1991 Kona Cinder Cone upgrades

[sweety]

Hi all, I have a Kona Cinder Cone which I bought new 19 years ago & now think it's time for a poss upgrade on some bits but not sure what to get.
Brakes: Well they have never been that great, would V brakes be a better option & if so which ones
Gears: It has the original Suntour XC LTD & the jocky wheels have now got a lot of play in them so am thinking of upgrading but can't remember what was higher up in the Suntour range or would I be better off swapping over to Shimano LX, DX, XT
Forks: The project 2's have always been great but have been thinking about a set of suspension forks, any recommendations on what to look at.
Lastly is the bike worth any thing these days or just it's weight in scrap :roll: as you can tell i've been away from bikes for a while but am getting back into it again
Anyway a pic of the old girl

 

[longun]

looks sweet bud and welcome

if it were mine i would replace the jockey wheels and cables,inners and outtas.this would mget the gears crisp again and would be cheaper tbh

brakes,id do the same as gears,replace the old cables,new pads and looking at the pics,lower the brake yoke a bit and re set the brakes and they should,with the righ angle and tension be as good as v's without the cost of new brakes and levers.

with the age of the bike it would feel really strange with modern forks with more than 80mm of travel,if your heart is set on suspension the best bet is a set of rock shox,indy up to judy xc or a set of pace rc35/6.these will be expensive tho as its a buyers market and they can get very sought after.i would keep the project 2;s personally .

a bike like this,looking good could fetch ok money,however it may only make little on ebay so my advise would be fix the minor things and ride it,youll re live the days gone by and itll still look amazing.if you do decide to sell,give us 1st refusals lol


hope this helps and dont be shy,retrobike is ferking ace,get on afew rides and chat bolx like the rest of us,ps its addictive

chris

 

[sweety]

It's always been a fantastic bike & cost more than my first car which I got the following year the car is prob a bean tin now
One problem i'm having is finding new cones for the back wheel as they are different sizes & quiet a bit shorter in length than the ones i've seen in my LBS

 

[longun]

put a wanted add on the wanted section,im sure someone will be able to help.failing that keep an eye out on ebay for them or bikes with similar wheels,good source of spares/funds as well

 

[rc200ti]

Hello sweety

I too have a 19 year old cinder cone, which was in exactly the same 'cinder gold' . It no longer is 'cos a respray was needed and matching the colour just never happened even when undertaken twice by a highly reputable builder. So look after that paint.
Yours looks to be pretty much original spec... surely the front tyre isn't an 'equilibrium'!! Mine got heavily used and upgraded as parts wore out.
The two changes that I really feel improved the way the cinder cone worked were a light strong wheelset on good hubs, and an Action Tech titanium bottom bracket. I couldn't believe how heavy the Suntour axle was. The rear hub went to xt, primarily because at the time Suntour virtually disappeared and spares became difficult to get hold of. The front hub became xc pro and is still sweet as anything. The rear mech was replaced with an xc pro, and the thumbshifters with xc pro also. No problems whatsoever with mixing shimano and suntour. I've been through various rear mechs and am now back with the original xc ltd which works perfectly, as does the original xc ltd front mech.
Cantis and levers went to Dia Compe 987s and SS7s, but the Suntour levers (which you still have) were made by Dia Compe anyway and worked just as well.
Personally I wouldn't change to Vs. Koolstops with cantis set up well have always managed to stop me and Vs just don't feel as nice through the levers in my opinion.
Project 2s are perfect for the cinder cone. OK you could try and source some triple butted, however going to suspension risks changing the geometry and loosing one of the most well balanced rigid rides of any day.
Sorry, I've rambled on here....but you have a great bike in what seems to be remarkably fine original condition. I can understand that you feel you want to freshen things up, so why not keep the Kona as is, and with the money you've saved build up another bike with different characteristics from the treasures to be found on this site

 

[sweety]

Yours looks to be pretty much original spec... surely the front tyre isn't an 'equilibrium'!!

Oh yes it is still got the original rear tyre aswell but it worn a bit but there is still life left in it I used to chop & change my tyres a lot depending on the conditions I was riding ie slicks for the road, the Kona tyres for gravel & the Specialized tyres I had can't remember their names but I ran 1.95 on the front & a 1.5 on the rear for muddy conditions as the chain stays didn't get clogged up & the 1.5 cut through the mud & gripped the under rock
New wheels might be the way to go as mine are a tad heavy any recommendations & which aren't silly money ?

 

[rc200ti]

Equilibrium.... amazing. I quickly changed the rear Propulsion to a Smoke (1.9), and then the front to a Dart (2.1). These are still my favourite combination for general wet weather stuff.
Post a request for advice on wheels, there's a staggering wealth of knowledge on this site that folks are happy to share.

Rob

 

[bertberr]

I think we should start a 19 year old Cinder Cone' thread...!!!

I too bought mine new in 1991, but ordered black, which although pretty cool at the time and I suppose through most of the 90's, I later regretted not ordering the Cinder Gold :cry:

Anyway, mine has done many thousands of miles both on & off road, and as such quite a few components have been replaced along the way including brakes (V's), RD (Deore LX), shifters (Deore DX thumbies), wheels (Campag Mirox, about to be swapped out for some newer & lighter Sun rims), stem (Syncros), post & saddle, tyres, new cables, couple of cassettes, new middle chainring, chains etc.

P2's were refurbed last year, and with the new decals are looking exactly as they were when I collected her that Spring day 19 years ago... hmmm lovely!

Frame will probably be done this winter, and I may also change the BB at the same time, not that there's any play in the original (I grease every couple of months), but I hear its a little on the lardy side.

So, as has already been said, I would sort the brakes / cables, perhaps stick a lighter wheelset on, new lighter BB if there's any play, and then just get riding again

 

[sweety]

Found I had very slight play in the BB but after a small adjustment it's spot on again like yourself the BB has been regularly greased throughout it's life & the same with the other bearings & used CV joint grease as I used to be a mechanic & had loads of it :roll: but I think it's payed off as the bearings are still pretty good all these years later