1991 Kona Lavadome project

[majoreyeswater]

Hi all.

I need your advice before putting in an offer on an old bike!

I have been offered this 1992 Purple Kona Lavadome in near original condition. I have yet to make an offer! Is it worth it and what do you think might be a realistic price. I haven't seen it in the flesh yet. I am looking for a rigid/hardtail project to run alongside my LTS 2000 if the price is right

I value your opinion. Cheers folks.

 

[Anthony]

It's a 1991 model, but I guess that doesn't really matter. Looks like a size 18, so it' obviously quite important whether that fits you. And it's purple, which is an issue that divides communities.

These earlyish Konas don't really fetch very much, but it's difficult to answer this kind of question really - most important is the condition of the parts. If you want an original-condition 1991 Lava Dome and the parts on this one are worn out, it could be quite an issue replacing them.

I suppose you could offer him £75, but in general I would forget its eBay value. Just think how much would it worth to me as a working bike that I would like to own (=X) and how much would it cost to get it into that state (=Y) and offer him X-Y.

I think a 1991 Lava Dome is quite a cool bike to own, especially if you affect to have had it since 1991. It's not really valuable enough for anybody to go out of their way to steal it, so you could chain it to the railings outside your work. And yet it has a definite street cred.

 

[majoreyeswater]

Thanks for the reply.

I like the idea of an early Kona as i've always wanted one and this one has been, from what I can gather, loved by one owner from new! I want to do the bike justice and even though it wouldn't be worth a great deal, I think it deserves a complete revamp.

I don't intend to keep the Kona absolutely factory spec but try to keep it period, if you know where i'm coming from! Incidentally, I also have the chance to buy a '97 ish Kona Kula frame/forks as well but might bring that more up to date. Possibly, may be ???????

Anyway, cheers for the advice and when the bike is mine I will be asking for loads of further advice.

Steve.

 

[majoreyeswater]

Right, i've dived in and joined the Kona club! Bought the Kona Lavadome today so want to know how original it is. I know it's purple and not to everyone's taste but I like it. Bought it from a very nice guy who has had it from new, so plenty of genuine history comes with it

I think that I will try to keep it as true to its year of manufacture as possible so will need lots of help with parts etc. There is a little rust which will need sorting and maybe a paint job. Early days yet so please, if you guys can, please point me in the right direction with this project!

Cheers for now, Steve.

 

[gray]

love it!

The rust on the P2s is impressive

looks stock and period, mix of dx and 500lx

clean + amber walls and you are there

 

[mattbrown]

the front canti's arent original, thats for certain

 

[Anthony]

The first direction to point you in is here
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=91861
Surprisingly close in a way, but then many of the electorate aren’t the first word in cool as the word applies on the street. I think it’s fairly clear that, in the real world, ambling around on an early Lava Dome is cool enough.

If you want to keep it original, the specs are here
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/gallery2/mai ... ewsIndex=1

I don’t think those funny grips are original, but I can’t really see much of the kit. The main candidates for respraying seem to be the P2s and the Velocity. It would be a shame to lose the decals though. I suggest checking with Gil_M on here whether he sells replacements. If not, photograph them carefully and he may be able to make some for you. The frame seems well above average and the paint looks as though it just needs tlc with Kurust where needed.

People lust over bling components, but I often think the main things to get a bike like that working well are to clean it and give it new cables, new brake blocks, probably a new chain and plenty of oil and grease.

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

I think some of the gunge is even original from 1992

G

 

[coomber]

Agree with Anthony, if you give it a real proper clean and degrease that old stuff on it, then regrease and oil everything and use new cables it should look tidy. Frame itself looks great, maybe a t cut and it should come out properly nice.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Clean the frame up, from what I see it's not bad.

Clean the forks and if needed strip the paint

Take the chainset apart and white spirit clean it, then dishwasher it. Look if the teeth are worn, it's quite hard in that thick grime. Same procedure with the cassette btw works very well.

True up the wheels if needed.

Get new brake blocks and gear and brake cables.

DX front and rear mech look good, tighten what you can up if needed.

Brakes themselves ? cannot really tell.


If so, I personally would buy a better chainset. I would also personally upgrade the brakes and shifters to something higher, DX or XT (XT would be easier to get hold of from what I've seen on sale).

New decals will set you back around £20 and replica's are either from Gil-m if no luck there there are the 1991 one's on ebay I think. Might not be worth it.
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=Kona ... =0&bkBtn=1 may be able to change the model name and make some of the others. Gil may be better though as he is RetroBike and very much trusted