Skeeter 1 's 1993 Kona Cindercone build thread.

[Skeeter1]

Grind it off because your never gonna sell the bike

This is true.... she's a keeper,but I know I'll kick myself if I decide to put the project twos on it one day.
The stem is in such Good nic ,I just can't massacre it

 

[Skeeter1]

You could put a different brace on the forks.

Not a bad shout...But then it means I'll spoil the Now look of these forks... I'm kind of caught like a rose between two thorns.

 

[Skeeter1]

I'm pretty sure my 96/7 Lava Dome had a quill Velocity stem without hanger noodle.

Without noodle might not be year correct, but would likely be the right colour.

There's a tatty one on ebay.

I think I'm going to have to just suck it up...and not look at the stem too much!

 

[jonthefish]

The grey 1996 Velocity stem had no hanger. I tried one on my own '93 Cinder Cone but it looked naff. Colour looked bad and they lack the elegant taper of the earlier stems. There's a pic of one here.
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/kona-velocity-stem-silver-1996-version-in-100mm-or-110mm.414185/
Suck it up ...........

 

[Skeeter1]

The grey 1996 Velocity stem had no hanger. I tried one on my own '93 Cinder Cone but it looked naff. Colour looked bad and they lack the elegant taper of the earlier stems. There's a pic of one here.
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/kona-velocity-stem-silver-1996-version-in-100mm-or-110mm.414185/
Suck it up ...........

Yes I totally agree...they just haven't got that sloping finish to them like on the 93 ones....I'll stick with the original as it's a shame to take this beauty away from the bike.

"He breathes deeply....and sucks it up" Aaaaaaaah

 

[enigma]

Yes I totally agree...they just haven't got that sloping finish to them like on the 93 ones....I'll stick with the original as it's a shame to take this beauty away from the bike.

"He breathes deeply....and sucks it up" Aaaaaaaah

Whatever stem you want, i.e. a tatty one you can remove the hanger and repsray.. they are for sale commonly enough where people fit hideous modern forks and modern stems etc.. if I understood correct you could easily paint in a close match colour as you don't have the original forks on the bike to show up the colour difference?
Decals are readily available. I wouldn't butcher the original either, I would wrap up safely and keep.
Ive a few kona stem's one perfect used I bought with some original racelight bars and plugs also in perfect condition for the stash, and of this era another I bought cheaply at a bike jumble, for possibly being useful though needing painting. The issue with the tatty one being the missing bung. I currently have this in a build pile for paint matching some really nice condition forks , sadly as every item in this mysterious bronze nobody seems to ever matched is a different version, totally different each item when stood together!
For your purposes some saved search's or a wanted ad here would I imagine yield a stem to play with, if not a painter previously not a bad small item to learn on.
Also if ive understood correctly what you desire to fit straight on is one like the shiny one in the picture, which proves the point as it came off ebay with some handlebars and a seat collar for less than I would of paid for the bars.. cheers Enigma

 

[JCS]

If there is no ‘non cable hanger’

Grind it off because your never gonna sell the bike

Yeah I agree.
You could go through the faff of finding a stem without a hanger. But easier to just modify the one you have?
Also, these are not super rare or exotic stems - it’s not like you would be grinding a Yeti FTW stem, for example.

 

[Skeeter1]

Whatever stem you want, i.e. a tatty one you can remove the hanger and repsray.. they are for sale commonly enough where people fit hideous modern forks and modern stems etc.. if I understood correct you could easily paint in a close match colour as you don't have the original forks on the bike to show up the colour difference?
Decals are readily available. I wouldn't butcher the original either, I would wrap up safely and keep.
Ive a few kona stem's one perfect used I bought with some original racelight bars and plugs also in perfect condition for the stash, and of this era another I bought cheaply at a bike jumble, for possibly being useful though needing painting. The issue with the tatty one being the missing bung. I currently have this in a build pile for paint matching some really nice condition forks , sadly as every item in this mysterious bronze nobody seems to ever matched is a different version, totally different each item when stood together!
For your purposes some saved search's or a wanted ad here would I imagine yield a stem to play with, if not a painter previously not a bad small item to learn on.
Also if ive understood correctly what you desire to fit straight on is one like the shiny one in the picture, which proves the point as it came off ebay with some handlebars and a seat collar for less than I would of paid for the bars.. cheers EnigmaView attachment 812464

Thanks for your reply....Ok the search is on!!!
I need a 1 1/8 velocity stem ASAP
Im going for it ...I've seen that Gil does great looking decals to apply to newly sprayed stem (when resourced) I'm happy with the fact that if all this goes wrong,I will still have the original gathering dust if needed.

Yes I totally agree with the fact of all those removing stems and adding forks....It's just when you see a 90s Kona well over forked...don't they just look hideous

Your stem in attached image looks perfect
Let's just hope mine turns out this way!
I'll keep my build updated with progress....I was hoping to have my bike entered into a BOTM before 2023 was up....but These things happen for a reason I guess.

Thank you @enigma for your helpful encouragement and advice.

Best wishes

Ian

 

[Skeeter1]

If there is no ‘non cable hanger’

Yeah I agree.
You could go through the faff of finding a stem without a hanger. But easier to just modify the one you have?
Also, these are not super rare or exotic stems - it’s not like you would be grinding a Yeti FTW stem, for example.

I just can't do it to this one...The condition is too good to destroy.

I'm now on the hunt for a cheap one to get my desired look

 

[mk one]

If you are resorting to grinding you could grind and repaint something like this, easier to colour match, just saying

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/35537278...Cydf1kg0vEHp4RS5zR5dnOmsrz|tkp:Bk9SR7LXuOCjYw