moonlite
Kona Fan
It's been a while since I've done some proper work on a bike, what with the Australian winter biting hard and work taking precedence. In the background, though, there has been some tinkering and parts sourcing, all for this bike I never meant to procure in the first place!
It came to me from a mate who just wanted the gears and brakes tuned, new bar tape and a bit of lube. Of course, with that done, it had to be tested, right? And then there was the chance of a job in Melbourne, and I thought I might need a commuter, and of course this happened to be my size . . . Put it this way, I suspect my friend knew all along my takeover was a possibility.
And then, after riding it a bit, I decided that it would be much better if it was lighter and smoother with carbon bars and seatpost. And the gaps in the original 8-speed drivechain could be eliminated with an upgrade to 10 speed.
You know how it goes . . . one thing leads to another and what you can't scrounge in the spares box can be found reasonably cheaply online. The stem, for example, although it looks fancy, was $20 because the faceplate was cracked -- and I found a replacement online, also for $20.
The 10-speed shifter is Shimano 105 from Gumtree; I had the XT chainset and cassette, and the Dura-Ace derailleur already, and a bit of googling confirmed they would work together. I tried the derailleur with a goatlink at first, due to worries that the lowest gear wouldn't work with it, but later took it off again as I have a longer-cage 105 derailleur on the way. And I changed the tyres to Maxxis Rambler EXO.
Then I thought I could improve braking by adding V-brakes with Travel Agents, which I did using some nice Avids. All of which mean the original owner wouldn't see much left of his bike except the frame and wheels!
With all this nearly complete, I saw an ad for a 56" version of this frame for sale in the UK for $50. Clearly, it's not one of the desirable Jake the Snakes in Easton Ultralite Race, but it still rides nicely, so I was a little chastened at how little it's valued. At that price, all this upgrading is a bit 'lipstick on a pig', I think, but I do enjoy riding it, so depending on your yardstick, worth it. Maybe.
This is how I got it:
Here it is after changing the brakes, with temporary stem, seatpost and saddle so I could ride it:
And here are some details of various upgrades described above (and now I want to change the headset too):
It came to me from a mate who just wanted the gears and brakes tuned, new bar tape and a bit of lube. Of course, with that done, it had to be tested, right? And then there was the chance of a job in Melbourne, and I thought I might need a commuter, and of course this happened to be my size . . . Put it this way, I suspect my friend knew all along my takeover was a possibility.
And then, after riding it a bit, I decided that it would be much better if it was lighter and smoother with carbon bars and seatpost. And the gaps in the original 8-speed drivechain could be eliminated with an upgrade to 10 speed.
You know how it goes . . . one thing leads to another and what you can't scrounge in the spares box can be found reasonably cheaply online. The stem, for example, although it looks fancy, was $20 because the faceplate was cracked -- and I found a replacement online, also for $20.
The 10-speed shifter is Shimano 105 from Gumtree; I had the XT chainset and cassette, and the Dura-Ace derailleur already, and a bit of googling confirmed they would work together. I tried the derailleur with a goatlink at first, due to worries that the lowest gear wouldn't work with it, but later took it off again as I have a longer-cage 105 derailleur on the way. And I changed the tyres to Maxxis Rambler EXO.
Then I thought I could improve braking by adding V-brakes with Travel Agents, which I did using some nice Avids. All of which mean the original owner wouldn't see much left of his bike except the frame and wheels!
With all this nearly complete, I saw an ad for a 56" version of this frame for sale in the UK for $50. Clearly, it's not one of the desirable Jake the Snakes in Easton Ultralite Race, but it still rides nicely, so I was a little chastened at how little it's valued. At that price, all this upgrading is a bit 'lipstick on a pig', I think, but I do enjoy riding it, so depending on your yardstick, worth it. Maybe.
This is how I got it:
Here it is after changing the brakes, with temporary stem, seatpost and saddle so I could ride it:
And here are some details of various upgrades described above (and now I want to change the headset too):
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Kind of get where you are coming from 
