Kona Hot 1997

[al-onestare]

Re: Re:

The picture Al posted above of the Kona Hot in the wild is mine, SN#HTO111.

Nice to have you here Cheers dude, and for now, you take the baton as the earliest know Altitude Hot. Interesting it has the 0...and when you look at the SN alignment, it indicates that things were quite free-form back then

I really should have clicked on the colour connection. What a fine, fine, fine bike that Ku is.

Could the two hots be the same frame? and is the red a match for the red used on the stars and bars? i assume the stars and bars rear paint is on top of the red paint?

I've asked that question, I'm not sure because of the decal damage on the down-tube.

And for the red paint, perhaps. There's a variation for sure and I wonder if that's down to the fade / blend of the colour.

 

[Pipmeister]

Re:

I think we need to take into account that different cameras were used to take any of these pictures of the single colour Hot frames, and in different light conditions. I would say however that Mark is correct that the Deep Red or Burgundy colour on the rear of the Stars 'n' Bars Hot frames is the same as the single colour that we have now seen.

The Hot and Ku Altitude frames from 1996 - 1997 were painted by Velographics, so it seems appropriate to compare my single colour 1996 Ku with my 1997 Stars 'n' Bars King Kahuna.

I've taken two pictures with the frames swapped around for each shot.

96 KU 97 KK_1 by Philip Mock, on Flickr

96 KU 97 KK_2 by Philip Mock, on Flickr

Pip.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Hot 1997 - 7th heaven

I think that's a fair conclusion. We also need to factor in time, sun-fade, etc.

Back to those two red Hot's, they are definitely different. I've messaged the owner of the "NOS" one for details.

 

[mk one]

Re: Re:

I think we need to take into account that different cameras were used to take any of these pictures of the single colour Hot frames, and in different light conditions. I would say however that Mark is correct that the Deep Red or Burgundy colour on the rear of the Stars 'n' Bars Hot frames is the same as the single colour that we have now seen.

The Hot and Ku Altitude frames from 1996 - 1997 were painted by Velographics, so it seems appropriate to compare my single colour 1996 Ku with my 1997 Stars 'n' Bars King Kahuna.

I've taken two pictures with the frames swapped around for each shot.

96 KU 97 KK_1 by Philip Mock, on Flickr

96 KU 97 KK_2 by Philip Mock, on Flickr

Pip.

wow Pip, great pics there, what makes it even better is they are both my size

Sorry if this has been covered before, so much scattered information, should really put it all into one KONA info/facts thread Were the custom bikes made totally to order, only making one if someone wanted one, or did they make a few at a time hoping to sell them? Was the red colour a standard colour and other options extra? or did everyone seem to choose the same red out a list!?

mark

 

[Pipmeister]

Re: Re:

Sorry if this has been covered before, so much scattered information, should really put it all into one KONA info/facts thread Were the custom bikes made totally to order, only making one if someone wanted one, or did they make a few at a time hoping to sell them? Was the red colour a standard colour and other options extra? or did everyone seem to choose the same red out a list!?

mark

The Kona Custom frames including the Hot were part of the catalogue listing, rather than built to order. The Production frames were built in the Hodaka factory in Taiwan, and the Custom frames were hand built in the U.S.A.

From ’91 to ’95 the Hot frames were built by Tom Teesdale, then from ’96 to ’97 by Altitude Cycles (Jeff Lindsay’s outfit), then ’98 the final year of production by Enigma Design & Manufacture. There are some Hodaka built ‘98 Hot frames too.

The Custom part of the frame for the buyer was the colour, which was painted to order. I don’t know for sure who painted the TET Hot frames (presumably Tom himself) but the ’96 to ’98 Hot frames were painted by Velographics in Bellingham, Washington. You can read a bit about this on page 3 of the ’97 catalogue in the Archive & Gallery section.

The ’97 Hot frame in a single colour was £795.95 and an extra £100 for additional colours, like Flames or Stars ‘n’ Bars. I have it on file the ’96 Hot frames were £999.95, but I don’t know why they were £200 more.

I’m not sure why the Deep Red / Burgundy colour seems to crop up so frequently, although it’s true to say that the Star ‘n’ Bars, which appears to use the same red, was on more than one model like the Ku and the A’HA.

Pip.

 

[raidan73]

Re: Kona Hot 1997 - 7th heaven

Just caught up on the last few posts. Loving all the great info.
I’m pretty sure that, in the early years at least, braze-one were customisable too.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Hot 1997 - 7th heaven

Right, a few things here that I think I can help with.

I guess you mean braze-on's not ones raidan

To your question Mark, the easiest and simplest description of what a custom Kona was is: a frame built in the US "by hand" with colour or colour scheme of your choice.

For the most part they were built in batches and you were able to "add" custom fixtures and fittings. You might remember the black and white Hot from 91/92 where the customer asked for (then out-dated technology) u-brake mounts and Yeti-style side top-tube routing.

Things get murky though. I was pretty sure custom Kona's weren't made to measure frames built especially for you to your exact specifications. Yet, according to this dealer price guide for the 1994 season, an extra 150 bucks would get you a custom size. (We can safely assume there were similar guides and options from 1990 through to 1998/99). Sorry for the poor lighting; it's October

(Seeing the price of the Ti P2 still makes me chuckle - solid Ti steerer for under $500)

As ever, I'm super interested and keen to hear what you think or have on file, including the grey-cells up-top.

To the build, I'm pleased to say, I have everything I need. So, first stop it's off to the LBS this weekend to have the steerer cut to size. It'd be nice to get the headset and forks mounted as I've never seen the two together and it'll give a good indication on whether I've chosen the right colour scheme

 

[romanrinos]

Re:

Great to see an old price list with all the upgrade options. In the listing under custom paint, there is reference to ‘splash’ and a ‘camo’ which is interesting.

Perhaps the splash was solid bespoke colour? Anyone seen the camo in 94’?

 

[mk one]

Re: Re:

In the listing under custom paint, there is reference to ‘splash’ and a ‘camo’ which is interesting.

Anyone seen the camo in 94’?

there are loads about, its just that they are really good paint jobs :!:

 

[kingoffootball]

Re: Re:

In the listing under custom paint, there is reference to ‘splash’ and a ‘camo’ which is interesting.

Anyone seen the camo in 94’?

there are loads about, its just that they are really good paint jobs :!: