Y2K 'Pipmeister' Kona Kula

[Mikey08]

Couple of little updates. Got rid of the ESI grips because I hated the colour and after a couple of scrapes with some bramble bushes they tore up really easily (comfy grips though). I now have some Renthal slip ons which are as light as the ESI and a tad thinner which suits my hands better. Also replaced the cheap Clarks rotors with Ashima Ai2's and now my brakes work great. Oh, and I now have a working lockout lever. It needed a bleed but I didnt have the right fluid until today's postie drop.

In the pipeline I have some XT M785 brakes I got for peanuts as spares or repair. The Rear is fine but the front had a stuck piston in the master cylinder. Its a known issue and easily fixed with a rebuild and a little light sanding of the piston. Im just waiting for some silicone grease and a Shimano bleed funnel. If all goes well the Formula CR1's will be popping up in the +98 for sale section shortly.

 

[wadsy]

Re:

 

[Mikey08]

XT M785 brakes brought back from the dead. It was really easy to fix the front brake, just a bit fiddly. They work really well. Even with organic pads they are plenty powerful. Tad heavier than the Formulas but the light Ashima rotors offset that a bit. Only gripes are that the black finnish has worn off the levers a bit so I plan to buy new XT M8000 lever blades soon - they look the same but have a dimpled finish - and the reservoir covers are a bit scratched but they are cheap enough to replace. Ive also seen that every single piece of hardware for these brakes can be had in Gold or Oil slick titanium. So tempting.... but expensive and probs not worth it

EDIT: Note to self:- must get a decent camera asap! :facepalm:

 

[Mikey08]

This frame has now moved on to another forum member but I wanted to just post a couple of photos to show how it looked most recently. Main changes are Renthal stem, ODI Elie Pro grips in a nice green color that compliments the frame, Fabric Ti saddle, and Formula 2 peice rotors. I also removed the blue detail from the Race Face bars. Changed the chainring to a silver Superstar oval and added crank decals in custom blue /grey colour, and changed the front axle and rear skewer to blue anodized. She was a real looker and will be missed. There was more planned for this (tan walls, dropper) but I've now got a old school carbon full squish project on the go and I hope to get that ready for the spring (pun intended).

Late edit: I also swapped the levers for XT M8000