Throwing up a retrospective build log as is required for BOTM entries. Some short context beforehand; got back into cycling around August time after a family member mentioned they had a spare bike, enjoyed it but alas the bike was way too small for me so I ended up grabbing an 08/09 Kona Blast Deluxe from FB marketplace and converting it to 1x9 and rigid (https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/2009-kona-blast-deluxe.484876/) which was my first "project". Enjoyed the shit out of that bike (to the point between Sept-December I put close to 3000km on it) but always kinda felt like it was missing something more, even if I couldn't put my finger on exactly what that something more was. Remembered seeing the Inbred back in the day and was always a fan of the stuff On One was doing, so kept an eye out for one popping up in 18" and about a month later an 18" in decent nick with a gear hanger pops up and I instantly snagged it.
First time building a bike up from the frame only, thought it was going to be a relatively straight forward process swapping the majority of things over from the Kona, ended up being 3 days cramped in a tiny shed often being stuck running out of daylight using a combination of bike lights and phone torches like some primordial steampunk bike mechanic. First picture after getting it to rolling chassis stage;
The Kona had always had a mismatched wheelset and quite frankly it wasn't the greatest, just cheap shimano hubs etc. Picked up a vgc set of Fulcrum Red Metal 5's, transferred over the old cassette (think its a sram pg950) and some new rotors alongside a fresh set of Panaracer Pasela 26x1.75s. Day after that once I'd got it up and running:
Swapped the saddle for a different Selle one, MT200s front and rear, rear mech is a 9 speed Sora R3000 which may seem like an odd random choice however the deore mech on the Kona took a pretty bad knock just before Christmas, and in an odd quirk of fate Halfords cocked up the brake order and sent the Sora RD for whatever reason..
First "proper" outing and quite frankly I was disappointed. In retrospect it was less to do with the bike and more 100% the fact I hadn't been out in 2 weeks, was on a brand new bike with the skinniest tyres I'd ran so far, riding on dirt that'd frozen over. Anyway one thing lead to another aaaand;
Picked up an Exotic carbon fork, put the Billy's back on, inline seatpost from Ritchey and a short, tall rise stem from Wake (bleh) alongside trimming down the overly long shifter cable. Did 50k in this configuration and absolutely loved it. I was still kinda curious about the Paselas so they ended up back on.
And a final picture from today, some minor changes with different headset spacers and red skewers for matching bonus points lol.
Still some changes to be made but it's good enough to consider finished. Future plans would be going 2x9, replacing the stem from a brand with a bit more substance, maybe some new pedals too etc. All in all very happy with it, as mentioned at the start first time building from the frame up so this ticked a lot of boxes for things I hadn't done yet ie pressing in a headset, running cables, gear indexing, trimming hydraulics etc and I'm glad it all went well with only a few minor hitches.
First time building a bike up from the frame only, thought it was going to be a relatively straight forward process swapping the majority of things over from the Kona, ended up being 3 days cramped in a tiny shed often being stuck running out of daylight using a combination of bike lights and phone torches like some primordial steampunk bike mechanic. First picture after getting it to rolling chassis stage;
The Kona had always had a mismatched wheelset and quite frankly it wasn't the greatest, just cheap shimano hubs etc. Picked up a vgc set of Fulcrum Red Metal 5's, transferred over the old cassette (think its a sram pg950) and some new rotors alongside a fresh set of Panaracer Pasela 26x1.75s. Day after that once I'd got it up and running:
Swapped the saddle for a different Selle one, MT200s front and rear, rear mech is a 9 speed Sora R3000 which may seem like an odd random choice however the deore mech on the Kona took a pretty bad knock just before Christmas, and in an odd quirk of fate Halfords cocked up the brake order and sent the Sora RD for whatever reason..
First "proper" outing and quite frankly I was disappointed. In retrospect it was less to do with the bike and more 100% the fact I hadn't been out in 2 weeks, was on a brand new bike with the skinniest tyres I'd ran so far, riding on dirt that'd frozen over. Anyway one thing lead to another aaaand;
Picked up an Exotic carbon fork, put the Billy's back on, inline seatpost from Ritchey and a short, tall rise stem from Wake (bleh) alongside trimming down the overly long shifter cable. Did 50k in this configuration and absolutely loved it. I was still kinda curious about the Paselas so they ended up back on.
And a final picture from today, some minor changes with different headset spacers and red skewers for matching bonus points lol.
Still some changes to be made but it's good enough to consider finished. Future plans would be going 2x9, replacing the stem from a brand with a bit more substance, maybe some new pedals too etc. All in all very happy with it, as mentioned at the start first time building from the frame up so this ticked a lot of boxes for things I hadn't done yet ie pressing in a headset, running cables, gear indexing, trimming hydraulics etc and I'm glad it all went well with only a few minor hitches.
