Kona Explosif 1997 team edition

[al-onestare]

Re:

It would have been criminal to have missed out being in the saddle this weekend. Time was limited but I managed to squeeze in a 90 minute blast around the local woods (Scadbury and Petts Wood). Creaky headset aside (CK will be fitted before it's next outing) it was a joy to ride. The position is dialed in to a tee. I put the pedals down (or up) and it flies. It eats up climbs for breakfast and the Z2's are a revelation (to me); so subtle and responsive but maintaining the point and go agility.

In simple terms, it's like someone took my normal Explosif and turned it into a racing machine. Which in effect, I did It makes me a more confident, faster rider.

The next big adventure takes place in July, this time in central Europe

 

[wadsy]

Re: Re:

It would have been criminal to have missed out being in the saddle this weekend. Time was limited but I managed to squeeze in a 90 minute blast around the local woods (Scadbury and Petts Wood). Creaky headset aside (CK will be fitted before it's next outing) it was a joy to ride. The position is dialed in to a tee. I put the pedals down (or up) and it flies. It eats up climbs for breakfast and the Z2's are a revelation (to me); so subtle and responsive but maintaining the point and go agility.

In simple terms, it's like someone took my normal Explosif and turned it into a racing machine. Which in effect, I did It makes me a more confident, faster rider.

The next big adventure takes place in July, this time in central Europe

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

That's real nice

Out of curiosity have you weighed it ?

 

[BikerB]

Re: Kona Explosif 1997 team edition: tinkering P20

Very smart looking , good work..

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Re:

That's real nice

Out of curiosity have you weighed it ?

I'd love to. It's on the list to do. I'm guessing it's sub 25 lbs even with the heavier Z2s.

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

I spent a week in Kitzbuhel, Austria as part of my summer holidays. I'll get a proper ride report together in due course. For now, I'll say it was the best riding experience of my life to date. California was so special from a people perspective and I have to go back and experience it for real in the summer because I'm sure it's equally epic.

Whilst I had some variable weather, I had so much fun that I didn't really care for the really tricky conditions (at the end of the week); it just added to the overall technicality of the rides. I'm no pro by any stretch of the imagination but I can say hand on heart that I was a much better rider at the end, cuts and bruises included

The stuff I went up would make for some pretty boring videos, but the views were epic. Probably about 1200-1400m of climbing per day.

The downhill I ‘mastered’ (!) was the Fleckalm trail:

https://www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/spor ... kalm-trail

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J8_zLOZeX4[/youtube]

It’s much, much steeper than it looks and these boys are much quicker than me.

00:19s: I had a massive off here on the last run – I was too cocky and went in too hot
02:52s: The only drop-off I had to take a different route for – just too steep with a long stem / hard tail set up
04:52s: One rock ruined me on each run here; super slippy and it’s right on a cliff drop to the left – defo the scariest moment
08:16s: The most technical section of the run – super rooty and slippy when I was there – I had to take each bend at a time but it was super fun looking for the right lines, going back and trying again
09:30s: If you nailed it from here on it was glorious – it flows super well

The bike and me got some interesting attention across the trail (which was very quiet thankfully) - I even got to shout 'steel is real' at the top of my lungs to a few concerned Germans who passed me and I re-passed, all on 29ers going WAY too slow. In fact, the only folks who really rinsed me were on full suss machines, with full face armour and pads...which in hindsight I could have done with

Once again, the bike was first class. The new CK headset performed faultlessly and the only issue I faced was a failure on the Smoke tyre. That's what you get for running 20 year old rubber and descending for over half and hour at 30-40mph; the heat build up ruins them and almost me! It meant I paid a visit to the LBS and ended up meeting an ex-Kona local team rider. Small world

More to follow...

 

[BikerB]

Re: Kona Explosif 1997 team edition: epic bike, epic trails P21

Some lovely pics there,the kona fits in well..

 

[FairfaxPat]

Re:

Looks like a truly epic time you had, Al. Pics are great, too...Pat

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

Cheers Pat. The only downer was missing Joe and Charlie so fingers crossed they can back over here sometime soon.

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

Crikey Al, reading this makes me think of when you went to California and rode with Pat.

You asked me for a recommendation on a suitable bike case for the voyage, and I was so pleased to see the resulting mega case that was fit for the job of transporting your Team Issue Explosif; even though part of me was kind of wishing that you didn’t “risk” taking it.

You told me at the time that the (somewhat expensive) case was an investment for the future, and you are definitely true to your word, but it makes my toes curl when I think of what could go wrong with taking such an iconic bike on holiday.

Fair play to you mate, and I am so pleased that you clearly had a great time.

Pip.