£10 skip find - Kona Lava Dome 1997 - finished build photos

[Ian W]

Brilliant find.

Seeing them Club Roost downhill bars remind me of being 14 / 15 and dreaming of owning a set

 

[superstu]

Here we go

Hope everyone likes it, my first real project and mostly used bits I could find or steal.

The Selle Italia saddle is titanium railed and sourced from the spares from my LBS.
STX front mech
Mavic 217 rim on the front wheel, not sure which shimano hub
STX-RC Rear mech
Onza re-issued grips which although new are just like the ones I used to have
Platet X flats
LX long cranks
Triple butted P2's (from this site)

Future plans:
I want to change the tyres (modern, heavy and most importantly no grip or feel)
I might go to canti's instead of V's (poor little canti bridge on the back!) but I wanted to get it being used again before I finished it.
I'm also thinking of putting the brace back on the club roost bars or finding another riser bar from the same era.

All in all including cables and some help from my LBS I reckon it cost me £120. Not the cheapest build and not the prettiest but I'm over the moon with it and really like it

 

[superstu]

P.S. The rear wheel is a near mint Mavic D521 rim - hard as nails, slightly overkill on the bike but a good piece of era kit and saved me buying a new wheel : )

 

[coomber]

 

[Terry_hill]

That is one incredible revival. Wish I could stumble across such a fantastic bike in a skip!

 

[LeeDevelopment]

P.S. The rear wheel is a near mint Mavic D521 rim - hard as nails, slightly overkill on the bike but a good piece of era kit and saved me buying a new wheel : )

Trust me, D521's are not overkill.....they build into bloody strong wheels and well worthy of any bike that's going to be ridden hard off road, where you're not gonna opt for a weight weenie flimsy as fook POS rim!

 

[kaytronika]

Brilliant find.

Seeing them Club Roost downhill bars remind me of being 14 / 15 and dreaming of owning a set

Got some in the shed if you want them


superstu : That's a cracking first build.. Looks like it'll take a beating and come back for more... Hardly representative of something drag off the tip.

 

[utahdog2003]

Has there been a trash to treasure BOTM yet? That is a tasty looking, no nonsense, working man's Kona right there. A great story too!

Very, very nice.

 

[Anthony]

That looks really good. It certainly vindicates your decision to keep the original paint.

I might go to canti's instead of V's (poor little canti bridge on the back!) but I wanted to get it being used again before I finished it.

Although the frame has a canti bridge, the bike came in just as cantis were going out. As a result, all the ones I saw in the shops had LX M600 Vs, because by that time there was no market for a bike with cantis at the Lava Dome's price level. The Kona importers had to refit them with Vs, otherwise they wouldn't have been sold.

So I'm basically saying that although it has a canti bridge, to be period-correct you should keep the Vs.

 

[superstu]

That looks really good. It certainly vindicates your decision to keep the original paint.

I might go to canti's instead of V's (poor little canti bridge on the back!) but I wanted to get it being used again before I finished it.

Although the frame has a canti bridge, the bike came in just as cantis were going out. As a result, all the ones I saw in the shops had LX M600 Vs, because by that time there was no market for a bike with cantis at the Lava Dome's price level. The Kona importers had to refit them with Vs, otherwise they wouldn't have been sold.

So I'm basically saying that although it has a canti bridge, to be period-correct you should keep the Vs.

Thanks for correcting me Anthony. The V's work well so I may well keep them and save some money for my next project

Thanks for all of your comments, its a light tough bike and I really like it. Will try and take it to the next South West meet