Should I buy yet another vintage Kona?!

At the end of the day its the wrong size.. so unless its a perfect donor ( no kidding yourself, actually swap out everything to build a bike in the right size without buying a ton of new stuff.. then NO!!
I have two 19" konas had them decades but they were always big enough with plenty of post, Now ive let another in to my life and thats because its 20" technically when as a grown man who aches anyway i looked on the sizing charts of the time its what I should of had.. !
So it will have a neutral seatpost, a short stem, and a more relaxed postion, which justifies its place.
Do not get buying bikes that are defiantely too small for you. Unless you are running a museum.
 
Do you ride all the others? If "yes"....then why not if you think the bike will work for you.

If "no" then why add another ?...unless your considering a museum of kona.....as mentioned above...
 
So I’ve got a nice little Kona collection going with just about one complete bike of each of the hardtail models from the 90s, along with a few frames: ‘93 Fire Mountain, ‘95 cinder cone, ‘99 Lava Dome, ‘94 Kilauea frame, ‘89 Explosif, ‘93 Hot, ‘96 Hei Hei, ‘99 King Kahuna, ‘97 Ku frame, ‘98 Kula, ‘00 Kaboom, ‘00 Stab frame, ‘01 Stab Primo, ‘02 Mokomoko, and a newer 2019 Big Honzo ST. They mostly all have hung on the wall for years, with just a few getting all the miles. The Mokomoko was mine back in the day, even cracked the frame on it and replaced it. Now I just ride the Honzo over to the local bike park. The others are for the fun of rebuilding and such, and some need a full rebuild. The Explosif is so period-correct modified and crusty that I may just keep it 100% as-is.

It’s been fun collecting these over the past decade but I’m running out of time & enthusiasm for rebuilding them. Ok, I’m mainly running out of free time! These bikes do seem harder to find on the cheap nowadays, as they’ve either gotten broken, trashed, or collected. I’ve also given myself some boundaries on price and sizing. I’m 6’, so mainly looking for 19” frames, but have a couple 18” frames. Also trying to keep the price down, but they seem to keep going up, or do they? Kinda kicking myself for not buying a $700 Stars n Bars A’ha over the summer but it was too spendy!

So, I went and looked at a 1995 Kilauea today. Complete bike, all original parts down to the red Ritchey pads, rusty spots on the frame from sitting and maybe damp storage?, blown marzocchi xc700 fork. Seller told me several times via messages that it was a 19”, which is “my size” and one of the boundaries I’ve given myself on purchases! Turns out when I got there and measured it that it was an 18” frame. Cool bike, but would need a lot of parts and work and a new fork and I just wasn’t feeling it for $100. Maybe I was just pissed about the miscommunication. I do have an 18” 1994 Kilauea frame and P2 fork hanging with the other bikes and it’s been hanging there for years.

Should I go back and buy the complete Kilauea? Is it worth it? Will I regret/dislike having a slightly smaller 18” frame? I would’ve bought it if it had a P2/3 on it! I’ve got enough parts to do a cool restomod with the Kilauea frame and fork I’ve got. When is it too many Konas? Does anyone care about these anymore? Should I stop hoarding them?!

I feel like this group can understand my current plight! I guess I’m lucky that these are the current troubles I have, I should be so fortunate.

Pic is from the seller:

Right, without having read this yet I just feel the need to ask a question in reply to the question in the title. WHY is this even a question?

Of course you should, if you have the space for it to at least shelter out of the elements & the money to buy it without detriment to your other bike's wellbeing (Food/electricity/heat etc are optional at this point we all know that!) then there's absolutely no reason not to buy another & a few good reasons to do so, not least that it's another one saved from potentially being parted out/scrapped.
 
You make a very sound point, and I'm not "above" scrapping out a bike either (Just recently broke up a cool-looking Violet & Yellow Peugeot Aluminium 250, would've karma'd the frame on here but it was a good practice piece for the lad to work out stuck BB's & posts in alu frames)

I do tend to err on the side of keeping them together unless the frame is damaged though. Also (much to SWMBO's *ahem* delight) tend to err on the side of "if in doubt, buy it and work out what to do when it's home"...
 
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I think the fact you walked away and are now potentially regretting it is an indication. 100 does not seem like a lot for the full bike, especially if it's original. If the parts are now trashed and worn, is refurbing them an option?

What's the motivation for owning it? Does it fill a gap in your collection regardless of size? If it's for riding then you've admitted it's probably too small.

Good luck with the decision either way, based on the pic it doesn't look too bad.
 
Yeah...somehow I've built up a small museum, though unintentionally. Not sure anyone would pay for admission though... Hey, at least it's a cheaper hobby than collecting classic cars!
Yes it is, and finished quicker, bikes are arguably a distraction, but I also have a few cars!
 

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