96 Kona Lava Dome - nearly complete

flyingfinn

Kona Fan
Hi there,

I may be a newbie on this site but I have been an older bike enthusiast since I started cycling; I liked looking at the latest things but kept referring back to what had gone before. Thus throughout my time I have then picked particular iconic periods for different types of bike; thus for my road bikes it is the early 90s when Shimano were just coming to the fore with their 600 and Dura Ace groupsets.

I used to all sorts of riding as a lad, touring, time trial and some cyclocross. With that mix I did not initially see the need for ATBs/MTBs; however, I slowly caught on and had a sequence of mid 1990s MTBs as my workhorse and do anything bike. Of these I have retained and kept in good running order a 97 Schwinn Moab that came to me in a bizarre part exchange - I returned a 93 Specialized Rock Hopper and some cash to a friend, because he was in urgent need of money, and got the Schwinn. I have had great fun with the latter but also hankered for the direct feel of a non suspension bike and knew only too well of the strong reputation of Joe Murray designed Kona chro-moly framed bikes. Eventually I found one!

I always say that a true work of art is never finished to the complete satisfaction of the artist; I feel the same is true for bicycle building. There is always one detail to change or a better NOS item to obtain.

That said, aside from a few tweaks, I have just about completed my refurbishment of this 96 Lava Dome. I am in the process of upgrading some of the components but am already enjoying the feel of this excellent frame layout.

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Specification is as follows:

Frame: Original Kona Butted Cromoly (19" - Satin Orange)
Fork: Original Kona Project Two
Headset: Original Kona 1 1/8" Impact
Cranks: Original Shimano STX 22 32 42 (tbrb NOS Deore XT)
Bottom Bracket: New Shimano UN71
Pedals: Shimano DX PD-M636 Freeride (tbrb Time ATAC)
Chain: Shimano IG71 (in place of original IG31)
Cassette: Shimano STX 11-30 8 speed (in place of IG50 7 speed)
Front Dérailleur: Shinamo Deore LX (in place of original STX)
Rear Dérailleur: NOS Shimano Deore LX (as per original)
Shifters: NOS Grip Shift SRT600 (in place of original SRT400)
Bar: Original Kona Slim 165
Grips: Kona Race light (in place of original Hot Dogs)
Stem: Original Kona Racelight Velocity
Brakes: Original Curve OM (I Like them!)
Front Hub: Rebuilt STX RC (in place of original Kona 999)
Rear Hub: Rebuilt STX RC 8 speed (in place of STX 7 speed)
Rims: New Mavic XM 719 (in place of original Mavic 23:cool:
Spokes: DT Swiss double butted stainless (as used originally)
Front Tyre: Specialized Crossroads Armadillo (in place of Sniff)
Rear Tyre: Specialized Crossroads Armadillo (in place of Scratch)
Saddle: I will fit a new Selle Italia C2 (Selle Italia Expedia orig.)
Seatpost: Kona Racelight (was fitted with a K-alloy as found)

I still have all the parts I have taken off. Of the wheels the front was in good condition (including a Sniff with some wear left), but the rear had a had a strange deep anodised rim fitted and it had a big bash in it.

The frame was in pretty good condition so for the moment I have rubbed back and touched in a few chips and minor scratches. I found that Chevrolet/Daewoo paint burnt orange metallic (As seen on many Matiz cars - code 98U) is a fairly close match; I have yet to fully tidy the Project Two forks but I believe that Honda Pewter Grey Metallic is a close match for those.

I am slightly limited by a 2MB album size but have posted images of all 4 of my current built and in use bikes.

So there it is and I look forward to seeing any comments and/or questions.

flyingfinn
 
Lorrrrvly bike. im just in the process of rebuild a Kona Cindercone 1992, thats going to be cream and tan with M900 XTR dripping from everywere, i reall y like the Konas too just love the ride and style of them, is it your 1 and only bike?

Gee
 
Kona Lava Dome - Nearly complete

Thanks Gee,

No not my only bike but now my preferred ride. I have managed to put one or two photos in separate albums in the gallery (restricted to 2MB at present),

On the MTB side I also have a 97 Schwinn Moab 2 (02) and i have 2 retro road bikes on the go too.

Your project sounds good, I wanted to keep everything in the 96 domain and as I posted have ended up with something near Cinder Cone spec for 96 - so hence the idea for calling it a Lava Cone (or perhaps a Cinder Dome)

finn
 
1996 its the best Kona vintage, ever ;)

very nice example you have here :cool:

like it, well done
 
Will be collecting my Lava Dome from Vaz finishes next week, having seen yours I can't wait as it should be a similar colour but with green decals.
 
love the bike - I hope my Lava Dome is that clean looking when I'm finished. Now I'm leaning back to Orange - yesterday it was pale Met Blue!
 
Very smart looking bike, well done. I hope lining up the tyres with the tubes was attention to detail and not luck!

Nice
 
after looking closer to your bike, I have to say its really well build, with close attention to detail. :cool: the colour in very bright and it seems that the pre-owner(s) took care of the bike and it was stored inside and not outside where UV light was bleaching the paint. :)

Pls. keep the OE parts you replaced. Clean them, preserve them und stow them away for future purpose - you never know what your intention for this bike in the future might be ;)

P.S. checked your gallery - like that Touring/Commuter bike - I'm currently thinking of building also one for myself - TREK 520 come's to my mind :roll:
 
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