A'HA!!! It's a 1997 Kona Cruiser...

[jimo746]

So there I was, just browsing the local marketplace ads , quite happy with the bikes I have at the moment, not really looking for another, and really no space to keep any more.... and up pops a '97 Kona A'HA "Stars & Bars" frame 10minutes drive away....

.... Needless to say my unconscious brain made the decision for me before my concious brain could object doh!!

It is the 20" frame size, with it's share of paint chips and scratches, and the open wound where disc tabs have been brazed on.
I wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, but as I plan on actually riding this thing I decided it gave me more options at least.
Chatting with the seller he was saying how he was into his Klunkers, and had got a frame builder in Glasgow to braze on the disc tabs and re-space the rear end to fit a standard 135mm mtb rear wheel in there. Perfect!
The frame came with some rather heavy BMX cranks, the seat & Kona seatpost, Hope seat qr, and some bars and BMX style stem.

I had an hour after work this evening so gave the frame a quick clean, removed the BMX bottom bracket bearings, and fitted a threaded bottom bracket adapter that came with the frame. I've also test fitted a rear brake caliper with a 27.5" wheel in there, and all seems ok, just enough clearance with the 1.9 tyre, but as yet I'm undecided on disc or rim brakes.

Sellers pic of the frame ...

 

[jimo746]

Sneaked out for another hour after dinner .
Just need to cable up the brakes & adjust them, and throw on a chain.

It's not a pretty build, I basically stripped down my Cove mtb/Gravel bike single-speed hash up and transferred over the fork, brakes, cranks, and wheels.
I've fitted the Stem & bars that came with the frame, but they're heavy!!
This is just to get it up and running quickly.

I was quite impressed with the bottom bracket adapter, made sure to Loctite the 4 bolts holding it together...

 

[jimo746]

Gah!!! Searched my bag of cables but could only find 1 mtb brake inner, so I'll have to go and buy one tomorrow, oodles of gear cables and road brake cables though!

Will need a couple of rides to figure the position out, initial thoughts are that some bmx bars might be nice up front, and ideally some steel disc forks.

I'm not sold on the 27.5" wheels, I have a 26" rear Mavic wheel with a nice "clicky" Tune hub, and a matching rim for the front, but no hub yet... hmmm....

I'm tempted to go with black components on this as it's more of a Retro-Mod really, the more Classic take seems to be rim brakes and silver components .

 

[iveto1983]

It looks good, particularly for such a fast build. I’ve got an 18” A’ha that I built up a few weeks ago. If you don’t mind, I’ll add a pic of it tomorrow. It’s a bit more retro than yours, still has the 110 spacing and cantis with a Z2 fork.

 

[jimo746]

Yeah that'd be cool, would be interesting to see what you've done with it .
like I said, mine is just parts from another bike thrown onto it for now to make it rideable.
The reason I've gone with discs (for now) is because it had a disc mount on the frame already, and the only fork I had that would fit is disc only. I actually have a P2 fork but the steerer is way too short unfortunately, this 20" frame has a long head tube!
Doing a little Googling today and there seems to be a fair few modern Klunker/Cruiser bikes out there with 650b wheels & disc brakes, so I'll have to ride it for a while and decide if I want discs or V-brakes, as that will determine what other parts I swap out and n the future.

 

[albash82]

You lucky sod. 20" Kona A'ha. Heck. You lucky, lucky....
Dibs if you ever...

 

[iveto1983]

They made a good job of the disc mount, and the damage to the paint isn’t too extensive.
This is my 3rd cruiser. I also have a 90s Indy Fab and a new Stooge Dirtbomb (current supply chain issues mean I’ve had it since April but am waiting on a few parts to build it though…)

 

[jimo746]

I like that ^^^. Can I ask what bars those are?

The disc mount seems ok, it all lines up and I was able to fit the brake caliper without issue.
I'll see if I can get some spray paint matched as close as possible and make it look a little less obvious.

 

[iveto1983]

Thanks. I think the tyres look a bit puny but am otherwise very happy with it.
They’re motorbike “scrambler” bars. Specifically these ones from eBay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scramble...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0I was going to buy some Nitto 708 or 728 but they’re much more expensive. What stem are you using? I’m using a Thomson bmx stem so needed some 22.2 bars. These bars are 800mm wide but I’ve chopped them down to 700.

 

[jimo746]

Ahhh... Bars are reasonably priced too, I think I'll try some of those and see how I get on with them, thanks for the link.
The stem + bars came with the frame, it's a 22.2mm BMX stem, I've seen the Thomson stem, that will probably be an upgrade at some point in the future