1990s Kona Lavadome touring bike build.

I've had what I think is an early Kona Lavadome kicking about the place for years. I bought it as a complete mountain bike, discovered fairly quickly that mountain biking isn't really my thing, sold it to a colleague who refinished it very badly, bought it back, built it up into a stripped down flat barred road bike, gave it to my sister who took it around Europe on the back of her camper van, got it back, stripped it down to repair it and put it in my shed and forgot about it.
Fast forward two years and I find myself in need of a touring bike. I'd rather build something than buy something and the Kona seems ideal as the base of a project. It's even got rack and mudguard lugs! I'll be ordering a decal set over the next few days and sending the frame off to be powdercoated, but before that happens I'll get some pics of it as it looks now. Watch this space!

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Sounds like a great plan, have a look at this post, it'll get you in the mood:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=258143

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My L.D. made a great tourer, with semi slicks, project 2's and rack & panniers it was a comfortable all day / week on road tourer. Fitted with different tyres and the rack removed it was a capable all week off road tourer for the Peak District.
Hope you enjoy your trip.

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The frame has gone in for powder coating - it's going to be a rather sexy candy blue colour and is costing me slightly more than a complete working Kona Lavadome of the same era would cost me! But never mind that ... next step is to get the decals ordered.

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Time for an update ...
Here's what we started with: a rather sorry looking Kona Lavadome frame, taken after being refinished by an idiot and used as a hack for years.

You can see what a state it was in. The bloke who'd had it refinished hadn't prepped the surface, just painted over the top of the old paint. It wasn't lacquered so any oily fingerprints just stuck indelibly to the paint.
I had it refinished by Leominster Powdercoating, who did a great job. To their credit, they weren't entirely happy with the first job they did, so they stripped it all off and started again rather than letting substandard work go out.
I started putting the decals (from the very helpful Gil at Retrobike) on, then remembered I needed a pic of it. Here it is ...
And finally, here's where I've got to with it so far.

Yes, I know the drop bars are a crime against everything, but I've tried flat bars and the riser bars this came with and I can't get on with them! Besides, the idea is to build it into a tourer.
I took the "Project Two" decals off the forks shortly after taking this pic, by the way. Partly because I didn't think they looked right, but mostly because I bollocksed up putting one of them on and it was a bit wonky. But it does look better without them. Build pics to follow soon ...

That finish looks great! I always feel when I'm taking a frame to be powdercoated it's worth paying a little more to get a special finish.

I was talking to the powdercoaters I use last time I went in and they said they don't really do candy finish on bike frames anymore (though it's possible they could be talked into it) because it is difficult to do the parts where you have one surface close to another on the later coats, which risks the powder being too thick in places. They did a brilliant purple candy on my Raleigh Twenty before though

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I think they were a bit nervous about doing the candy finish on this. They told me they'd redone it because it was very slightly too thin on the seat tube between the chainstays, where (to be honest) I'd probably never have noticed it. But kudos to them for redoing it. I'll definitely be using them again.

I'll be interested to see how you get on with drops on a Kona. My experience was that the top tube was on the longish side. Short reach drops (both forward and drop) were essential.
However it worked OK on a 1990 Lava Dome for my son with On-One Midge bars and a high-rise stumpy stem. Here he is riding it in the Netherlands on a tour with me...

My own drop-bar tourer is a conversion of a 1990 Marin. Early 90s MTB frames are hard to beat for go-anywhere / do-anything capability.

hamster":2ykv36bp said:

I'll be interested to see how you get on with drops on a Kona. My experience was that the top tube was on the longish side.

Click to expand...

That's the only thing that's concerning me a bit, to be honest. I don't like to be too stretched out on a bike - I'm 5'11" and most of my bikes are 54cm frames, which gives you an idea - and the Kona is a good bit longer from saddle to bars than I think I'll be comfortable with on a tourer. But I'll get it built up and see how I get on with it.
Your son's bike looks lovely! Personally, I think drops really suit these early MTbs.

I'd go for a very short ahead stem fitted to a quill/ahead converter to get some height. Alternatively, Nitto do some very tall quill stems: https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/STNIMT10/ ... quill-stem

Remember that a taller stem brings the bars closer due to the rake of the head tube.