1989 Kona Fire Mountain - Work in progress

[Blindside]

Hi guys, the usual "go easy on me" comment has to be added here as this is my first bike post on the forum. I currently own 2 mountain bikes and this is essentially my "hack". Only other notable bikes ive owned that fit in are a 1997 Kula, 1995 Hahannah and a Diamondback Apex.
Bought as an 80% complete bike from wired on here, and i believe it was ededwards' bike before this. Now im not going to lie and say this is my childhood bike or the like, because i was 5 when this was released and i was quite content with my Raleigh Buster at the time!

After riding it around for a few months, fitting some new grips / saddle / pads / pedals / QR's / crankset and eventually managing to destroy the BB, ive decided to take it off the "road" and cheaply build it to a half decent spec.

Im going to replace the black stem / bar combo with silver affairs (never understood why Kona had that set up as standard - probably just me!) , replace the horrid STI units with dia Compe Levers. And am going to try and source an XT thumby as im going to run it 8/9 speed or such like.

Both Hubs are in a poor state and after spending about 4 hours trying to clean up the spokes i got next to nowhere, so im trying to find a cheap wheelset aswell.
My bike knowledge is waaay behind you lot so apologies if my terminology is all over the place, ive already had help since i joined this place from many of you and have met a couple of you too.

Comments good or bad welcome. Its also very noticable that touch ups have been carried out in the past on the splatter...by doing more splatter!so i have joined in wether right or wrong. Gil_M unfortunately doesnt have the Kona decal for this model as yet, but if he does produce them i could do with those aswell.
Also thankyou to all that ive bought off so far for this bike and my P7
Ian

 

[mattbrown]

you're quite tall arent you :shock: :shock:

 

[Blindside]

a tad over 6ft 4 sir

 

[rojo]

Thanks for posting up pic's mate looking good, i nearly bought this of edwards when he had it up.

 

[Andy R]

Now im not going to lie and say this is my childhood bike or the like, because i was 5 when this was released and i was quite content with my Raleigh Buster at the time!

Five years old in 1989 ??? This forum is becoming populated by children :twisted: . And tall ones at that

Us old farts are rapidly getting outnumbered :roll: .

Nice frame anyway yessir (if a bit huge......)

 

[Blindside]

haha, thanks i suppose?? its a 20" frame. I didnt realise there was an age barrier for appreciating the older bikes - am i allowed in if i come back in a couple of decades

 

[Blindside]

Getting together a few parts for the Fire Mountain. Funny how you tell yourself youll do it "on the cheap" yet you go straight over your budget after a few bits
BB is now replaced with a standard Shimano UN54 - i couldnt get the fixed cup side of the original BB off so i made my first visit to a bike shop for many a year!
Mavic x221 rims to Parallax Hubs - Im unsure as to wether i payed over the odds for these at 43 quid, will probably put these on the GF's Bike at some point but they are in fantastic condition and will definately do for now. Also had some nice XT skewers hanging around

Some onza bar ends - thanks BarneyRubble

DC-7 Levers - thanks RetroKona

Still need a rear mech and a 1" silver stem (quill) and am undecided on tyre choice. I have some Schwalbe City Jets spare so may just throw them on to see how i get on with them. I know its not period correct but what the hell, its going to be ridden!

 

[GT-Steve]

Nce to see some pics of the build on this one at last

I saw it in the flesh a few months ago and it looked really nice back then but I don't remember it being that bloody big :shock: :shock:

 

[Blindside]

hello steve mate! Yeah its about time i got the bike moving. Haha indeed i seem to be one of those garden gate riders people talk about
i did actually ponder on having it resprayed but regardless of the scratches and diy splatter in some areas i decided against it. Also on the lookout for a cheapo 8 speed cassette.
Tyre choice is still on my mind for this one, i quite like the idea of grey but after looking about is my only option umma gummas? Very pricey! Kenda do some in grey on ebay, are these just cheap tat? Also if anyone knows any other grey options please let me know

 

[the_duke]

I know michelin did some modern grey tyres with black sidewalls a couple of years back. You may find some of those on ebay at some point. They used to have them at CRC but dont think they do now.

The only others I can think of off the top of my head are Tioga Psycho's. Pretty steep price wise but maybe not quite as expensive as the UG I have seen.

Nice looking bike BTW! Think you are right about best laid plans and budgets! Goes out the window!