97 Kona Cindercone

Hi, Just a qestion:

I have a 97 Kona Cindercone frame, stripped back and ready for paint, but no other parts. Looking at prices for components It seems cheaper to buy a whole bike secondhand and swap over the parts?

Ideally id like to have a spec something like this:

Mavic Crossride wheels
XT drivetrain and disk brakes.
Thompson Post and stem.
Easton carbon bars.
Some decent forks around the £250 mark.

All in I think this would cost around £1000?

I used to have a 93' Cindercone which I resprayed and fitted all modern parts (Manitou, Hope, Mavic, XT etc) costing about £1500. It was an amazing bike to ride. These classic steel framed Kona's really deserve good up-to-date components IMHO. Unfortunately it was stolen 2 years ago and I havent ridden since. This is why I snapped up the new frame as soon as I saw it, and I really cant wait to get it built up but money is tight. I'll be ordering new decals at the end of the month and respraying it in the original blue colour.

Any advice?

Cheers.

To be very honest I would get a whole new bike if you intend putting all that kit on it
You will need some sort of disc brake adapter and those frames were not really made for all the stress on the stays
Also new forks will probably throw the angles out a fair bit unless you intend getting around the 80mm travel mark

Thanks for the reply.

I would probably stick to a 80mm travel fork but if I used a 100mm i'd just run it with more sag than usual.

I'll keep a watchfull eye on ebay for a 'spares/reapair' with decent spec to get me started I think. If im lucky I'll find a good bike with a busted frame going cheap. As I hsve no bike at the moment Im considering a reasonable £500 new bike simply for parts to get me started. Any suggestions?

By the way.....

.......my old ca.94' Cindercone was fine on 80mm froks. It handled like a BMX if you know what I mean, so chuckable and fantastic downhill! Miss it so much.

If i was planning to drop £1k on a steel bike, i'd just go straight for one of these:

http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/index.php ... _bike=TRUE

http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=produ ... egoryId=38

But, if you just want to build a nice Cindercone from used parts, you can spend half that.

your right, I think I'll go for mostly used parts. Im looking at eBay now and there are plenty of decent bits available.

Couple of Q's...

I have 2 small dents where a front mech has been over tightened, whats the best way to fix this?

Anyone know what size BB I need?

Cheers,
Mike.

Use a mech next time that clamps in a different position to avoid making matters worse (conventional or top swing should both work ok)

The BB size would be a 68mm shell and then depending in the cranks, probably something like a 110mm if using Shimano cranks.

Are you still intending to use disc brakes?

Cheers

Maybe on the front yes. For the back im not sure, unless theres someone who can braze on mounts and a small strut between seat and chainstays for strength?

For the front mech dents will I be ok using car body filler?

As for paint I'm considering going white again. On my last Kona I used White Hammerite spraypaint. The finnish was good and quite tough aswell.

Ive been reading this thread and I think I'll be looking for some retro components. I still plan to use modern forks, wheels, drivetrain though. Something like a classic USE post and Pana Magic tyres if I can find them.

Sorry, Typo above.

I meant to ask if Im ok using car body filler for the dents on the seat tube!!

As for a front mech, what about using a BB mounted mech?

PS: Seen some cushti retro parts on eBay so I might just use more old skool than I first thought...