1994 Kona Lava Dome - A Modern Classic?

[SouthCoastRetro]

Re:

Great bikes! Absolutely adored mine, was an insurance replacement. Adored the ride and threw pretty much all of my money at it, buying all the bits and bobs I could! Best riding bike ever.

Got me thinking about a retromod one now!

 

[dvatcmark]

Its in the loft at the moment in bits, been meaning to get it reassembled and back on the road for the summer but haven't found the time yet.

It'll happen soon, and those reba forks will be resprayed in a champagne colour with custom decals made to imitate a 95 Judy xc.

I was going to have the disc mount brazed on by Mercian, but the cost and damage to the paint isn't worth it in my opinion so.I'm sticking with the adapter.

 

[lankshear1976]

I thought it was about time I posted up one of my bikes, so here it is my 1994 Lava Dome. I know this won't be to everybodys tastes due to the modern parts.

Here's the deatils of the build so far

Frame - 94 Lava Dome
Fork - 2005 Reba @ 80mm
Headset - Cane Creeks S3
Stem - Raceface Evolve XC
Bar - Raceface Evolve XC
Seatpost - Raceface Next SL
Seat - Charge Spoon
Brakes - Shimano XT 765
Chainset - Raceface Evolve XC
Shifters - Deore
Front mech - STX (only original part left!)
Rear mech - XT
Wheels - Hope XC Hubs, Stans Olymipic Rims
Tyres - Maxxis Crossmark running tubeless.

I know the rear mech looks horrible on the frame, this is something I'll change soon, just not sure what to yet.

My only other idea is to respray the Rebas in the same colour as a 95 Judy XC and make up some replica decals but saying Reba rather than Judy. Just not sure if the black crown will suit this, I'v got a spare set of lowers so might just have a go anyhow.

My reason for mondenising the frame is mainly out of interest as I was interested to see how well the old Konas would ride with a good fork and brakes that actually work well and reliabily!

I have run this frame with P2s, Judys, cantis, Vs in all kinds of combinations and on one hand prefer it as it's in keeping with the frames age, but on the other hand don't like it as mich as its no where near as quick off road comared to how it is now. So for the time being its staying like this.

Thoughts / comment?

 

[saint.vince]

Hi, that looks cool and just as well as I'm looking to do something similar to my 94 lava dome. A shoulder injury is necessitating front suspension. I have bought the forks (RockShox Recon Silver TK Solo Air) which are 100mm but could be spaced to 80mm if need be. I'd like to know how you decided on the headset (I see there are different stacks +5 for S3) and stem length and what the effect of handling was.