Retrobike Bike Of The Month January 2007

gump":dfrsb1v4 said:

To be fair, although not the best bike, the Kona resto was a great job Russ.

Gotta agree with you though :roll: class month!!

Click to expand...

Yeah it is a great restoration, I said as much when it was unveiled.

I guess there's nowt so queer as folk!

The Kona was a great story, we saw the before and after, the pics in the snow, the work that went into matching the components etc That to me is exactly what this site is about. Rolling out the most untouched expensive piece of kit from back in the day is all very well, but if that was the case no Kona, Spesh etc would ever win cos they aren't rare ..

BOTM is about heart not head in my humble opinion..

If the Salsa had Mag 20s or 21s then it would be my total heart throbber - but it's just not quite the blend of perfection and rarity that is the Boulder.

Normally I would back an e-stay everytime - but for me I cannot associate an e-stay with titanium for some illogical reason (having said that, I shoulda bought the Ti Alpinestars when I had the chance....).

A tad too much purple on the Kona methinks - pushing it well into Jez territory - but a frame colour to die for!

Neil

Oi!

Jez territory! Oi you git!

Class you mean!

A thousand words!

I think your avatar says it all...

Neil

The kit on the Salsa would not all be my ideal choice, but the frame more than compensates for me

Boulder for me

You guys really do surprise me -

I thought everyone would go for the Merlin and the Salsa for sure...

I think its been a really difficult one this time to be honest, think its like somebody said earlier and I said earlier its just nice to see a beaten up bike restored and made to look fantastic and the story behind it, think if the kona wasn't there I'd be pulling my hair out trying to decide between the merlin and boulder. Although even with the kona there it was a close call. I like the salsa too but as somebody said earlier I like the frame but not the compnents I'd of gone for.

doh, seems I have shot myself in the foot for not writing about the build of my bike.

Is it too late to mention the following, if only to give a little more back ground on the bike.

Hand polishing the frame from the tatty state it was in, and sourcing original genuine decals for the down tube.
Making full new internals for the rear damper from scratch (photos in my gallery).
Or to official knowledge that this is the only one to have ever entered the country.

Or that is is the actual frame from the bike featured in Cycling plus circa summer 1993 (winning best bike) and again in the december 1993 issue.

Or the many parts I have sourced, many from members on here.

John you may recognise the USE saddle clamp parts.
SLIM for the elastomers
Sticklegs for the Brake lever
Tranquility base for the forks and wheel (now dropped to 70mm travel and full rebuild)