1994 Kona Fire Mountain restoration project.

[Relliott6879]

Update time. Aside from fixing all the dead Photobucket links in this thread with Flickr replacements, I've taken a trip back to the UK and collected all the stuff I've been accumulating.

First up was the nubuck Selle San Marco Regal saddle that I brought back with me in my suitcase. A bit 'Marmite' and I imagine some will think it looks awful, but I love it.

Fast forward a couple of days and the bumper parcel of goodies I posted to myself from the UK arrived. A metal-working friend of mine polished up my 730 XT cranks for the princely sum of 'some cider' and I couldn't be happier with how they've come out. I tried doing this myself with an old pair of 300LX cranks and a polishing wheel in the school CDT classroom, but the results were pretty pants. 25 years down the line and I finally get my shiny cranks! The 14mm crank bolts are only temporary, I have some allen bolts on order.

Smoke & Dart tyres were another 'always wanted some' purchase (anyone noticing a theme here? ). The bike is almost finished now, just waiting on a couple of minor items arriving in the post.

 

[TSC.]

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That's bloody stunning!

 

[redzephyr]

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Nice Job, looks fantastic.

 

[ajm]

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Great job, and those Maguras will fix the only major shortcoming of these bikes. Sadly mine is about to be retired after 22 years of use and abuse, as I'm awaiting delivery of a much more modern Rocky Mountain - it's only 15 years old!

Maybe I'll be inspired to do something similar to what you've done, although I think mine has suffered just a bit too much from rust to make it worth doing.

 

[magas]

what a lovely bike - glad you kept the original colour scheme - in my opinion, that's one of the best colours in the 94 Kona range

 

[Relliott6879]

Finally called time on this and got it out for a ride. I had a 'false start' a couple of weeks ago when the first time I swung a leg over it I immediately realised the cassette was goosed, with the chain skipping at even the lightest of pedal pressure in all but the largest and smallest sprockets. I solved it by ordering up a new 12-28 HG50 (I was amazed to find them still in production, to be honest) from Wiggle and all was good - retro originality is one thing, but I need the bike to be rideable. Short of stumping up drug money for the occasional NOS HG70s that pop up, this was the next best thing.

Anyway, the ride. This was the very first time I'd ridden the bike, I didn't even treat myself to a spin up and down the street on purchase day before I started stripping it. The fit and feel of this bike was instantly familiar, it felt like 'coming home' if that's not too soppy a sentiment, and the bond was immediate.

I have a couple of very minor bits to do, namely titanium bottle cage bolts (I bought some but ordered the wrong size!), 8mm allen bolts for the cranks and Hope bar end plugs, but to all intents and purposes she's done.

 

[Dare]

Wow, this really does look great, I hope it rides just as great too
And I must say, lovely place to ride it in too

 

[jimo746]

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That's an Absolute classic, and great to see it being ridden, looks like you have the right weather for riding just now

 

[Relliott6879]

Thanks for the kind words, folks. She's been a labour of love but now I get to reap the benefits; she was always intended to be a rider, so ride her I will!

The next project is already underway...

 

[ScooterPie]

Your Kona came out killer!

Sweet bike! Very nice job!

One just popped up for sale in my area... and doing a little research led me to your page here which is cool as I am a Retrobike member myself I hope to join you on team Kona. It appears to be the same year, color, and size as yours? If I get it, I won't create the masterpiece you did, but I hope to get it trail worthy.