kona a'ha
- Thread starter kanerdog1x1
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kanerdog1x1
Senior Retro Guru
zombie thread alert!
i have had so much fun on this bike, its been to three mountain mayhems and countless bimbles into town. it gets admiration from all kinds of folk, not only mountain bikers, but 'normal' people also because of the odd frame design. i changed the tyres at the beginning of the summer last year, i think the skin wall tyres look better on the bike than the black wall tyres, they certainly roll better.
a friend of mine, 'winky-84' of this shire gave me a great idea a few days ago, and it has been bugging me ever since. he showed me pictures on t'internet of a pair of bmx handle bars that had been converted into a handle bar rack, and this seemed like the finishing touch i needed for the bike.
so, this afternoon i headed to the lbs, picked up a pair of bmx bars cheap, and after grabbing some steel pipe from b&q i set about knocking up a rack.
its not finished yet, as i need to put a few more small diameter tubes in, and add a holder for a d-lock, but its somewhere near.
i have had so much fun on this bike, its been to three mountain mayhems and countless bimbles into town. it gets admiration from all kinds of folk, not only mountain bikers, but 'normal' people also because of the odd frame design. i changed the tyres at the beginning of the summer last year, i think the skin wall tyres look better on the bike than the black wall tyres, they certainly roll better.
a friend of mine, 'winky-84' of this shire gave me a great idea a few days ago, and it has been bugging me ever since. he showed me pictures on t'internet of a pair of bmx handle bars that had been converted into a handle bar rack, and this seemed like the finishing touch i needed for the bike.
so, this afternoon i headed to the lbs, picked up a pair of bmx bars cheap, and after grabbing some steel pipe from b&q i set about knocking up a rack.
its not finished yet, as i need to put a few more small diameter tubes in, and add a holder for a d-lock, but its somewhere near.
Faghetaboutit
Senior Retro Guru
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:!: thats super cool
Maxipedia
Retro Guru
Ha! Such a cool build, made me smile! As other people, though, I prefer the original paintjob.
I also have an A'ha and as every good bike, it comes with a story. I was on a hitchhiking trip to France and back when I got mine. I stayed in Kehl (Germany) with some friends of my parents for a few days and went to Strasbourg back and forth for visiting (Strasbourg and Kehl are twin cities). I saw this dusty but brandnew A'ha in the window of a mixed bike/scooter shop and it had a ridiculous pricetag on it: 219 EUR. I didn't know exactly what it was, but I figured it was special by the paintjob it had and that it was worth the money. Unfortunately it was closed at the shop the day I saw it, so I had to come back the other day. That also meant borrowing some money, as I was on a low budget trip, planning how to get back home 2000+ km by bus and not sleeping over night. It proved totally worth it. The guys at the shop mainly sold scooters and didn't have any other Konas, so this was an old stock. I guess the guy who sold me the bike didn't actually know what it was, but I could tell he was happy to get rid of it, even though I couldn't bargain on the price down to 200 EUR. He didn't even want to give me some stickers or a pair of grips. Oh well...
The bike came totally stock: Curve brakes, Cyclone cranks, resin pedals, no-name bars and stem, Kona 27.0 seatpost, some saddle, resin pedals, singlewall Sun-branded rims, Scratch and Sniff tires and reflectors. I rode it around for the time that remained and I got a busride that proved to be a bit sketchy as a gift. I packed the bike and got it over here.
My dad rode the bike to his physiotherapy sessions almost daily, but then I got him a bigger bike so he doesn't use it anymore these days. I guess the frame is a smallish 17".
Most of the components were changed in time. The brakes were particularly crap, I don't know where I put that original seatpost that at least was decent and I now also regret giving the tires away. The bike had some 121 Ceramic rims on at some point, but then the rear cracked at the wall and I saved the front one for something else and put some Suns on it.
Current spec is the following:
- Project Two fork in gunmetal with SPV sticker (SPV being as good as a rigid fork )
- black Cane Creek C2 headset
- silver Kore B-52 stem
- 70 mm rise Modolo Adrenalina Ceramic handlebar
- recycled Bontrager lock-on grips (as far as I can remember)
- Race Face XY seatpost (the only thing that left from my stolen Chameleon)
- Bontrager Big Earl seat
- transparent VP plastic pedals
- original Cyclone BMX racing crank with blue spider and red chainring (both crankbolts got lost so I have a Campa on one side - the only thing that fitted, pretty random...)
- original chain and freewheel (no problems here)
- stock silver high-flange flip-flop rear hub
- black Novatec sealed bearing hub
- DT spokes and nipples
- black Sun Ditch Witch rear and Rhyno Lite front (both pinned Taiwan versions, but they are okay)
- Maxxis Holy Roller tires (2.2 rear + 2.4 front)
- simple Avid Single Digit brakes and FR5 levers
I could only dig this receipt picture momentarily, but I will look for more if you find it interesting. Or I guess I could just go out to the garage and snap a few pics of the bike as it is now. I can also remember that I tried to log to the Kona owner's club on their side, but couldn't do so. I also emailed them, but I never got a reply.
Your orange is awesome and I can't wait to see what else will be done to the bike!
I hope I didn't bore you to death with this lengthy write up.
Mx
I also have an A'ha and as every good bike, it comes with a story. I was on a hitchhiking trip to France and back when I got mine. I stayed in Kehl (Germany) with some friends of my parents for a few days and went to Strasbourg back and forth for visiting (Strasbourg and Kehl are twin cities). I saw this dusty but brandnew A'ha in the window of a mixed bike/scooter shop and it had a ridiculous pricetag on it: 219 EUR. I didn't know exactly what it was, but I figured it was special by the paintjob it had and that it was worth the money. Unfortunately it was closed at the shop the day I saw it, so I had to come back the other day. That also meant borrowing some money, as I was on a low budget trip, planning how to get back home 2000+ km by bus and not sleeping over night. It proved totally worth it. The guys at the shop mainly sold scooters and didn't have any other Konas, so this was an old stock. I guess the guy who sold me the bike didn't actually know what it was, but I could tell he was happy to get rid of it, even though I couldn't bargain on the price down to 200 EUR. He didn't even want to give me some stickers or a pair of grips. Oh well...
The bike came totally stock: Curve brakes, Cyclone cranks, resin pedals, no-name bars and stem, Kona 27.0 seatpost, some saddle, resin pedals, singlewall Sun-branded rims, Scratch and Sniff tires and reflectors. I rode it around for the time that remained and I got a busride that proved to be a bit sketchy as a gift. I packed the bike and got it over here.
My dad rode the bike to his physiotherapy sessions almost daily, but then I got him a bigger bike so he doesn't use it anymore these days. I guess the frame is a smallish 17".
Most of the components were changed in time. The brakes were particularly crap, I don't know where I put that original seatpost that at least was decent and I now also regret giving the tires away. The bike had some 121 Ceramic rims on at some point, but then the rear cracked at the wall and I saved the front one for something else and put some Suns on it.
Current spec is the following:
- Project Two fork in gunmetal with SPV sticker (SPV being as good as a rigid fork
)- black Cane Creek C2 headset
- silver Kore B-52 stem
- 70 mm rise Modolo Adrenalina Ceramic handlebar
- recycled Bontrager lock-on grips (as far as I can remember)
- Race Face XY seatpost (the only thing that left from my stolen Chameleon)
- Bontrager Big Earl seat
- transparent VP plastic pedals
- original Cyclone BMX racing crank with blue spider and red chainring (both crankbolts got lost so I have a Campa on one side - the only thing that fitted, pretty random...)
- original chain and freewheel (no problems here)
- stock silver high-flange flip-flop rear hub
- black Novatec sealed bearing hub
- DT spokes and nipples
- black Sun Ditch Witch rear and Rhyno Lite front (both pinned Taiwan versions, but they are okay)
- Maxxis Holy Roller tires (2.2 rear + 2.4 front)
- simple Avid Single Digit brakes and FR5 levers
I could only dig this receipt picture momentarily, but I will look for more if you find it interesting. Or I guess I could just go out to the garage and snap a few pics of the bike as it is now. I can also remember that I tried to log to the Kona owner's club on their side, but couldn't do so. I also emailed them, but I never got a reply.
Your orange is awesome and I can't wait to see what else will be done to the bike!
I hope I didn't bore you to death with this lengthy write up.
Mx
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Yes Yes & thrice YES!
Love your work. How much to make me one of those clever bars up please?
Is the top rail of the bmx bar the perfect diameter for the stem clamp?
Love your work. How much to make me one of those clever bars up please?
Is the top rail of the bmx bar the perfect diameter for the stem clamp?
GearlessinSeattle
Senior Retro Guru
That is kick a$$!
Love it.
Makes me want to ride mine.
Love it.
Makes me want to ride mine.
