Please help identifying a Kona

[oliverrr]

Hey guys! I got finally offered a steel Kona that seems to be my size (the seller told its 21") but the seller doesn't have any clue what the year or model is. Due to the seller living from a couple of hours drive from me, I haven't also got the time to go and check the bike out yet. I would be really glad to identify the bike so that I don't have the risk taking the drive in vain.
Also, the seller told he asks $300 for the bike and I'd like to be certain, if the bike I'm gonna possibly buy is worth the money.

The pictures of the bike can be found here: https://postimg.cc/gallery/Z3BxXd6
I also got a picture of the code on the BB tube: https://postimg.cc/V0QfDkxT

From the pictures, older Kona catalogues and other sources I've got the following info so far:
-The groupset is Deore XT. This is most probably added to the bike, not originial.
-The bike has Deore brakes. I don't know if those are original, but the brake boosters certainly are not original.
-Regarding the Kona decals on the frame, I am not sure if they are original. You can see on the pictures that the one on head tube is peeling off
-The fork seems to be Kona Project 2. The decals are white and facing forward so probably its from the beginning of 2000s.
-The fork seems to be threadless since it has a modern stem and spacers.
-According to the seller the wheels are 26" but judging by the pictures, the fork would probably fit larger wheels.
-The seller also told me, that the paint is original and the frame is made from steel. The top tube is 60 cm and seat tube is 52 cm.

I would think thats a Kona Smoke, but on the pictures you can see that the shifter cables run below the down tube. That eliminates the possibility of the bike being any other mountain type model (Cinder Cone, Explosif etc).

The shifter cables running below the down tube indicate that it could be a Kona Dew, but most Dews from that era don't have a frame suitable for caliper brakes and the most important fact is, that all Dews have an aluminum frame so that seems like another dead end.

I am really grateful to anyone who can help me. What am I missing or is the seller not giving me correct info?

All the best
Oliver

 

[Moqi]

I'm no kona expert but pictures of smokes show 2 cables running along the top tubes with cable stops at each end. Yours also shows a kona dog collar for the rear brake cable - I thought these were for canti brakes.It's not true that cables didn't run below the down tube eg viewtopic.php?f=6&t=167261 a fire mountain from 1990. If you look online you can see kileau and hahannas from the 90s all with this feature. I don't know when they changed from quill to aheadset. The parts seem a mishmash of xtr front brake , xt rear brake and xt rear derailleur. The crank looks like an lx to me not xt. Apart from that i can't guess if it's worth the money but it don't look like a smoke to me.

 

[Stressed]

Going simply on colour and decals it looks like a 96 Kilauea...

 

[Stressed]

...or a 96 Fire Mountain.

 

[Moqi]

Re:

i thought in all likelihood it was a mid 90s something.

 

[FluffyChicken]

the serial code you need it the one running alongside the bottom bracket shell (far right of the picture)
that other could be anything, like a postcode.

 

[FluffyChicken]

...or a 96 Fire Mountain.

same year I was going for, last of the double under down tubes.
Hadn't gone aheadset yet, but that could be an extender under the Ritchey WCS headset in the picture
etc.

 

[oliverrr]

Thank you so much guys for the input. I also wrote to Kona's technical support and they also assured that the frame was from early 90s, possibly a Lava Dome. It also must have been repainted since it's impossible to remove the decals without removing the original paint. I won't probably go see the bike since the seller is asking 250€ and that's a bit too high for me for a bike in that condition (original paint and decals is important for me despite the condition). For comparison I got offered a Kona Hahanna in really nice condition with original paint for 170€ but that was sadly too small for me.
I will keep on the search.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

I would aim for higher up the range for that sort of money.

But next time, get them to give you the serial number.

 

[oliverrr]

Re: Re:

I would aim for higher up the range for that sort of money.

But next time, get them to give you the serial number.

I completely agree with you. For that sort of money I can probably get a better bike.

It's just the fact that the market for old MTBs is really tight in my country compared to what I see in US or UK sales portals. What people in other countries get as dumpster finds might still cost 100€ here :facepalm: not to mention that you have to be extremely lucky to even find an old MTB in larger frame sizes.