An idiot's guide to retrobike #2 - 1990 Kona Lava Dome

al-onestare

BoTM Winner
Kona Fan
#1, the Fire Mountain was here: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... 64#1253864

This is #2.

So my golden rules:

1. Choose a bike you want
2. Choose a bike you can afford
3. Choose a size that fits you
4. Don't over-stretch yourself

This one ticked 1, 2 and 4. Like the FM, it's a little too small but no worries. This was a total punt on ebay, a week after I'd purchased the FM. I was the only bidder and had one picture to go on.

It was a pick up only deal and that was from Devon which is tricky when you're in Bromley. Luckily my work has an office in Exeter and some of my team are there, so about a month later I met the seller and parted with £150.

Unlike the FM, this was in dire need of some tlc. It was covered in oil (which turned out to be a blessing) and as you'll see, it hadn't been loved much. It was missing all of it's X1 brake set apart from the levers but those were shot, riddled with rust. The tyres were ridiculous 2.0/5 size and barely cleared the stays. The rear mech was a nasty Atlus 20.

All in all, she looked a sorry state but there was definitely potential.

Before shots in the hotel (anything to get a hold of it!).

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The original brakes failed in the first week according the owner and so a weird set were place, I think, from a racing bike. The front were no-named and broken, the rear a Campy pair :?

Check out the ridiculous cable lengths!
 
So like before, I took the full strip down approach. Remove everything and take everything apart. Clean everything, cleanse, etc and polish, polish and polish!

The frame got a couple of T-cut coats since it really was very dull. As the film of oil was removed I was pleasantly surprised to see that the condition was really quite good. The only bit of chain suck was in the usual spot between the chain stay and chain rings, with some light wear on the stay itself, but nothing major.

The decals had held up really well, much better than the Fire Mountain. There was no toying with the idea of a re-spray. The only slight downer is that the lovely yellow has faded but that's natural and of course one of the problems with yellow items anyway.

Dinner is served:

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Project #3 hiding at the back there ;)

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Once again the wheels were my problem child. With the FM it was stainless steel, stained. This time we have some lovely alloy rims which of course are fine...but the spokes. Oh dear o dear.

One day I'll learn how to spoke a wheel but not today. So, top tip, use the rust remover gel you can get from Halfords. This stuff was excellent and along with some fairly fine metal sanding paper the worst was easily removed. A couple of extra cleans with Cilit Bang and they were fine.

There're not perfect by any means, but from what they were, they've come up a treat.
 
My biggest challenge was sourcing Diacompe X1 brakes and a Suntour X1 rear mech. After many bumps on the Wanted section, I finally got lucky and kingofthescratchmonkeys came up trumps with what I needed. I even had the fun learning experience of rebuilding a rear mech since I needed to combine the top half of one with the bottom half of another. Watch that spring!!

Black anodising. Oh dear o dear. Everything is original on the bike apart from the tyres, tubes and some of the cabling but I really did toy with replacing some of the tired looking anodising. But I stuck to my guns and wanted to keep to the FM methodology of restore as is (or replace with original spec wherever possible).

So, without anymore waffle, here she is.

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TBG goodness.

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Nice shiny Suntour! Shame about poor black anodising.

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Excellent decal condition.

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Not quite so excellent decal condition.

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Spent HOURS polishing that front mech...it still isn't quite as nice as I wanted it.

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Anyone seen my missing cap?? I'll find it eventually!

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L is for Lava.

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Reconstructed mech - works well - much better than the Atlus thing.

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Saddle is in lovely condition.

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Nice Tange tubing, a defo improvement to the weight compared to the FM. Still pretty heavy mind!

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Thank God for alloy rims!

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good to see another set of X1's - I was beginning to think I had the only set :D I only have the brakes, not the levers, though.
 
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And there we go. Another project comes to an end. A quick spin reveals she's WAY more agile that the FM. THe FM was great as a leisurely easy rider. This one you could take to the trails no problem and have a blast with.

It's still heavy though, but hey this is 1990 and it's a "budget" bike. We can excuse that I think ;)

So what next? Well, she'll be up for sale shortly so watch out for that. I have my eye on a CC next...but first it's my golden 1997 beauty. She's calling my name and quite frankly after giving it a proper spin two weeks ago, I can't wait to get started on it. In true Rolf Harris style, "can you guess what it is yet?"

Any comments or feedback is appreciated! Thanks again to kofsm and to the site for providing the inspiration. Spec list to come.
 
orange71":fewyvauj said:
good to see another set of X1's - I was beginning to think I had the only set :D I only have the brakes, not the levers, though.

They seem to be almost impossible the find...but christ they are flakey. Do you need a set of levers? Happy to donate the pair I have if I can find them.
 
Spec list, a copy and paste from the catalogue ;)

Frame: Ishitawa Cromoly Double Butted 19"

Fork: Project Two

Headset: Sealed Tech - pretty sure it isn't though as it's got Specialised stamped on it.
Stem: Kona ICR
Handlebar: Kona MTB Cromoly
Grips: Unbranded, foam

Brakes Front: Dia Compe X-1 Cantilever
Braked Rear: Dia Compe X-1 Cantilever
Brake Pads: Dia Compe
Brake Cables: Combination of new cables (Shimano standard) and one original Dia Compe outer (rest Shimano standard since the lengths were ridiculous)
Brake Levers: Dia Compe X1

Shifters: Suntour Accushift X-press
Front Derailleur: Suntour X-1 Accushift Plus
Rear Derailleur: Suntour X-1 Accushift Plus
Derailleur Cables: Shimano XT
Cassette: Suntour Accushift Plus 7 speed
Chain: Suntour Accishift Plus
Cranks: Sakae SR X-1
Chainrings: Sakae SR Powerings
Bottom Bracket: Tange with greasealer
Pedals: LXT

Hub Skewers: Suntour
Rims: Mistral M20T Silver
Front Hub: Suntour X-1
Rear Hub: Suntour X-1
Tyres: Nutrak
Tubes: Halfords special

Saddle: Avocet Racing
Seatpost: Kalloy SP 242 300mm
Seatpost Binder: Suntour

Weight: Got to be 30lbs or more, but less than the Fire Mountain!
 
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