1991 Kona Cinder Cone - Refresh

[JCS]

I bought my Cinder Cone new in 1991. I worked several jobs to save up the money to buy it, and during the early years of ownership I upgraded a lot of the parts as I saved up more money. The frame, forks, stem and bars are standard. The rest is a mix of all sorts.
It has languished in the garage for several years, but now it is time for a makeover!
These pics show it in its 'garage' state, with various spots of corrosion and general wear & tear.
So what's the plan?
Overall I want to make this into a clean & tidy leisure bike for fun rides on cycle tracks. I want to use period parts where possible.

- Full strip down, de-crud and clean
- Remove rust from frame, fork & components
- Replace pedals, tyres, grips, saddle (the Flight is worn through)
- Change the stem & bars - likely for a shorter stem and riser bars

'New' old parts I would like to fit include:
- I need a new R/H bracket for my XT M732 shifter, as the retaining bolt has sheared
- Maybe change the Suntour crank & PACE chainrings for a Deore crankset

Thanks for looking!

 

[JCS]

Great bike

Can I ask why you want to replace xtr bits for lesser quality parts. Good stuff still just curious that's all.
Most people want to upgrade that's all.

Thanks
Good question! The XTR canti's are lovely but I think they are bit too Gucci for this bike/build. I got them when they were launched but I am open to swapping them for something else from around 1991. I'll see what comes up. The other thing with XTR's is the Shimano pads are very rare. I have Shimano pads on the front, but generic after-market pads on the rear. It doesn't feel (or look) right to put generic pads on XTR canti's (!)

 

[Magpiegifts]

That makes sense.

 

[JCS]

I found a pic of me riding this BITD.
This was a 30 mile ride for charity in 1993.
Orange top and Etto(?) helmet.
Power grips fitted to the pedals - I really liked those.

 

[retrobikeguy]

Is that picture outside the Marriott on tadcaster road in York?

I found a pic of me riding this BITD.
This was a 30 mile ride for charity in 1993.
Orange top and Etto(?) helmet!
Power grips fitted to the pedals - I really liked those.
View attachment 619081

 

[Spanky22b]

I'll be following this rebuild, love the early Konas.

 

[JCS]

Is that picture outside the Marriott on tadcaster road in York?

Yes! Wow, well spotted!

It was a big charity ride that started somewhere near the coast and finished on Tad Road.

 

[retrobikeguy]

Yes! Wow, well spotted!

It was a big charity ride that started somewhere near the coast and finished on Tad Road.

Thought it was, walk past there few times a week and thought..... I recognise that drainpipe configuration.

 

[prezza]

Thought it was, walk past there few times a week and thought..... I recognise that drainpipe configuration.

You guys must be members of the sister site…

‘Retropipe’

 

[JCS]

Over the last week I have been dismantling the bike, cleaning components and sorting out which components will be binned/sold/fixed up/kept.

I quick shout of appreciation the RetroBike community and the wealth of knowledge sharing. Over the last week I have connected with various members who have helped a lot with advice, parts and ideas for the build. A big shout out to @Tootyred @Matttymm @boy"O"boy @Biker Flegreo @scant @enc @Vinevo @rogerzilla @beeewu @FluffyChicken @joglo @retrobikeguy @Pobb74 @mk one amongst others. You all make this community what it is.

I have been reflecting this week on the life this bike has had. With classic cars, provenance is important and it's always interesting to know the history of a classic car. In car parlance, my Cinder Cone is a 'one owner from new' bike, but has had an eventful life and does not have 'Full Service History'

Some context; - I got interested in MTB's in 1987. Friends would bring in copies of MBUK, Mountain Biker and the Freewheel catalogue to school, which we would all pour over and day dream of buying premium bikes with the latest Deore XT groupset. None of us had the money for that, so we were riding budget bikes while dreaming of the designer bikes. I sold my Peugeot racing bike in 88 and bought a Peugeot MTB. Friends had things like base-spec Ridgeback's, Raleigh Marauder(?)s and if you were lucky you had a Raleigh Mirage.

After working various jobs (paper rounds, working in shops, McDonalds, etc) and saving every penny I bought my Cinder Cone new in summer
1991. I felt like I had won the lottery. I still remember the day very clearly!

The bike was caned from day 1. Ridden daily, off-road most weekends and a few races aswell. The spec changed constantly - we were always trading parts amongst friends and I upgraded parts when I had saved up the money.

One thing that struck me during the rebuild is how I prioritised my cycling budget BITD. 95% of the money went on components, maybe 3% on lubricants and 2% on tools. I think it was because we shared a lot of tools amongst mates, and also because we hung out in bike shops so often. Rather than spend 20 quid on BB spanners, use the spanners at the LBS and put that 20 quid towards the shiny new Ringle toy. My attitude now is different - I want the tools to go with the bike. I also want a proper bike stand for when I am working on it. But it's easy to say that now when I have more budget for that stuff. BITD the budget situation was a lot different.

OK, enough waffle, I'll sign off for now with a few 'period' shots from the bike:

Date stamped Project 2 fork (also has a 'SPINNER' stamp):



Original groupset was XC LTD:





Flite saddle: