Kona Manomano 1997

[Adam_S]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: Red-5

You get that little hissing noise out of Pace forks too. Happy days. I've never heard of a Kona that didn't love being thrashed over the rough stuff either.

I know it's probably heretical to suggest it but have you thought about getting a modern shock with that propedal thing in it? It might help a lot with the suspension bob.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: Red-5

You get that little hissing noise out of Pace forks too. Happy days. I've never heard of a Kona that didn't love being thrashed over the rough stuff either.

I know it's probably heretical to suggest it but have you thought about getting a modern shock with that propedal thing in it? It might help a lot with the suspension bob.

I have and getting the right height / travel is tricky. To be honest, the old Fox works fine for me, I've gotten used to the bob and it doesn't slow me down too much. If I were racing then that would be a different matter...I wouldn't be riding it full stop!

Yeah, I get a similar sound with RC36's but this one is more high pitched. It makes me

 

[secret_squirrel]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: Red-5

Ahh think I've seen that one in the flesh - right Al? Would have loved a blast around Swinley this weekend. (Looks at pieces in shed )

New project starts tonight tho

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: Red-5

Ahh think I've seen that one in the flesh - right Al? Would have loved a blast around Swinley this weekend. (Looks at pieces in shed )

New project starts tonight tho

You certainly have ;-) You'd love it back there: the trails are proper bedded in now, a bit rough in places but under present conditions, super fast. Get building and get back there

 

[Adventurerunner]

Re:

Hi fellas, just found this thread after looking around online for info on modified 97 Manomanos. I still have my original frame hanging in the garage waiting for a rebuild. I've owned it from new after buying it from Butlers Cycles in Portsmouth with insurance money paid out after my heavily upgraded '94 Cinder Cone was nicked. I used it to race the NPS DH series, Pedal Hounds DH Series and quite a few SAMS races plus others like the Cheddar Challenge DH in '97 before spending the next 4yrs at sea (so no racing). I'll dig out some old images from BITD.

 

[Adventurerunner]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: Red-5

Here's the first one I've found. It's either the Cheddar Challenge or the Cheddar round of the NPS in '97.

 

[secret_squirrel]

Re: Re:

Hi fellas, just found this thread after looking around online for info on modified 97 Manomanos. I still have my original frame hanging in the garage waiting for a rebuild. I've owned it from new after buying it from Butlers Cycles in Portsmouth with insurance money paid out after my heavily upgraded '94 Cinder Cone was nicked. I used it to race the NPS DH series, Pedal Hounds DH Series and quite a few SAMS races plus others like the Cheddar Challenge DH in '97 before spending the next 4yrs at sea (so no racing). I'll dig out some old images from BITD.

Time to get your own thread up and that frame restored. Welcome to the site.

Apologies in advance for what this site is about to do to your wallet.

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

I'm a total convert to Marzocchi so in my view, the best fork, the game changer, needs to fitted to my go-to fun bike. They are period correct after all I have wicked pair heading this way soon, ready for when the season turns. I also have a nice new reissue pair of Smoke and Darts to fit so the yellow highlights will be gone. Finally, I'll swap the Curve bars which, I realised last year, have been cut down (from the long since gone donor Kilauea) to a normal, wider pair.

With that, I reckon it'll look boss but most importantly, it'll ride even better.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Kona Manomano 1997: 2018 refresh incoming

Come to papa!

I really can't wait to give this a new lease of life and get "jumping"

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

Beast mode v2.0 :shock:

I am super-stoked with how this has turned out. I swapped the bars over from my Kula as these were shorter (you might remember these were taken from a 18" 97 Kilauea, they must have been cut down then or Kona supplied different Curve widths...), swapped out the tyres for some fresh brand new Smoke and Darts and of course, the seminal Z1. I had to go with the first generation colour. Once again Mark did an incredible job of sourcing and servicing them https://www.mtbforksbymark.com/

Compared with the Judy's, they are slightly longer so the nose is a little higher which is fine by me. For me, the bike is designed for grins and trail centres, not single-track or hours in the saddle. I can't wait to take her back to Swinley and see how she handles. Watch this space.