1997 Kona A'ha Cruiser

[DM]

Might as well post one of mine... with big thanks to Clive (for selling it to me).

2.0 Big Apples; Brooks B17 saddle; DMR pedals; S&M Cruiser BMX bars; BMX stem; Oury grips; Curve cantis; Random road cranks; Sealed BMX BB with adjustable chainline.

Currently has a fluted Campag Record crank (not shown). Soon to have Profile 3-piece cranks & chainwheel. That will correct the silly gearing

 

[bduc61]

schwinn corvette frame & fork

love it

would not mind finding a similar one as my schwinn quest in Europe is for the moment fruitless :?

 

[DM]

Thanks!

Yeah, finding old Schwinns in Europe is difficult.
And shipping them from the U.S. is $$$$.

You can find NEW (Taiwan) Schwinns quite easily in Europe, but they're not very good
- a Kona cruiser would be a better choice.

 

[randombadger69]

Nice ride dude, There was one at the shop I now work at for years.. always wanted it, but could never afford it being a school kid at the time

 

[DM]

Nice ride dude, There was one at the shop I now work at for years.. always wanted it, but could never afford it being a school kid at the time

Cheers!
Yeah, I had a Humu for years, but always wanted the A'ha too.
They appear on Ebay sometimes. But usually missing the original 3-piece crank and with weird/ junk components. I missed a few frames/ bikes before I found this one.

I'll strip the pedals back to silver and the plan is to build it to look like an early Cook Bros BMX cruiser/ late Klunker crossover. Using stuff that has been in production for years and so could fit in any era - Profile cranks, DX style pedals, Oury grips, Brooks, Comp III tires etc. etc. That's the plan, anyway.

Some nice examples of the "real thing" (Cooks 3-bar cruisers) here:
http://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/cooks_brothers/
(OK, I know the Cook Bros cruiser was itself a retro remake of much older bikes, but I'm going for a bit of 70s/80s BMX inspiration)

 

[randombadger69]

Some sweet rides there dude! Loving that chromed 1980 Cook Bros. 26" cruiser, sweet as! Does it have a profile in Infernon chainring?!! Yum

 

[mynchiboy]

That's really nice

Loving the big apples too, great tyres and very comfy to ride on all day! We use these on the freight bikes

 

[DM]

Update:

I fitted the Campagnolo crank & managed to get a good chainline, thanks to the adjustable Primo bottom bracket. It worked well and looked good with the Suntour beartrap pedals.

...but it wasn't the look I wanted for the A'ha. So I will shift the crank and pedals onto my dark blue 1995 Humu, as that has a more classic look than the Stars & Bars Aha. (I have the correct Campagnolo dust caps, but the inner chainring tabs will stay - I'm not about to take a grinder to a Strada crank just for the sake of a cruiser project).

So I tried the Profile crank, BB and chainring. With blue DMR pedals. Much better!
Leaning up against the 2005 disk brake Humu Deluxe, the riding position is very similar.

But the grey P2 fork on this one always gave a slack, "kicked-out" look that I wasn't keen on. So onto the NOS Sunn BMiX forks!

The pictures were taken before I fitted the fork crown race, brakes and chain, but the Sunn fork has a much shorter axle-to-crown length that makes all the frame angles slightly steeper.

The steering is a lot quicker and it's much easier to do stoppies. Not so much a relaxed "cruiser" any more
And the fork crown is much closer to the front tire, so it also loses that "gappy" look.

That's all for now.