Kona Kapu 1997

Re: Re:


....and indeed who "Team Mustard" were - presumably a term of endearment for the local North West Team riders, along with the Skull 'n' Crossbones decals :LOL: .

Pip

Another look at this now that I have my 1997 Explosif something popped into my head

Any chance Team Mustard was the colour of the race teams paint? Al had mentioned all the 96 race teams used a similar colour.

The catalogue colour for the 97 Explosif is "Team Mustard" though obviously different than this.
 
It wasn't the same tone as the 97 Explosif. It was more rusty. It did look wonderful though, probably the best doner bike of all time šŸ˜‰
 
Some slight movement on this...but not this specific frame. Who spotted this a few weeks back in the US? That makes 4 known in existence :eek:

6ihQxI.jpg


Another whopper and sporting much of the original kit. Notice how the seat-tube extension is more in line with the catalogue and other versions, compared to mine that is shorter. It also confirms what I think we all knew by now: none of them came out of the factory with grey Mudshark forks. That's actually made me more pleased I've colour matched them as best we can to the catalogue and stem gun-metal grey since it's looking increasingly likely, my frame is a one-off / custom made...or total irregularity šŸ˜‚
 
In February 2021, we relocated from SE London suburbia, close to the North Kent Downs, to west Cornwall. I'm still amazed and eternally grateful that we could buy and sell within the pandemic. In fact, the day we left for good, we were still in full lockdown and it was the first time we'd left the county for months, the last time being late summer when we saw our new house for the first time.

Long story short, whilst I have a garage, it's not totally water-tight and is full of building materials. Only last month was I able to get to the fleet, tucked away in bits in the corner. The Esatto and Hot were my 2 bikes last and this season. Building and tinkering have been out of the question.

So, it was with distinct pleasure that yesterday, over a year since the resprayed forks were returned from Argos, I could start to rebuild the Kapu. This is where I got to:

pKWKNp.jpg


Boy oh boy. To say I'm stoked is a distinct understatement. The light was shocking so the fact it still looks this green, I can't wait to see it properly in the summer sunshine, free from smog! I'm pleased with the forks; they could be a touch lighter but actually, together with the stem, they are almost identical and I really liked the depth of sparkle they have. We have to bare in the mind the stem paint will have faded a touch. What I'm absolutely sure about is that it was the right call to have them grey and not colour matched to green or even worse, black. It just looks amazing, with the Veloce groupset looking so, so smooth.

Much as I'd like butterscotch tyres, they just don't exist new, and the black are going to work with the parts on order to finish the build. No spoilers on that just yet but I'm aiming to have this ready by the end of May. We're almost there...
 
In February 2021, we relocated from SE London suburbia, close to the North Kent Downs, to west Cornwall. I'm still amazed and eternally grateful that we could buy and sell within the pandemic. In fact, the day we left for good, we were still in full lockdown and it was the first time we'd left the county for months, the last time being late summer when we saw our new house for the first time.

Long story short, whilst I have a garage, it's not totally water-tight and is full of building materials. Only last month was I able to get to the fleet, tucked away in bits in the corner. The Esatto and Hot were my 2 bikes last and this season. Building and tinkering have been out of the question.

So, it was with distinct pleasure that yesterday, over a year since the resprayed forks were returned from Argos, I could start to rebuild the Kapu. This is where I got to:

pKWKNp.jpg


Boy oh boy. To say I'm stoked is a distinct understatement. The light was shocking so the fact it still looks this green, I can't wait to see it properly in the summer sunshine, free from smog! I'm pleased with the forks; they could be a touch lighter but actually, together with the stem, they are almost identical and I really liked the depth of sparkle they have. We have to bare in the mind the stem paint will have faded a touch. What I'm absolutely sure about is that it was the right call to have them grey and not colour matched to green or even worse, black. It just looks amazing, with the Veloce groupset looking so, so smooth.

Much as I'd like butterscotch tyres, they just don't exist new, and the black are going to work with the parts on order to finish the build. No spoilers on that just yet but I'm aiming to have this ready by the end of May. We're almost there...
Looks really good! I agree the grey fork was the way forward, breaks things up a little bit.

Panaracer just came out with their line of specialty tires for the year and one of them in all butterscotch coloured, not sure the sizing if they have one thin enough for this bike. It was through their gravelking line, so maybe too aggressive, but the basic gravelking is just a file tread

I still think the black looks best and will always be easy to find tires
 
Back
Top