New (read clueless) guy after a retro project

[Lethar G]

Heya Guys,

Just joined up on the forum after a week of non-stop lurking!

I've been riding about 10 months and have a Genesis Core 20 (nowt retro there!) but could do with a retro-ish bike for the commute and occasional trail riding.

I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to maintenance or set up, so what better way than to get a retro bike as a project.. (I'm sure there won't be any better suggestions on here!)

What sort of bike/project would you recommend?

Should I buy an old poor condition full bike and clean/replace/set it up properly?

Or would I be better buying a frame and starting from scratch?

What you guys reckon? Any suggestions about a suitable project?

Gotta say I do like the look of white Kona's!

Thanks in advance

Graham

 

[wadsy]

Hi Graham and welcome

You may be better off getting something that's complete and stripping it down, cleaning it up and re-assembling. You'll learn quite a bit that way. It will depend on all sorts; how long you want to spend on it before you can ride (it could take a while to source parts and find out the parts to get in the first place!) How much you want to spend, a complete bike will probably be cheaper etc.

As you may know, over the years things change quite a bit; including technologies and sizes of tubes and components. With a complete bike, initially you won't have to be thinking about getting the compatibility of components right. Such as bottom bracket axel length for the chainset, bottom bracket shell width, normal and low profile cranks, headset diameter, Ahead (non threaded) or threaded etc etc

You'll also want to establish the right frame size for you and this will vary over the years and from different manufacturers, then you can fine tune with stem length and rise and seatpost layback or not.

There is lots of info. on here and you'll be able to ask all sorts of questions and increase your knowledge. I've been maintaining and building bikes for quite a few years and learning all the time as I go along :?

Hope that's of some use.

White Konas are nice (imo!) I believe the only one (retro) in white as original was the '94/'95 Kilauea.

As a blatant plug I have a very nice Kona Hahanna on ebay at the moment

Cheers

 

[Makrie]

Darn wadsy, what great advice... the kind of post that makes me realise how much I've missed this forum! Welcome Graham!

 

[Mossy]

Welcome - the knowledge base on this forum is fantastic and help is always on hand.

also, establish a budget........ then double it ..........err...tripple it!

Good luck.

 

[john]

Interesting plan.

I'd suggest buying something mid-range, complete and in ok shape form one of the big manufacturers (if you want Kona or GT be prepared to pay a premium).

Complete bikes represent the best value by far. If it's in good nick you can spent your time fettling and learning slowly rather than starting off with a complete strip down and rebuild. The classifieds and www.ebay.co.uk are your friend.

 

[CAS]

Can endorse Wadsy's suggestion. My first "project" was almost exactly that. My son had a Zaskar from the mod 90s rather neglected and in need of some replacement parts.

I learned a lot from stripping it down and putting it back together again.
Disassembly was a lot earlier than re-assembly I found on my first go!

A manual or two is also useful- as is labelling the bits you take off if you are not sure what goes back where.

Folk on this forum are incredibly helpful and usually have the answer to any problems you encounter.

Best of luck

 

[Agency_Scum]

You say commute. How secure is the place of work you're going to? In the broom cupboard of Fort Knox out of sight or tied up with a stout piece of string on a chavvy housing estate?

 

[Mr Panda]

Almost any old, complete bike should do as a starter - unless you're after something specific. Luck of the draw in many ways - you could get a Raleigh, Peugeot or almost any mass produced bike for little money. Iwas lucky and got a (cosmetically challenged) complete Kona for my daughter for £50 last year. Took it apart, cleaned and painted it, reassembled and ready for cycling proficiecy

Learnt a lot, made mistakes, and told myself never to home spray a bike again as its expensive and prone to chipping :twisted:

Have fun

 

[dyna-ti]

Try a rebuild first off,it makes it easy to pick the parts,then go on to a frame up build
On the fence me.

 

[Neil G]

Kona definately a good kick off into the world of Retro