In 1992 I was a young lad in Lapland who’d started cycling after failing to grasp the art of flute or music theory. My first bicycle was a heavy Monark mountain bike with some low-end plastic Suntour components and the frame resembling a gas pipe-level heavy tubing. An entry bike.

It turned out that I was rather talented (or determined) in my new hobby, cycling.

During the summer 1993 I spent three weeks in mosquito-infested fens collecting cloudberries in order to earn a half the purchase price of a Kona Explosif. My parents had promised to chip in for the other half.

Anyone who has ever been in a swamp in July in Finnish Lapland knows that 10 minutes is enough, not to mention full days back-to-back for three weeks.

Finally, the hard-earned Explosif arrived in its box and I had the opportunity to assemble it from scratch.

Good things in life don’t come easy. For this and the Explosif being my first proper mountain bike, it has ever since had a special place in my cycling heart all these years.

Alloy hangover

I had the bike for 1-2 years before I supposedly upgraded to an aluminium frame Kona Kula in 1995 and another one in 1996. I remember those alloy frames being stiffer when pedalling, but they were such a harsh ride compared to the steel Explosif with the Tange tubing.

Stupidly, I got rid of the Explosif and had regretted it ever since. I never had the same feeling with those alloy Kulas I had the years after. I have no idea where my original bike ended up, but I’ve fostered the idea of getting one back for years.

After three alloy Kulas (I trashed them all) I ended up with a 1999 Cannondale F2000 SL. The last one with rim brakes. This bike of course was from another planet with its stiffness, the Headshok head tube integrated suspension and V-brakes. It had Sachs gripshifters and was all cool and new, but it was lacking that je ne sais quoi.

Then I moved out of my childhood home and the ability to keep and maintain a fleet of bicycles came to a halt for years.

That Cannondale I still have, although I’ve restomodded it with 1×11 SRAM drivetrain and Magura HS-33 hydraulic rim brakes.

Hard to find, even harder to buy

The idea of reacquiring a steel Explosif had haunted me in recent years, but 1993 Explosifs are rare. It had to be exactly the same 1993 model, in pine green metallic paint, as anything less would have been … well … less.

Two years ago I spotted one in Salzburg, but the seller wasn’t willing to send it to me in Vienna (mere 400kms) even if prepaid, so nothing came of it.

Then in late summer 2021 I spotted one from Willhaben.at. Now residing in Finland, I was all prepared, sending a lengthy message to the seller explaining that I wasn’t a time waster. This time the seller Daniel was a man of reason and common sense and had the patience to see the sale through.

Thanks to my friend in Vienna I managed to snap this one up. He picked it up for me and the bike was now secured, but shipping it to Finland gave me some grey hairs. I went through several sendmybike-dotcoms, reading their shipping terms, trying to figure out dimensions in inches, weights in lbs and the details of wrapping.

The solution came when I found the right moving company and Kunnon Muutto came to the rescue. They were responsive, solution-oriented and within three weeks from the sale I went to pick the bike up from their depot in Helsinki. The only reason it took three weeks was that the bike came with other cargo that was passing by Vienna, instead of being a separate delivery.

Grime and Punishment

The Kona was in full working order and had most of the original components, but it had years of accumulated grime and gunk. Dismantling a bike is easy, but one has to pay attention not to lose any bolts and bits in the process.

My approach is to put the removed part immediately in a separate plastic bag and even labelling them if there’s a risk of mixing the lower headset bearing with the upper one for example.

Cleaning the components one by one can be tedious work, but it all pays of in the end. And there’s nothing that time, patience, elbow grease, WD-40 and other solvents wouldn’t fix.

Forking out for new elastomers

The Explosifs came normally with a rigid Project Two fork, but this one has a Manitou 3 installed with a Deore XT headset.

In the olden days mine was upgraded with a Marzocchi XC-51, but the Manitou is more or less period correct and far better looking a fork. Not to mention prime example of CNC milling. All it needs is some tender loving care.

The original elastomers were a sorry sight and the inside of the fork was a combination of dirt, grease and melted rebound elastomers.

I took a leap of faith and ordered new, rather pricey elastomers from a company in the U.S. but after 8 weeks they are yet to arrive. Fed up with the wait, I ordered custom steel springs from Germany on Ebay and they arrived in a week. I’m happy to try out the elastomers if they arrive in Q2 next year or whenever.

As there is no other damping than the decompression of the non-existent elastomers, many have warned me about the possible pogo stick effect of the fork with steel springs.

Reassembly is a reversal of dismantling

The above straight-forward advice from the Haynes Manuals holds true. Nevertheless, taking a bike apart is the easy task.

Once the bike is dismantled, cleaned and examined, begins the next rewarding phase: sourcing for the parts. Many waking hours are spent on finding that period correct Deore XT quick release to replace the horrible, purple Tranz-X thingy.

Don’t get me wrong: Anodised lower spec parts are a perfect fit for Kuwaharas and what not.

There are some purists that trail the internet for some rare 90s tyres, but I have my limits and I bought some Panaracer Smoke & Dart that are back in production. Luckily, the wheels were originals in good shape and only needed cleaning. The XT hub in front and XTR at the back, both with Mavic M 231 rims.

No housing crisis

I will also replace all cables and cable housings, brake pads and the chain. Actually, cantilever brake pads are surprisingly difficult to find these days and I would have preferred red Ritchey Logic pads but had to settle for Kool Stop Eagles.

The chain was worn and rusty so it had to go too. The 8-speed XTR cassette and the chain rings in the original Sugino Mighty cranks seemed okay, so I’m assuming that the new chain will suffice without the chain jumping. But time will tell.

Interesting times ahead

The next phase is to find time to fully clean the Manitou fork, refurbish the crown and brake arch. Once the fork is fully cleansed, I can reassemble it with the new springs and the top- and bottom-out rubbers . Then I can install it back to the headset and the rebuild can commence. But that will be another blog post.