Fellow up with the first ride in the national park fire trail with some pics. I’ve forgotten how positive the steering is with the combination of larger 20mm hub clamped to the forks compared to the normal forks on the 99 King Kikapu. The Mr T forks are so smooth and soaks up the small and big...
Finally finished the build and only need to fine tune the gears and cut down all the cables to finish off. I lined up the 1999 King Kikapu to show what a difference of a year makes between them.
That’s shows how much I’ve been keeping up on with modern new mountain bike tech and standards. I think the Magura 90s hydraulic rim brakes are a new rage on my recent bike builds! 🤣🤣
Currently there’s only the early faint signs of a hairline crack on one side. Repairing it will cost more than what the frame’s worth so I’m going finish the build and ride it very lightly!
I’ve been trying to track down an old standard 20mm front hub and trying to get hold of a second hand...
I had these forks in the shed for ages. Someone was selling them on the local gumtree site for hardly anything so I thought ya can’t resist a bargain! I had bought another near mint pair for my early Kona Stab (one with the flame paint job) build from a seller in Germany and that was five times...
I actually got the frame from someone in UK on EBay. It might have passed hands as I suspect the seller realised the frame had a few issues and moved it on. It’s rideable but I suspect the rear seat stays might give up the ghost eventually as there’s signs of hairline cracks near the pivot...
Progress so far - managed to remove the stuck bb using a new bottom bracket tool with a extra long handle for leverage plus it has a bolt that screws onto the bb spindle making it more secure and it did the trick although the non drive side plastic cup disintegrated when I tried to pull it off...
Good score - I’ll think you’ll like the ride of bike. Currently the Kikapu is my go to bike when I go for a ride. The air shocks on both ends especially with the Bomber Z5 forks (considering it was the lowest in their model range) is easily tuneable and copes with most conditions. It even climbs...
I recently got hold of a 1998 Kona King Kikapu frame which I kind of fancied from the past and intrigued by Kona’s take of the unified rear triangle type suspension that was bit of the rage among some manufacturers for a period. Unfortunately I think this model suffered from cracking chainstays...
Yip. Exactly the same Z3 issue with slow rebound after rebuild. The fork had obviously not been well maintained before as the fork fluid was very mucky and low in level. Even with a through clean with degreaser and iso alcohol and parts checked for wear and then filled up with correct type and...
Thanks - I’ve got a seal kit coming from UK for the rear shock - probably needs a refresh as the shock leaves a dirty grease mark down the shock body as compresses but still holds air. Bit of a learning curve doing the fork refurbishment already plus worked out how to bleed Magura rim brakes for...
Spotted this going for a good price price and couldn’t really resist. The frame was in good nick apart from a miss match of the running components from original factory spec but I had quite a few bits in the shed to bring it to life.
I swapped out the Z3 Light Bomber forks which it came with but...
No worries glad to be of help. It’s very a very handy tool and haven’t tried the air pressure method to blow out the caps and don’t much like cleaning up splattered oil on the ceiling!
Some of the early air oil Marzocchi forks in the stable.
Rob I bought a recreated Marzocchi valve pulling tool as pictured from Dr Marzocchi.de whose also a retro member here. You could possibly drum up something yourself if you’re handy in the workshop. It’s an essential if you’re working on the old Marzocchi air oil forks.
I brought these brand new from my local bike store in New Zealand back in the late 90s but can’t remember exactly what year as the old memory is getting hazy nowadays! Production date 98 is stamped on the lowers though. Very simple fork but works well even if it’s at lower end of Marzocchi...
Thanks KraeMit- I forgot to include the PF1 crown in the picture as I had parts everywhere! I’ve been looking at your website and working out my shopping list so expect a message soon. Good that you have the 30mm seals available now as they’re hard to find!
Due to lots of idle time on my hands recently and a few used Marzocchi forks in the shed with leaky oil seals or other issues I decided to disassemble them and see how they tick and hopefully further on replace all the seals along with fresh oil and get them operational again. Not the best pics...
I bought some 1 1/4 to 1 1/8 headset reducers from the States on E Bay seller called Sellution_Components for my Sintesi frame which did the trick. Simple to fit with a headset press, well made and quick overseas delivery.