Kona Kilauea
- Thread starter Roddymac
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Harryburgundy
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I would say the track ends have been added at some stage...but there was a Hei Hei in the USA recently that was a Kona build with track ends, so I guess you never know. How about some pictures 
There has never been a Kona factory as such, so things like this couldn't have been done 'in-house' since they parted company with Paul Brodie in c1990. Except as HB says with ti bikes which were made first by Merlin, which was then an associated company, and then by Ti Sports which is in Washington state, fairly near to the Kona offices. The tell-tale will be the paint and decals - if they're original, I'll have to eat my words.
The tubeset is Tange Prestige Concept and this was used for the Kilaueas from 1993 to 1995, before that on Explosifs.
The tubeset is Tange Prestige Concept and this was used for the Kilaueas from 1993 to 1995, before that on Explosifs.
one-eyed_jim
Old School Grand Master
There was also an issue with broken dropouts on some Kona frames. My own Kilauea (a '94/'95) was returned under warranty with a broken driveside dropout. The customer got a new frame, and the bikeshop owner had track ends fitted to use the bike as a singlespeed, then as the shop's Rohloff demonstrator.
It makes more sense to repurpose a broken frame than to start chopping up a solid one - though of course that's also a common approach.
It makes more sense to repurpose a broken frame than to start chopping up a solid one - though of course that's also a common approach.
I snapped my mates kilauea in exactly the same place on the drive side dropout where it meets the chainstay. His was a '95 bike.
I felt really guilty as i'd just borrowed it for the day as i'd snapped my rear mech or something like that.
He got a brand new frame though and next years model which had literally just come out so he wasnt to upset.
I felt really guilty as i'd just borrowed it for the day as i'd snapped my rear mech or something like that.
He got a brand new frame though and next years model which had literally just come out so he wasnt to upset.
In most of the cases I've seen, it was actually the dropout itself that snapped and not the chainstay. To me that indicates a manufacturing fault by whoever made the dropouts, as fundamentally a solid piece of steel should be much stronger than the skinny tube that it's attached to. I have an identical dropout on my Explosif, but they don't all break and I'm such a feeble rider that .. no it's bad luck to say it.
Some of these frames were repaired and resprayed by the importer (presumably by Argos in the UK), but I have the impression that many weren't and were either thrown away or repaired cheaply. I've heard of several that were converted to track dropouts like One-eyed-Jim's bike - maybe that makes the welding job easier than welding on a standard dropout, as you don't have quite the same alignment issues.
Some of these frames were repaired and resprayed by the importer (presumably by Argos in the UK), but I have the impression that many weren't and were either thrown away or repaired cheaply. I've heard of several that were converted to track dropouts like One-eyed-Jim's bike - maybe that makes the welding job easier than welding on a standard dropout, as you don't have quite the same alignment issues.
