Kona Explosif 1997 team edition

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Don't get me started pete...Royal Mail are a fcuking joke. Not your fault, fingers crossed I finally get my hands on it this year.
 
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al-onestare":3gyo63rz said:
Don't get me started pete...Royal Mail are a fcuking joke. Not your fault, fingers crossed I finally get my hands on it this year.


Oh no! It landed in London 2 weeks ago and you still haven't seen it :facepalm: :cry:
 
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PeteC":3g9t7p1k said:
al-onestare":3g9t7p1k said:
Don't get me started pete...Royal Mail are a fcuking joke. Not your fault, fingers crossed I finally get my hands on it this year.


Oh no! It landed in London 2 weeks ago and you still haven't seen it :facepalm: :cry:

Finally! Update pictures to come. Have I said customs are idiots?
 
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On Friday I was finally able to get my hands on the expertly packed box of delights from pete. There's no point going through the story of why it took so long to get it other than to say UK customs are idiots and the PO aren't much better. Anyway, all's well that ends well as the picture shows: a really nice set of turbines and complimentary head-set and a big part of the puzzle, the lime / slime green Z2 atom bombs. Like buses, another pair are on their way to HQ in case I need to swap out the steerer or use it for spares. In summary, I now have the running chassis: the frame and forks.

Which means I can start piecing together the rest of the build. I'll take a few snaps of the other parts I acquired from wadsy:

2nd (I think) generation Crossmax wheelset
Controltech ti skewers
Avid ti levers
Black Controltech stem

Oh and I managed to nab a 27mm Syncros seatpost from ratcapa :) My first piece of Syncros kit ever.

This still leaves a rather long shopping and increasingly tricky to fill list. Those in bold I'm actively looking for right now - as usual any leads or recommendations are ALWAYS welcome :)

Bars: Syncros - silver - there's a great one for sale on ebay.com at the moment but I can't justify that price. Would consider Raceface silver or Kona curve (as I have on the other Explosif, Caldera and Kula). Got to be flat, uncut and of the era.
Tyres: Panaracer Smoke and Dart blackwall, would consider the lite/comp versions but no re-issues this time. Would also consider Hutchinson's or Onza's from the era. Must be pristine.
Saddle:Black/yellow or yellow/black Flite or Flite Kevlar or Flite transalp. It took me a while to find the right one for the Caldera so I know they are out there. Again, has to be pristine. I did consider SDG and a great one came up late yesterday on the Classic Trading FB page but looking at it closely, the finish isn't quite what I'm after.

Front / rear mech: I messed up selling them earlier this year (isn't that always the way) but I will need XTR M950. Front, 28.6mm top pull and rear must be the non-rapid rise version. Guess what, they have to be pristine.
Cassette: As above, XTR M950 but I could live with XT M739.
Brakes: Undecided. I'm split between Avid Ulitmates (again, there was a cracking pair up for sale recently at a very handsome price) and XTR M950. I'm thinking more the latter but I'm still wavering.
Grips: Undecided but probably Yeti's cause I love them. Black, preferably not lock-on's this time.
Everything else including cables and peddles: No idea, we'll see what the answers to the above are first.

If you can picture this a) well done, welcome to my world of imagination ;-) and b) you'll realise this is going to be a decent hybrid mix of 97/98 Kona top-end catalogue spec (think Hot, Ku, Hei Hei, etc) and of the era "racey" equipment. It should be the lightest bike in the stable and that's something considering the stable!

Meanwhile, I'm still following up some leads to add more flavour to the history of the frame, the era and the story we know of so far. This side of the project will take much longer to reach a conclusion than the build. In fact, it may never reach an end...
 
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Re: Kona Explosif 1997 team edition: collecting

So happy all those parts finally got there! Looking forward to this story evolving.
 
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So here's the stash garage table.

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Like buses, I have 2 bombers to play around with.

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Thanks again ratcapa :D Pleased the letters are in a good shape.

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Avid Ti goodness.

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I found an adhesive 'shim' in this so I'll get rid of that.

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These are Scandium not Ti but mega-light.

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Really pleased with these, they'll look the part and should compliment the ride and feel: light and twitchy.
 
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