2006 Kona Kula Primo -- scruffy rider

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!
That's interesting! I did try it because the steerer was so goddam thick-walled and I thought it may be robust enough to be safe with the star nut, but online wisdom was pretty unanimous that it was a bad idea so set it aside.
 
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Update: quite a lot of faffing around and changing stuff out. Below is what the machine is looking like right now, which is approaching a settled configuration.

The forks have had the aftermarket v-brake mounts removed, as well as the stickers put on by the previous owner. Their inclusion rather elevates the general class of the bike, I think, and will probably improve its handling over previous options.

The Thomson stem I mentioned before has since been repurposed to service on the 99 Explosif, but I had this gold Tune item sitting idle -- a purchase in my early time on here from @Magpiegifts which I got because . . . well . . . I'd never seen one and realised it wasn't expensive. I'm not a fan of gold but there it is -- and it doesn't look too bad with the red/cream frame. Also, as you'll see, being too fussy about colour coordination isn't going to work with this build and as it's a rider, that's going to have to be fine.

Similarly, the Middleburn cranks had to go because I couldn't locate the right bottom bracket in short order -- but luckily there happened to be a slightly scruffy XTR M970 crankset available on local Facebook Marketplace. Ebay yielded a 38t dropstop chainring, unfortunately only in blue, but see comments above about colour coordination. Red, cream, gold and blue . . . not the end of the world, right?

For a while I toyed with some second-hand Avid Ultimate disc brakes which had the requisite lightness and were in good nick. And they were both fully working, so no need to bleed them. But when I was tightening one of the levers up, the mount broke -- and I was hardly torquing it at all, I swear, your honour. With lightness comes fragility, I guess. So then I spent days messing around with super-hard putty to fix and reinforce the mount, but I wasn't happy with that and regretfully consigned them back to the spares box.

That meant reverting to the Hope Minis I have in the same box. These are tattier and need bleeding, if not new hoses. And the sharp-eyed will notice that my rotors are mismatched -- but that's what's available at the moment so on they go. The banjo on the front one is at a slightly odd angle so the hose is routed inside the fork. It's currently secured with unsightly zip ties so will need to find a better way once it's all up and running.

And of course, the rotor bolts are blue -- the choice was that or orange, so at least these match the chainring . . .

Next -- bleeding those brakes. I'm told Hopes are quite easy to bleed and I have most of the ingredients. Will update in due course.

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Update: quite a lot of faffing around and changing stuff out. Below is what the machine is looking like right now, which is approaching a settled configuration.

The forks have had the aftermarket v-brake mounts removed, as well as the stickers put on by the previous owner. Their inclusion rather elevates the general class of the bike, I think, and will probably improve its handling over previous options.

The Thomson stem I mentioned before has since been repurposed to service on the 99 Explosif, but I had this gold Tune item sitting idle -- a purchase in my early time on here from @Magpiegifts which I got because . . . well . . . I'd never seen one and realised it wasn't expensive. I'm not a fan of gold but there it is -- and it doesn't look too bad with the red/cream frame. Also, as you'll see, being too fussy about colour coordination isn't going to work with this build and as it's a rider, that's going to have to be fine.

Similarly, the Middleburn cranks had to go because I couldn't locate the right bottom bracket in short order -- but luckily there happened to be a slightly scruffy XTR M970 crankset available on local Facebook Marketplace. Ebay yielded a 38t dropstop chainring, unfortunately only in blue, but see comments above about colour coordination. Red, cream, gold and blue . . . not the end of the world, right?

For a while I toyed with some second-hand Avid Ultimate disc brakes which had the requisite lightness and were in good nick. And they were both fully working, so no need to bleed them. But when I was tightening one of the levers up, the mount broke -- and I was hardly torquing it at all, I swear, your honour. With lightness comes fragility, I guess. So then I spent days messing around with super-hard putty to fix and reinforce the mount, but I wasn't happy with that and regretfully consigned them back to the spares box.

That meant reverting to the Hope Minis I have in the same box. These are tattier and need bleeding, if not new hoses. And the sharp-eyed will notice that my rotors are mismatched -- but that's what's available at the moment so on they go. The banjo on the front one is at a slightly odd angle so the hose is routed inside the fork. It's currently secured with unsightly zip ties so will need to find a better way once it's all up and running.

And of course, the rotor bolts are blue -- the choice was that or orange, so at least these match the chainring . . .

Next -- bleeding those brakes. I'm told Hopes are quite easy to bleed and I have most of the ingredients. Will update in due course.

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It is perfect. I think the colour combination works without a shred of a doubt. Gold and red, ace. The slightly worn faded blue of the chainring is super inoffensive to the eye. The exposed steerer is a delicious touch. Beautiful, brother.
 
Spent a chunk of the weekend "learning by doing" with the Hope Mini brakes I decided to fit to this build.

Starting with a standard bleed of the front system, I ended up having to dismantle the caliper entirely to free a stuck piston -- which then wouldn't retract again. Much fiddling, including reassembly, re-bleeding, disassembly, etc. and the front is working nicely. It could do with a straight connector rather than the current 90-degree one but for now it's functioning so will postpone messing with it any further.

The rear caliper revealed a whole new issue which I'm still trying to work out. When bleeding, the DOT 5.1 started leaking out of the junction of the hose and caliper. When I removed the shroud, the brass olive fell out of its own accord, which shouldn't happen as far as I can see -- I think it's meant to be tightly wedged in the hose at where it links with the caliper body. Still trying to work out what's going on there. Any expert input gratefully received!

And while I'm at it, the hose for this one is pretty tired, with one kink that doesn't look healthy, so will probably need to replace that first. Ebay here we go . . .

And then there's an issue at the lever end: the lever won't return when depressed, so presumably the spring's buggered and/or the piston seized. More disassembly and exploration ahoy.

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I had the same issue with a 2007 Mini Lever. Bought a lever re-build kit and followed this video:

Excellent -- thanks very much! I've had a look at the exploded diagram from the Hope website and popped out for some cheapo circlip pliers this afternoon, so will watch the video and have a go at stripping it down tomorrow.
 
Well I think one firm conclusion to be drawn from this process is that when it comes to buying second-hand gear on the cheap, hydraulic discs are likely to be a false economy.

While the Hope Minis were a bargain, getting them working again has now required the purchase of: circlip pliers, new 5mm hose, a bottle of DOT5.1 fluid, and possibly new rotors. Second-hand parts required include a new master cylinder piston, springs and seal. I will try to re-use as many of the other seals and O-rings as possible and thankfully, have carted a bunch of new pads around the world for the last 15 years which will be fitted.

Overall, though, buying all these bits and spending so much time messing around with the brakes has changed their 'bargain' status to 'expensive waste of riding time'! I'd hoped to be campaigning this bike around the local dirt roads weeks ago . . . <sigh>
 
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