona remember) and a rapidly changing industry: remember what Kona said:

That was just at the point of a huge change in riding. Before that you'd start on a hardtail and progress to nicer and nicer hardtails till you plateaued with a Ti frame. Then suddenly suspension came along and started fracturing the process. Then full suspension started to move out of the curiosity category into the must have bike, and then disc brakes came along and people really pulled back from custom frames and paint and poured all their spending money into functioning upgrades vs. good looks

Were Altitude overly ambitious and over committed? Were their corresponding financial issues?

Canuck's earlier view probably sums it up:

My theory regarding the split between Altitude and Kona (brace myself for the oncoming assault) is the '96 Hot's simply were not good enough. Apparantly a lot of them snapped far to easily (mostly at the chainstays), I've heard a couple stories of chainstays spontaneously snapping right after a ride while the bike sat dormant or just as the rider had stepped off! Complaints about the frames not being straight or geometry being off as well.

If you look at an Altitude built Hot and a later Enigma built Hot they are distinctly different, pipes and dropouts are much beefier on the Enigma Hot's. Perhaps Kona purposely beefed up the later Hot's so as not to take anymore chances and this is why they are different to the Altitude Hot's. The '97 Kilauea and Explosif also recieved these new beefier stays and dropouts while the Altitude Caldera used the same stays and dropouts (Mountain Goat drop outs) as the '96 Hot. That says a lot as well.

I reckon Altitude wasn't up for the task building the 853 Hot's so lost the contract subsequently losing the Caldera contract too. Didn't Jeff get back into glass blowing after this as well?

After the long success with Teesdale these new 853 Hot's would have had to be to a very high standard which Altitude possibly couldn't equal. Not to mention the difficulty working with the 853 tubes.

I should say that my theory is based on the Altitude built 853 Hot's and not the Caldera's. I've not heard any feedback regarding the Caldera and (I'm guessing?) it is not built with the Reynolds 853 tubing.
Also should be said that it's just a theory, I could be wrong.

I'll be going back to Kona this week, one last time, summarising what we've found out just to see if there's any additional information or view they have. Unless we can speak with someone from the shop floor or management team of Altitude, then I think we'll never know what was really going on. I'm fine with that, it adds to the mystery and keeps us guessing

Big thanks to everyone for their feedback, input and challenges so far. One day, we'll get back to the bike itself

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

Interesting read and well written, love threads with a bit (or a lot) of substance behind them.

 

[konaben82]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

how is the build going Al?

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

Nothing, as I've been out of the country. Now I'm back, I plan to do some tinkering over the next few weekends.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

Back to the bike for a moment. I've managed to source the last piece of the build puzzle. Heading my way from the west, I hope, is a yellow kevlar flite. I used to have one back in the day on my Cinder Cone and I had a feeling it would look good on this. It needs a bit of TLC but it shouldn't prove an issue.

I foolishly sold my one about 2 months before I found and joined retrobike :facepalm: Anyway, here it was:

When I found the saddle, I also found a NOS yellow Controltech stem. I've always stuck with the Tahoma Somme's 'cause I really like them but I think this'll look pretty decent as well. Plus, to satisfy my catalogue build itch, Controltech's were on Hei Hei's so it's sort of acceptable

When I have them in my grasp, the build will begin later this month.

Back to the riddle of the Caldera (and Hot and Ku) / Enigma / Altitude story. Pip has been a star digging around and kindly found some additional content from a poster from back in the day named JeffB.

I know Enigma Design and Manufacturing built 100 Reynolds 853 HOT's and 100 KU's for Kona in 1997 including the bikes painted by Tony @ Velographics for the 1997 Interbike trade show.

I wonder if one of the bikes from the show is mrdryskulls? (With the much lighter blue colour).

My partner and I started Enigma Design and Manufacturing in Dec of 1996. If my memory serves me correctly I think Altitude could/would not build bikes from 853. So we built 100 Hot's and Ku's and then Reynolds had a huge problem delivering 853 so we/Kona stopped building. I believe Kona stopped sell...

This confirms what we knew: Altitude ran for a very short period of time from inception. It also means they produced the Caldera for not much more than 6 months, my logic being, they started around June (mds') and ended probably before Christmas of 1996.

My partner Brian Caulfield did most of the welding. A friend of ours Woody Woodruff did the rest. After we closed Enigma, Brian went on to build bikes under Kavik Bicycles and Woody continued the BMX line under Enigma Racing. We both worked for Frank Wadelton for a number of years building bikes so we have built alot of other peoples frames over the years. It's amazing how intimate the biking industry was back then. Ahhh...the good old days.

Some more leads for our investigations!

They were all handbuilt by 2 sometimes 3 guys. We usually ran 5 at a time of a particular size. To me 'custom' means building a bike to your exact body measurements using tubing tailored for your riding style and size. But outside of that, these were built the exact same way we built our 'customs'.

I just thought of another possible identifier for you guys. Teesdale's bikes had the cables routed under the BB. All Enigma bikes had the cables routed on the top tube.

With all of the talk about different dates you guys have me second guessing myself as to dates but my wife reminded me we were still building Outland Designs frames up until December of 96.

On a side note. I have seen people incorrectly state that all 853 frames have 853 tubing as the main triangle but not the chainstays or seatstays this is incorrect. We got the first all 853 tubesets produced by Reynolds and made the first entirely all 853 frames for the HOT's including chainstays and seatstays.

He's talking about Hot's but this is useful info, particular the first part. I see no reason why a Caldera would be made in any other way. It was 'just' the tubing that was different.

Top marks Pip and Jeff!

 

[unit3]

Re:

This is so cool, all the detective work you guys have done.

Now, if you could do the same with trying to find my spare car key, that would be great!

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

Attention is turning (in fact it always was really) to the build. As revealed, a few pieces have arrived. I'm just waiting on the last notable piece before I can finally get my hands dirty and get her built up.

The forks proved, as they always do with me, a challenge. I'd really love a pair of yellow Z2 bombers but as you probably guessed, getting a pair of these in tip-top condition is almost as impossible as getting a Caldera! Well maybe not

So, I have a slightly more modern but from a functional and colour perspective better solution:

In fact the tone of yellow is an almost perfect match for the decals.

Next up was trying to get the flite (see previous post). I eventually found one here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/579498092116390/ It's a great community, some of the kit being sold is really high quality and more unusual than normal. As I was digging around, I saw this and a deal was struck. It arrived yesterday, it just needs a polish and it'll be good to go.

I want this to be a little eye-catching. She deserves it.

 

[Dare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

Nice stuff! I agree with all your statements; bike should be ridden but also it doesn't hurt if it eyecandy too

How much does color on that stem match Judy's? By the looks of it that yellow on the stem is exactly the same as RockShox yellow on my Judy's from '97.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

It's not a perfect match, but it does match the grips. I'm happy with it.

 

[regan_ev]

Re: Kona Caldera 1997 - unicorn scenes

I have lots of love and respect for this thread and your build Al And thanks for the link to that FB group, I've not come across that one until now and with over 5K members I'm expecting to find some bits on there that I've not seen elsewhere. Or should I say I'm afraid of seeing bits not found elsewhere haha!

Love the forks and stem