Kona A'ha 1997

[al-onestare]

So, sort of impluse purchase This really has to be the last one in the stable as I have no room at the inn.

I really wanted a Kona Hot with the famous stars and bars livery. The chances of that happening and within a sensible price range are marginal. So imagine my surprise when I went through my usual searches and up popped a fairly decent looking A'ha frame, from the 1997 range - my absolute favourite year for Kona's - in 18".

Initally I was worried it would be too small, but after checking the geometry, it's pretty much a 19". The reach is the same, the stand-over height is slightly more.

A few messages later and a deal was agreed:

I pick it up in two weeks when I'm back from a week long work trip. As you can see it has the original cranks and chainring but not much else. Soooo, tips and recommendations for the build are VERY much appreciated. It'll be used on road, so semi-slicks are the forte - I'd like something fancy but that doesn't take over the beauty of the paintwork.

There appear to be very few on RB so if you have one or had one, how was it? What was your build? Any stories are welcome!

 

[Wienerwald]

Nice frame how about such a tyre, maybe grey?

http://schwalbe.de/gbl/en/produkte/tour ... rodukt=299

If it takes a 27.0 seatpost, I had one Race Light left

And don't worry about my Manomano, I'll take care that it goes into good hands, and there is a Plan B, too.

Mathias

 

[al-onestare]

Nice frame how about such a tyre, maybe grey?

http://schwalbe.de/gbl/en/produkte/tour ... rodukt=299

If it takes a 27.0 seatpost, I had one Race Light left

And don't worry about my Manomano, I'll take care that it goes into good hands, and there is a Plan B, too.

Mathias

Excellent news Mathias! If I could put a cheeky "dibs" on the seatpost that would be great

 

[Wienerwald]

Sure, I already sent you a picture

 

[al-onestare]

Sure, I already sent you a picture

Super cool - cheers!

Now onto A'ha tales...

 

[raidan73]

Lovely frame that, check out the Humu in my sig!

 

[al-onestare]

Very nice indeed! I can't wait to check out the livery in the flesh

 

[al-onestare]

So in preparation for picking this up on Wednesday, I'm now stuck with the challenge (!) of learning more about single speed.

I'm after recommendations for wheels, set up, what to look out for, what to avoid - all advice is good advice at this time. I notice in the catalogue it was a 18T freewheel, 40T front chain-ring - what's that like in reality? Pretty average? Slack?

In return for the advice I'll post up more pic's and generally make a mess of things for your enjoyment

 

[RustyGold]

Soooooooo looking forward to seeing this all buttoned up. It would look great with the aforementioned Schwalbe tires too, a performance-orientated cruiser vibe...tasty stuff - The A'Ha has to be one of my favourite Kona models, they're so stylin' .

 

[raidan73]

Will be watching this one closely as I plan on putting my Humu back to SS