Kona frame but which one

[sweety]

I'm thinking of building up a Kona hardtail but not sure what frame to go for as I would like a light frame & was thinking an alloy one might be the way to go. For the past 19 years i've had my 91 Kona CC & loved it but I feel it's time to move forwards a bit & get some comfort & have front suspension.
Any pointers on year & frame/bike modles to look out for would be most grateful

 

[Mr Panda]

Get some bouncy forks for your CC if you like it that much - unless you're angling for another bike

Low travel obviously to suit the frame geometry.

Bigger bounce = newer frame. Had a 2000 Lava Dome until recently which was really good. Set up with rigid forks but would probably have taken 100mm travel without too much difficulty. Like Lava Domes.

 

[konaman1]

l wouldn't bother with an aluminium kona frame unless you can get a paehoehoe or a kula stick with the steel and if you want a real upgrade think kilauea or explosif '96 on, if you want 80mm+ sus on the front. The earlier frames just werent designed for modern forks and will handle horrendously as the head tube will be at a really slack angle.

 

[coomber]

A Kona AA with nice forks is a very good hardtail.

 

[elPedro666]

As Konaman just said (I just nearly called you 'Knobman' thanks to predicament text forgetting I'd taught it Kona! ); if you're looking to be comfortable then steel's going to make more sense than ally (although I personally like ally with big light tyres for grip & cushioning with great acceleration ).

Again 96/7 onwards so that you can run 80/100mm travel forks - maybe check bikepedia for what travel was specced when so that you can match up appropriately?

Just agreeing with what's been said there, ain't I? That's novel!

 

[hamster]

l wouldn't bother with an aluminium kona frame unless you can get a paehoehoe or a kula stick with the steel and if you want a real upgrade think kilauea or explosif '96 on, if you want 80mm+ sus on the front. The earlier frames just werent designed for modern forks and will handle horrendously as the head tube will be at a really slack angle.

I have a 1999 (I don't know if you count that as early) Cinder Cone which I run with a 410mm rigid P2 fork. The handling is very precise and not at all nervous. It's a bit unfashionable (people want earlier steel frames) so definitely cheap to buy.

The frame is a tad lighter than a Kilauea (according to web data) and built up as a singlespeed 21lbs is easily achieved without any exotic or fragile bits.

 

[elPedro666]

That must be an ally one Hampster? Definitely not early then!

I tend to think of early as pre-95/6ish, basically before 'suspension corrected' geometry, late as frames designed to take 80-100mm forks.

No guarantee that ties in with anybody else's thinking though...

 

[Anthony]

I'm afraid there are some misapprehensions here.

From 1994 onwards, all hardtail Konas were designed to give a 71 degree head angle with a 41cm a-c rigid fork.

This means there is no difference between the different years in terms of what fork you can use. A 1999 frame is exactly the same shape as a 1994, as indeed is a 2009 frame.

I appreciate that it's natural to think that as forks had longer travel over the years, Kona must have changed the geometry to accommodate them, but they didn't. Some companies did do that, but Kona kept the frames the same and simply fitted shorter stems to keep the steering the same.

Prior to 1994, Kona frames were made for a 39cm a-c rigid fork, which makes them less suitable for fitting suspension to - not impossible though, but perhaps best to stick to short-travel forks, and again to use a shorter stem to compensate for the longer fork.

Kona have never had such a high reputation for their aluminium frames as for the steel ones. I can't see any logical reason for that. The Kula/AA/Pahoehoe used top quality Easton tubesets, the best you could get, and the geometry was exactly the same as the steel frames. I think it's really just a market perception, the upside of which is that Kulas are really cheap to buy.

 

[hamster]

That must be an ally one Hampster? Definitely not early then!

Yep. It's the first year of the Alu Cindercone - and the only one without disc tabs.
Sorry, I thought the question was about Alu Konas??? :?

 

[sweety]

Thanks for the advise Had thought about a set of sus forks on my dear old CC but for some reason I can't do it as I love the way it feels & would like to give it an easier life. A later steel frame as it'll take sus fork easier is now a high poss as 100-120mm travel would be enough for me on the trails I do