Kona Titanium 1990

In 1990, I had little money and big dreams. A friend of mine wanted to buy a Brodie and suddenly I had this catalog at home, where I whirled quite enthusiastically. And then I saw on the last page the Kona Titanium, the madness, built by Merlin, geometry by Joe Murray, decals from Kona and Merlin, solid equipment, no CNC parts, exactly my taste… but just no money.

Some years later, I was still in love with the old bikes, the money was there, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not find a 1990 Kona Titanium – only the catalog picture. I talked to other collectors and traders from that time, and their stories were very different. One said the Kona Titanium was out there, the others said they were never delivered, or if they were, only to team riders…

Yes, they are, but how many were, no one really knows, many were certainly not.

Ultimately, I had the great fortune, a friend of mine (thx Adrian), found one and sold it to me.

He restored it part-for-part from the catalog, with the result exactly as the Kona Titanium should look in the 1990 catalog picture! Finding all of these parts was time consuming & expensive, but it was worth it. This bike is exactly as seen in the catalog – he even found the Joe Murray tires!