Osella
Senior Retro Guru
So, having had a desire to get a Green bike built for a couple of years, and after slowly collecting all the appropriate parts over the past 18 months..
After the failure of a potential Green Voodoo Erzulie, I ended up getting bored of the project and shelving it; then on deciding that the parts were taking up room in storage, needed using and would look good on a black frame, I bought myself a VERY light On-One Scandal frame earlier in the year, and put it all together on that. However...
For some reason I just didn't get on with the Scandal, I could never quite get the riding position right & it just felt very crashy. And for a frame weighing 1.58 Kg it actually felt very dead and heavy. I already have a couple of other Alu frames, so I wasn't worried about ANother lightweight hardtail, and just kept thinking back to how much fun my 853 Raleigh RSP is!
The whole aim of the project was to put something together which would be taking visual inspiration from the old 60's/70's American Muscle Car Candy Apple Green cars. Something which just grabs your eyeballs & won't let go :mrgreen:
After some rooting around, and trying to find something which a) was a decent light-ish frame, b) with a similar ride / proportions to the RSP and the Voodoo and c) was Green, (or in need of a repaint...) and preferably d) Disc-compatible, I was browsing the forums one day and found a metallic Green 16" Explosif (the very smallest size frame I can ride on a 400mm post - but does make it very chuckable!) from Ruben in Holland in VERY good condition, with swappable droputs! Discs ahoy!
Even better, a decent-quality, steel Kona - perfect match for the handling and not a tank with a bit of luck! Even better, the decals are a match for other component choices
Now, I know that these particular Konas are to no-one's taste.. but in that respect, who cares - it's mine now!! :twisted:
Two weeks later, and last Friday I picked up - my Explosif! (also my first Kona.. )
And set to work..
All of the components bar the headset I already had.
But that headset!!
I have yet to find a good set of Green forks. It's a possibility but for now it's Metallic Blue 80mm SID Races - Fantastic and reliable forks. Grey Schwalbe tyres in the right type & condition took a while to source. Next to useless in wet mud, but good in everything else.
Mocking up steerer & seatpost length.. Have a couple of spacers on top at the moment, but loathe to cut the steerer in case the forks are required anywhere else! Troy Lee Flite saddle was a real find! Love those eyeballs.. :shock: Still don't like the shade of the bottle cage, but it will do until I can find something more appropriate.
Fitting stem & bars. Managed to grab a Hope team green stem to (supposedly) match the team green skewers & compliment the brakes - but it appears to be a slightly more yellow shade than the skewers, so may see if I can change for a 90mm, it all depends whether the steering feels a bit slow. Bars are Blackspire and match the wheels, seatpost & pedals - nice & wide!
The metallic green cable outers are a bit of an extravagance! But love them too! One problem was the continuous cable routing of the On-One didn't really help on the Kona... Nor did a lack of brake-hose clips.. :x Eventually bodged a fix slightly by clipping in the hose and then clipping the front mech cable to the brake hose. Hose is braided and then coated, and the green gear cable outers are brake outers by design, so will stand up to it - as well as weather and the general abuse of time!
A better idea of the matchup of grips to tyres & decals, and wheels, bars, seatpost, saddle & the effect of almost everything being metallic/pearlescent in some way!
It needs a wash & polish up - & I do need some sunlight (which has been impossible to find since Saturday!) to really show off the paintwork & the metallics..
The somewhat mish-mash of colours may not be to all tastes, however with all of the metal Green components being metallic green there is no consistent colour/shade in any case, and the overall effect is quite substantially psychedelic - which was the entire point! The depth of the blue in the forks I find actually compliments the shade of the frame as well, which I like. Also a bonus was the Grey of the decals being an exact match for the Schwalbe tyres and grips all being in Grey.
Needs a bit of a tidy up on the brake hose, purely functional for now, but rideable nonetheless.. In need of a tweak here & there and some adjustments to the fork pressures, but the main problem is the shorter stays giving too much chain slack now (either that or I simply didn't notice it before on the black frame!). So an excuse to swap out the mech for a long-cage, rather than just using what I had previously. Ah well, needs must! :xmas-cool:
Can't wait until the trees get some leaves back & I can take it into the woods and get lost in the green.
After the failure of a potential Green Voodoo Erzulie, I ended up getting bored of the project and shelving it; then on deciding that the parts were taking up room in storage, needed using and would look good on a black frame, I bought myself a VERY light On-One Scandal frame earlier in the year, and put it all together on that. However...
For some reason I just didn't get on with the Scandal, I could never quite get the riding position right & it just felt very crashy. And for a frame weighing 1.58 Kg it actually felt very dead and heavy. I already have a couple of other Alu frames, so I wasn't worried about ANother lightweight hardtail, and just kept thinking back to how much fun my 853 Raleigh RSP is!
The whole aim of the project was to put something together which would be taking visual inspiration from the old 60's/70's American Muscle Car Candy Apple Green cars. Something which just grabs your eyeballs & won't let go :mrgreen:
After some rooting around, and trying to find something which a) was a decent light-ish frame, b) with a similar ride / proportions to the RSP and the Voodoo and c) was Green, (or in need of a repaint...) and preferably d) Disc-compatible, I was browsing the forums one day and found a metallic Green 16" Explosif (the very smallest size frame I can ride on a 400mm post - but does make it very chuckable!) from Ruben in Holland in VERY good condition, with swappable droputs! Discs ahoy!
Even better, a decent-quality, steel Kona - perfect match for the handling and not a tank with a bit of luck! Even better, the decals are a match for other component choices
Now, I know that these particular Konas are to no-one's taste.. but in that respect, who cares - it's mine now!! :twisted:
Two weeks later, and last Friday I picked up - my Explosif! (also my first Kona.. )
And set to work..
All of the components bar the headset I already had.
But that headset!!
I have yet to find a good set of Green forks. It's a possibility but for now it's Metallic Blue 80mm SID Races - Fantastic and reliable forks. Grey Schwalbe tyres in the right type & condition took a while to source. Next to useless in wet mud, but good in everything else.
Mocking up steerer & seatpost length.. Have a couple of spacers on top at the moment, but loathe to cut the steerer in case the forks are required anywhere else! Troy Lee Flite saddle was a real find! Love those eyeballs.. :shock: Still don't like the shade of the bottle cage, but it will do until I can find something more appropriate.
Fitting stem & bars. Managed to grab a Hope team green stem to (supposedly) match the team green skewers & compliment the brakes - but it appears to be a slightly more yellow shade than the skewers, so may see if I can change for a 90mm, it all depends whether the steering feels a bit slow. Bars are Blackspire and match the wheels, seatpost & pedals - nice & wide!
The metallic green cable outers are a bit of an extravagance! But love them too! One problem was the continuous cable routing of the On-One didn't really help on the Kona... Nor did a lack of brake-hose clips.. :x Eventually bodged a fix slightly by clipping in the hose and then clipping the front mech cable to the brake hose. Hose is braided and then coated, and the green gear cable outers are brake outers by design, so will stand up to it - as well as weather and the general abuse of time!
A better idea of the matchup of grips to tyres & decals, and wheels, bars, seatpost, saddle & the effect of almost everything being metallic/pearlescent in some way!
It needs a wash & polish up - & I do need some sunlight (which has been impossible to find since Saturday!) to really show off the paintwork & the metallics..
The somewhat mish-mash of colours may not be to all tastes, however with all of the metal Green components being metallic green there is no consistent colour/shade in any case, and the overall effect is quite substantially psychedelic - which was the entire point! The depth of the blue in the forks I find actually compliments the shade of the frame as well, which I like. Also a bonus was the Grey of the decals being an exact match for the Schwalbe tyres and grips all being in Grey.
Needs a bit of a tidy up on the brake hose, purely functional for now, but rideable nonetheless..
In need of a tweak here & there and some adjustments to the fork pressures, but the main problem is the shorter stays giving too much chain slack now (either that or I simply didn't notice it before on the black frame!). So an excuse to swap out the mech for a long-cage, rather than just using what I had previously. Ah well, needs must! :xmas-cool:
Can't wait until the trees get some leaves back & I can take it into the woods and get lost in the green.
