Madmax1993
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I picked up this Kona unit from my local cycling charity shop in its handed in state. Hub bearings were shot, headset was rumbly, drivetrain completely worn. It also turns out the seatpost was completely seized, but I only found that out later.
I've been wanting to build another pub cruiser / klunker and this caught my eye with its sliding dropouts, disk brake mounts and purple steel frame (my last single speed pub cruiser was also purple, see below).
So I set about stripping down the bike to replace the worn parts, at which point I discovered the seized seatpost. I tried all sorts of mechanical brutality (penetrating oil was used of course; also tried clamping another post in the jaws of the saddle clamp to use as leverage; clamping the head of the post in the vice, suspending the bike by the post with the seat clamp loose).
No luck.
At this point I turned to chemistry and turned the bike upside down and filled the post and seat tube up with coca cola by the bottom bracket. I left this for a few days, to no avail. A friend recommended adding caustic soda to the mix, so I filled with fresh coke, and tipped a few teaspoons of caustic soda in and left it again. Fast forward a few more days, and still no movement. The next treatment was water with more caustic soda. Another few days left to take effect, at which point I emptied the seat tube of liquid, and returned the post to the vice.
Finally, movement! With a loud 'crack', the post twisted a few mm. Buoyed by this success, I forced more and more movement into the post, then slowly, very slowly, raised the frame off the post, little by little.
Success!
What a relief. Phew. Now begins the rebuild: new BB, spare back wheel, single cassette sprocket, new chainring, shorter stem, longer handlebar, Shimano hydraulic brakes...
I know I won't be doing mad bar spins on this bike but I didn't fancy cutting down the rear hose until I decide on the long term plan for this bike. Grips still to go on of course, and I have a particular set of tyres in mind. The frame can run 700c or 29" tyres, and I want to go chunky.
The new Schwalbe Al Grounder 2.35" tyres remind me of dual sport tyres on adventure motorbikes, and will look just the part on this build, once funds allow.
