1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's in bits

[al-onestare]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

It's good to see the old Kona up and running again and when you say their was a lot of flexing on the frame when tightening qr skewer what part of the frame was it flexing at exactly as it seems to me that you've either got a fracture in the frame or a weld and my guess is that the issue is the weld has gone where the chainstay meets the bb on the drive side of the frame but hopefully i'm wrong and you've just imagined it's worse than it actually is .

I would suggest you get a friend or family member to flex the rear triangle while you check it over at the welds ..

Echo this strongly. Get your glasses out, and go over the rear of the frame carefully, especially on the welds. It sounds like you had a strong impact so it's very 'easy' for fractures to appear. In this regard, better to be safe than sorry is the mantra!

 

[Pipmeister]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain restomod - finished, p2

.....Anyway, I'm pleased to report that my commuter Fire Mountain is at last back in one piece with a new UN55 bb and rear wheel. (There was quite a bit of flex in the back of the frame when tightening the qr skewer - should I be worried?)
I like the silver wheel, goes well with the green.

The silver wheel that goes well with green; has it got a 130mm O.L.D. Hub? This would cause the frame to flex inwards when tightening the Q/R skewer, as the 1992 Fire Mountain will have 135mm Dropouts.

Pip.

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

Update time - it looks like the hub could well be 130mm. Can't see any cracks or anything in the stays but I'll double check when I've chance.

This bike is no end of problems :roll:

Now, I've decided the flatbar is no good for my neck or my lower back any more - rode the thing ten miles on Tuesday, and I've been aching ever since.
Got an On One Mary bar on the way from another forum member to try and sort this out - hope I don't have to re-cable to accomodate it. Cannily it'll appease my desire for a cruiser somewhat if it does work. If so I might get some wider slicks too - but that's all three of my bikes I'd want new tyres for, so if it ain't broke...
The new BB is nice and smooth but the rear mech is jumping gears every so often - what could cause that? Anything to do with a 7 speed freewheel and spacer on a 9 speed hub with an 8 speed mech? :roll:

 

[The History Man]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

Got some risers and city jets here.........

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

Hmmm, might be a better option that. I'll see if I can fit the Mary without re-cabling (doubt it somehow, likely just keep it in stock as I'd like an an s/s), and if not I'll PM you.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

I believe the spacing on the 7 speed cassette is slightly out with it being on the 9 speed hub or you might not have enough cable tension on the rear mech as i had a similar issue a wee while ago until i reset the cable tension from scratch ..

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

I suspected chainline to be honest, I'll just deal with it then.

This bike hates me. I'm not 100% sure how but my rear wheel is quite noticeably out of true, luckily it's not mangled like my last one, and I've not crashed again. Either got it from going over a fairly large bump (Manchester has terrible roads, hence wanting bigger tyres than 1.4), or from braking force (if that's even possible - had to lock up as someone pulled out on me yet again).
Going to assess the damage tomorrow and maybe switch to the Charge for a while if I can fix its chain tensioning issues.

In lighter news there was a slick tyred, modern drivetrained Muddy Fox Adventurer and a '97 Fire Mountain in the bike park when I went to lock up today. Always makes me smile seeing other retros out there.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

Well tbh the spacing shouldn't really be that much of a problem but if your hub size is a little narrower than the original then that just might the issue as for a buckled rear wheel well only a badly bent spindle would be enough to cause problems as it's the main axis for the freewheel and yeah! i'm quite aware of the nasty roads in Manchester as their no better than these roads down here in little ol Stockport ..

It would of been really cool if you'd got a couple of pics of the Fox n Fire as i hardly see anything retro in my neck of the woods unless i see it advertised on ebay ..

 

[Ghosty]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

I think it's partially because I'm perpetually using the big ring on the front - sometimes I look at the chain stationary and there's a visible kink where it joins the freewheel. Then if I set off sometimes it jumps to a smaller ring, only for the mech to twang it back up two, and then pull it down to its original place where it then settles. Weird.

I've wondered about doing a 'spotted' thread for a while! Might start one in the general forum when I have enough pictures.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1992 Fire Mountain commuter - it's back

It's just a thought but have you got the bb set up the right way round as i've made that mistake in my early years as a cyclist or maybe it's positioned to far over the driveside and yes their will be a bit of a kink in the chain if your ride mainly on the big chain wheel and the big sprocket alot ..

A spotted thread would be great as it will give a lot of members an idea of where certain retro bikes are and maybe a chance to meet some possible future members eh! ..