Where do I start?

MartinYorkshire

MartinYorkshire

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I quit biking about 15 years ago when I sold my Alpinestars Al mega DX to a buddy. Since then I've put on the equivalent of a Ritchey Megabite around my waist so I've decided to get back into it, along with the wife.

Having looked around at whats available, the new stuff is pretty depressing. I spotted a 2008 Kona Cindercone and spat my tea out when I saw it had reflectors on the pedals, thats just not cricket.

So in my quest for a real bike, I turned up here.

Would anyone be kind enough to point me in the right direction in terms of a decent frame for a build? I've not got much of a budget but I'd like to get something roughly equivalent to my old AS if possible but probably in tange as Im not too sure on older ally frames.

Looked through the for sale section but most of the stuff is outside my price range. I was thinking of a marin or kona frame for my wifes bike, which ones would build well and has decent parts availability?

Im open to any and all suggestions!

Thanks in advance, I'll see what I can find in the garage, I suspect some old DX kit and maybe some Alpinestars bits. Not much to go on..!
 
Hi,

If you really fancy another, the Alpinestars steel bikes current don't fetch that much money. I've been keeping an eye on the Cro-Megas on eBay and a really nice Cro-Mega DX, complete and original (though sadly too big for me) went for £90 plus posting.

Anything that was lusted-after back in the day i.e. Orange, Kona, GT and Pace seems to fetch decent money. However brands that didn't caputure the imagination of the masses quite so well but were still decent bikes such as Saracen, some Raleighs etc. are a lot cheaper. A Marin frame, especially the lower-end ones just don't seem to fetch much cash, in fact there have been at least two karma (free) early 90s Bear Valleys appear on these pages in the last two months. There's been a Raleigh Dyna-Tec titanium frame for about £70. Either of those would be a good retro-build.

So, I'd say just keep browsing the for sale pages and something tasty will come up, parts availability is probably best on Kona, GT and Marin. There are so many cheap components going through these pages, you could have a stunning steed by the end of the month! Good luck.

SP
 
Thanks for the reply and I'll definitely keep an eye out.

Its ironic y'know, because my Marin, Kona, Kirk and Orange owning friends at the time all wanted my Alpinestars! How times change. Mind you, the estay was sexy.

I've posted in the wanted section, I'll see what people have. A basic frame will do to start then I'll try a piece together the bits as you suggest. Everyone seems to friendly on the forum, but I guess thats because since we're into "retro" we are perhaps a little old to be forum trolls. Anyway, dead impressed so far.

If I find anything in the garage/shed, I'll whack it up here. I have a sneaking feeling I might have some XT spuds, would be a nice find if I kept them.

PS. Are Kirk's sought after? I think I might be able to get my hands on a purple Revolution. Oh how we laughed when my mate came home with that thing.
 
Ah, I think Kirk bikes are still a bit of a niche market... :)

If your wife is petite, I think the Kona frames might not be such a good idea as the top-tubes are quite long.

SP
 
It's so funny... Here in Sweden (late '80s/early '90's) we thought Univega and Alpinestars were kinda sucky, hehe...

Now I know better... Only took me 20 years...

(Why am I thinking of old dogs sitting down? :D )
 
It seems as though one of the lads on here is going to be offering a Kona FM at somepoint soon. Hopefully its the tiny one, so would work.

Fingers crossed.
 
MartinYorkshire":iuufikky said:
I quit biking about 15 years ago when I sold my Alpinestars Al mega DX to a buddy. Since then I've put on the equivalent of a Ritchey Megabite around my waist so I've decided to get back into it, along with the wife.

Having looked around at whats available, the new stuff is pretty depressing. I spotted a 2008 Kona Cindercone and spat my tea out when I saw it had reflectors on the pedals, thats just not cricket.

So in my quest for a real bike, I turned up here.

Would anyone be kind enough to point me in the right direction in terms of a decent frame for a build? I've not got much of a budget but I'd like to get something roughly equivalent to my old AS if possible but probably in tange as Im not too sure on older ally frames.

Looked through the for sale section but most of the stuff is outside my price range. I was thinking of a marin or kona frame for my wifes bike, which ones would build well and has decent parts availability?

Im open to any and all suggestions!

Thanks in advance, I'll see what I can find in the garage, I suspect some old DX kit and maybe some Alpinestars bits. Not much to go on..!
Click to expand...

Where abouts are you based mate?
 
Yep, Yorkshire it is.

After searching through the garage I've found some old bits that might be useful, some rear mechs, a rather pretty USE seat post and some odds and sods.

I think this might take a while....
 
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