Hi all,
This will be a job for the Kona nerds! I just bought what I though was a Kona Explosif on Kijiji for almost nothing! I just finished to remove the parts, now only the frame remains. There are many red flags which make me believe that might not an Explosif like I originally though...
What is legit :
- It had mostly Deore XT components (front and rear derailleurs, brake levers, canti brakes, cranks), the rest was Deore DX (hubs, top mount shifters).
- Decals.
What is less legit :
- Appears to be made with something else than Tange Prestige Concept, tubes are not oval shapped like they are supposed to be and the Tange sticker is missing on the seat tube.
- Frame weights a ton, a little over 6 lbs.
- I suspect that the bike has been re painted, there seems to be 2 layers of paint where the cables rubbed on the head tube.
What is weird :
There is a Tange Champion No. 2 sticker on the downtube. To my knowledge Kona never used this tubing for their mountain bikes.
What did I buy today? Did somebody tried to make himself a homemade Explosif using a lower end frame and good components? Is it some weird Explosif made of something else that Tange Prestige Concept? Or a legit Explosif and I missed something in my research?
Note :
We can't see well, but serial # starts with F1 meaning it is likely a 1991 model made in 1991 in Taiwan.
This will be a job for the Kona nerds! I just bought what I though was a Kona Explosif on Kijiji for almost nothing! I just finished to remove the parts, now only the frame remains. There are many red flags which make me believe that might not an Explosif like I originally though...
What is legit :
- It had mostly Deore XT components (front and rear derailleurs, brake levers, canti brakes, cranks), the rest was Deore DX (hubs, top mount shifters).
- Decals.
What is less legit :
- Appears to be made with something else than Tange Prestige Concept, tubes are not oval shapped like they are supposed to be and the Tange sticker is missing on the seat tube.
- Frame weights a ton, a little over 6 lbs.
- I suspect that the bike has been re painted, there seems to be 2 layers of paint where the cables rubbed on the head tube.
What is weird :
There is a Tange Champion No. 2 sticker on the downtube. To my knowledge Kona never used this tubing for their mountain bikes.
What did I buy today? Did somebody tried to make himself a homemade Explosif using a lower end frame and good components? Is it some weird Explosif made of something else that Tange Prestige Concept? Or a legit Explosif and I missed something in my research?
Note :
We can't see well, but serial # starts with F1 meaning it is likely a 1991 model made in 1991 in Taiwan.