Kona Geo: Explosif,CinderCone, Lava Dome VS FireMountain etc

[siamesekatz]

Hi all

Can any one shed light on the differences between the Geo of the Explosif, Kilauea, Cindercone, Lavadome vs the Fire Mountain and Hahanna.

It seems the latter two had shorter top tubes. I real world terms, what is the difference in ride feel? Is it that the upper speced frames had a more race geometry?

Any thoughts?

 

[al-onestare]

Depends on the year and the range. Broadly speaking you are right that the FM and Hahanna have a more slack geometry, the rest usually keep the same. It then goes down to tubing with, generally, the FM and Hahanna butted chromoloy, LD and CC double butted chromoloy, then the Kilauea and Explosif various higher end tubing ranging from Tange Prestige, Columbus variations through to Reynolds 853.

The difference in ride - marked! It's down to personal preference and what sort of riding and conditions your facing.

 

[Matthews]

Re:

Ld frames can be picked up very reasonably and are in essence nearly identical to CC frames , sus corrected later ones can cope with up to 100 mm forks and ride really sweet .

 

[Splatter Paint]

Re:

Very dependant on year, early ones 88-90 are heavier as a rule of thumb than the later ones. 88-89 model geometry is different from 90 and is noticeably worse. I rode an 88 Explosif and 90 Cinder Cone solo for 24 hours and without a doubt the Cinder is a better handling bike. The mid 90s ones handle very well, i.e. Suspension-corrected with or without bounce. Low end models of steel ones are lardy, though still handle well.

Geometry was common across the models in some years, check out the catalogs. But you're right the Fire Mountain and Hahanna were commonly specc'd with shorter, higher rise stems for a more relaxed riding position.

SP

 

[hamster]

Some years like 1994 the Lava Dome and Cinder Cone had identical frames, other years not. The most extreme is probably 1999 when the Lava Dome was steel and the Cinder Cone was Alu (but both with the same geometry!)