2006 Kona Kula Primo -- scruffy rider

[moonlite]

This one epresents a bit of a change of thinking for me, brought about by a growing realisation that both my skills and resources are rather limited and the super-sano restorations I admire so much on these forums are beyond me -- at least for now. And also, my obsessions tend more toward riding than spending time on the tools, which makes me too impatient to create the brilliant results I see here.

Anyway, this frame came up on local Facebook Marketplace and I jumped on it because it was the right size (20") and, being scruffy, was affordable. I read some good reviews on the internet and decided that, as it's not a collectible, it should be built up as a lightweight XC bike, shabby but functional. And I'd use whatever parts I have in the hoard to get it there.

Below are details of the frame from the original ad.

 

[moonlite]

I thought lightness would be served by a 1x build using a nice Middleburn Uno crankset.

I also found a pair of similarly tatty-but-sound Mavic Crossmax SLR disc wheels to add to the build and mocked it up with some Fox forks, Thomson stem, XT 10-speed cassette and derailleur, Hope Minis, USE carbon seatpost and Flite SLR saddle.

 

[Mikey08]

Thats going to be a fast bike

Ive always had a soft spot for Kona hardtails and my last bike was year 2000 Kona Kula. It was surprisingly forgiving and not at all harsh, but still super responsive when pedaling.

 

[moonlite]

Thats going to be a fast bike

Ive always had a soft spot for Kona hardtails and my last bike was year 2000 Kona Kula. It was surprisingly forgiving and not at all harsh, but still super responsive when pedaling.

I hope so. Your comments echo what I've read online about the various Kula models. Still a way to go until it's rideable though.

 

[W7Ford]

Very nice! Love the Easton Kona frames.

 

[moonlite]

Very nice! Love the Easton Kona frames.

I didn't notice this at first but it's pretty cool.

 

[W7Ford]

Certified genuine tubing! Should be a really nice ride with the high spec parts. Kona always seem to make a decent frame but sometimes cost cutting to make them price competitive seems to impact the parts spec.

 

[moonlite]

Decided I didn't need squish up front and it would be much lighter with a rigid fork -- and carbon might provide a bit of damping for what's otherwise a rigid alu build.

Ordered a cheap but hopefully cheerful Chinese carbon fork online and ran into trouble fitting it -- asked for advice here.

Not only was the steerer too narrow externally for the crown race to fit properly, but the steerer walls were too thick for my nice Hope Head Doctor to fit. I messed around with the fork a bit more but couldn't find a way of fitting it safely -- online wisdom is firmly against fitting a star fangled nut so I put it aside for a while.

And then, amazingly, a Facebook seller here in Aus popped up with a very nice Pace RC31 at a reasonable price, so I jumped on it. Here's his pic from the ad.



I reckon this is a much better bet than the Chinese fork -- will take off the V-brake mounts (which are steel and of a kind I've never seen before) and see how it fits.

 

[Imlach]

Nice frame, good call on rigid fork. Shame about the Chinese fork there, the QC of them is atrocious sadly.

 

[Lacuna]

I agree that I wouldn't fit a star nut to a carbon steerer. However, I bought a second hand carbon rigid fork with one already fitted and rode it 4,500 miles without any problems. Only changed it because I managed to pick up an Enve MTN fork, which is unfortunately heavier and less comfortable!