My 1998 Kona Caldera build

[jhnbssll]

Hello all, I'm new around here and thought I'd share my old Kona build with you

First things first I had a Caldera way back in 1998 when they first hit the market. It was a warranty replacement for a Hahanna frame I'd cracked - I knew the shop owner so they helped me out with a cheeky upgrade in the process It was a lovely bike and I quickly regretted swapping the frame a few years later for a well used Azonic DS-1 that was too small for me :roll:

Anyway, fast forward to last christmas. I was away with the in-laws flicking through eBay when an 18" 1998 Caldera frame popped up. I bought it immediately and at £90 probably paid over the odds for it I also started scouring eBay for some retro bits to go on it and ended up spending rather a lot more than perhaps I should have I then spent the rest of the christmas break waiting to get home and receive my goodies

When the frame arrived it was immediately obvious it was in pretty good condition. I decided to go with Bomber Z2's of the era; I'd had Z1's on mine but they were a bit too long for it really. Besides, the Z2's matched the colour better I also decided it needed XTR kit as I couldn't afford it at the time and figured old second hand stuff would be cheap - not entirely correct

Anyway, the bike came together nicely and rides well but I hadn't realised quite how far technology has come on... When push comes to shove my 2016 Stumpjumper carbon 6fattie gets picked every time I go out so the Kona very rarely gets used, poor thing :facepalm:

 

[jhnbssll]

And here's the Stumpjumper that it plays second fiddle to

 

[Retro Spud]

Hello all, I'm new around here and thought I'd share my old Kona build with you

When push comes to shove my 2016 Stumpjumper carbon 6fattie gets picked every time I go out so the Kona very rarely gets used, poor thing :facepalm:

but the Kona is the better looking one of the two

by the way welcome to Retro Bike,

 

[jhnbssll]

Thanks for the welcome

The Kona does look good doesn't it... haha

 

[jhnbssll]

So the Kona never got ridden as a mountain bike so I decided to turn it in to a commuter. It's since covered 30 miles, just 2 commutes, but will come in to its own when the weather gets a little worse as I've got some studded marathon winters to go on when it gets icy out

Basically I've added full length mudguards front and rear, a tortec rack identical to the one I use on my other commuter (a Charge Plug) and Schwalbe marathon tyres. I've also popped some SPD pedals on, not retro ones but I had them in the cupboard and they do the job nicely.

Anyway, its all reversible should I need/wish but it will see a lot more use with this setup and it's a great bike to ride so I'll likely keep it like this for the foreseeable future.

I've picked up an 18" 2008 Fire Mountain frameset that needs a bit of TLC which is my next project. Nothing special but something to keep me out of trouble in the evenings :mrgreen:

 

[W7Ford]

That frame is in great condition, looks pretty good in commuter spec, and the main thing is that it's getting used. Not many commuters with an XTR cranket I bet.

 

[jhnbssll]

Thanks, I love the bike. I've just put Marathon Winter studded tyres on so it's ready and waiting for any ice and snow we may get in the coming months :mrgreen:

 

[davo77]

Re:

Great bike there heres mine,that red bomber looks great ! could do with it on mine