Hey folks, my virgin post!

Because of all the fantastic work going on here, I decided to pull out my 96 Lava Dome from the shed. Now this is actually my brothers old bike, I had a 96 Lava Dome in 'Burnt Orange' which I thought a nicer colour (still do), but sadly I sold it in around 98 for a Dawes XT.

I've got more or less all the original parts with the exception of the headset. I have the curve brakes and levers, stem and seat post, STX crank and front mech and an LX rear mech. I also have the original wheels, but sadly the scratch and sniff tyres are long gone. Can anybody tell me what size headset would be required for the P2's or what suspension forks would be suitable, possibly the old Judy SL's?

So attached below are a small collection of pictures of the Lava Dome and to be honest I'm just not sure what to do with it. Break it up and sell it for spares or build it up and use it as a rigid/hardtail?

The pictures below show a set of old LX levers and a club roost bar, the bar I sold to my brother and was off my old Lava Dome and the levers he added at a later date. You can also see the grip shifters, bloody horrible things in my opinion.


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Edit: Changed the thread to say a 96 Lava Dome, rather than a 97 model as I originally thought it was.

Excellent - build as a rigid bike. Needs 1.1/8th headset. Keep it simple. Sorted.

There were a few Kona Impact headsets in the for sale section recently, don't think they all sold.........

Agree with Mr Panda. Get a headset, get some wheels on it, sorted.

Thanks for your comments.

I did take this bike into Wheelbase in the Lake District last year and asked them to stick a headset on for me (lazy option), but they said they couldn't source a new one. Is the 1.1/8th headset a standard headset, or is this going to be an ebay purchase? Is there anything I should know before hunting one down?

Edit: While I used to know this stuff, I'm sadly out of the loop and certainly out of practice. The memory aint what it used to be!

You could say 1/8th is standard (older stuff 1", newer can require 1/4er..some modern frames take integrated headsets etc) but threaded 1/8th is what you need.
If you havn't the tools I would ask your LBS to fit it, but thats no fun.
Lovely colour, gonna be a nice bike

oopps...again

that looks like a nice bike in the making
after seeing ROBMACS explosive at the weekend i have a hankering
for a proper kona

god help me ...

Thanks again for the added info. I don't have the tools for this, but I'm sure I can pick them up, I don't mind getting my hands dirty.

Not keen on the colour myself and it certainly needs a respray, it's got far too many scratches for my liking.

patina m8

every scratch tells a story

Bash out the old headset cups with a hammer and length of copper plumbing pipe. Not too difficult.

Insert new headset cups into frame, nice and squarely, with hammer and block of wood. Still not too difficult.




Oh - I do agree with you about the gripshifts

yer a rough old bugger panda

Patina, ROFL. The scratches tell my brothers story, I'd prefer if they told mine.

Pipe and bits of wood I can do and possibly with a modicum of finesse.

I don't remember having a bike with gripshifts, but I do remember riding one. Maybe my first 3rd hand Ridge/Diamondback had them. The bars were short so my hands rested partly on the shifters, every time I hit a nasty bit of trail the bikes rigid front end would jar, my hands would slip slightly and I'd accidentally shift a gear!

Off to hunt down a headset.

poss negoitable?

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... na+headset

Thanks, just sent him a PM.

I do like that, and I think a nice pair of yellow Judy's would look lovely. As for the gripshift, I've always been a fan.