Kona Caldera 1997

[al-onestare]

Hi All
Another Caldera this one’s KO9610032
Built this up whilst in The UK 1997
Residing in Australia since
View attachment 743824

Woah there! Thank you for sharing this. If you could share a SN picture that would be amazing, because the KO prefix indicates the very last run Altitude made. The only other one we have on record was #31. In total, we now have 11 confirmed (12 unconfirmed) 1997 Calderas

 

[Nathan99]

View attachment 744016Caldera SN 97 Caldera SN
I’m about to rebuild after just managing to service and rebuild bombers and now considering a full respray and decal match, would really appreciate any thoughts/advice ?
Cheers Nathan
Great work on the Caldera story

 

[al-onestare]

View attachment 744016Caldera SN View attachment 74401997 Caldera SN
I’m about to rebuild after just managing to service and rebuild bombers and now considering a full respray and decal match, would really appreciate any thoughts/advice ?
Cheers Nathan
Great work on the Caldera story

Awesome thanks!

It's your bike but since you asked, I very strongly recommend leaving the paint and decals alone. It's only original once.

May I also ask the size? It's tricky to judge from the angle, so I had thought 18" but it might be 19". If you could measure the full length of the seat-tube from the very bottom to the very top that'd be wonderful.

 

[Nathan99]

Awesome thanks!

It's your bike but since you asked, I very strongly recommend leaving the paint and decals alone. It's only original once.

May I also ask the size? It's tricky to judge from the angle, so I had thought 18" but it might be 19". If you could measure the full length of the seat-tube from the very bottom to the very top that'd be wonderful.

Awesome thanks!

It's your bike but since you asked, I very strongly recommend leaving the paint and decals alone. It's only original once.

May I also ask the size? It's tricky to judge from the angle, so I had thought 18" but it might be 19". If you could measure the full length of the seat-tube from the very bottom to the very top that'd be wonderful.

Frame size comes in as 19”
Original once

 

[al-onestare]

Lovely - cheers!

 

[maxwellllll]

Question for you unicorn Caldera folks. I might be hunting for a new wheelset. I'm interested in "modernizing" and going tubeless. I still have the original wheels, which I'm thinking are likely too dinged up for a successful DIY conversion to tubeless. Anyone know of any readily available, 26", V-brake-friendly, tubeless-ready wheelsets? (I'm in the USA, FYI)

While I'm here and in day-dream mode, and with the understanding that it's likely considered totally antithetical to the retrobike ethos, I'm nevertheless curious: is it feasible to set 90's MTBs up as 1x10 (or x11)? (I'll remind you--I'm not a true gearhead and am much more of a "tinkerer." I've already enlisted an LBS to assist me with things I either don't understand or don't have the tools for.)

 

[shedobits]

Welcome to the site. Many rim brake wheels can be set up tubeless, You Tube is your best friend there for detailed how to.
You don't say how old your Kona is, if it has a 7 speed cassette then a 10 or 11 speed cassette won't fit so your replacement wheel must be able to accept a 9 speed cassette at least. After that it is very easy to convert to 1X.
Good luck and Oh we love pictures of Konas here.

 

[maxwellllll]

Heh--I'm a unicorn owner. Info is here. So it sounds like the "easiest" thing to do, if I wanted to go that route would be picking up something like a Deore 5100 groupset. If I really do get this thing cleaned up and trail-ready again, I promise plenty of pictures!

 

[DULLJAKE]

View attachment 744016Caldera SN View attachment 74401997 Caldera SN
I’m about to rebuild after just managing to service and rebuild bombers and now considering a full respray and decal match, would really appreciate any thoughts/advice ?
Cheers Nathan
Great work on the Caldera story

Don't respray. Leave her original!!!!
.