1991 Kona Cinder Cone - Refresh

[Matttymm]

Thanks for the mention, glad to help in a small way to your build.

I love threads like this. I can see how much the bike means to you as it’s been with you through your life and glad you’ve found your way back to loving it again and restoring it your own way.

Certainly not a garage queen.

I too enjoy the period of finding and selecting parts and thinking about what would work. Many, if not all the RB community would relate to that.

Will be keeping an eye on this one and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything. So many brilliant people in this community.

Happy riding.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Great story on this bike. Your passion and love shows through in your last post. I still have my first, that love only grows as you put the time in that it deserves. Enjoy the process, but I promise you will enjoy the results much more. Sweat equity yields great dividends.

 

[JCS]

The Strip-Down

This phase of the build is dismantling and deciding what to keep/fix/replace/bin. Always an enjoyable process, and so far (touch wood) everything has come apart quite easily.

The frame has many battle-scars but is not bent or damaged. Extreme patina is probably a more accurate description . All I am going to do to the frame is remove as much of the rust as I can and whack some polish on it. Maybe do some touch ups if I can find a good paint match.
Part of me wants to do a full respray with new decals, but then I'd lose the patina which is part of this bike's history. I'll leave it for now.



Once i had the frame and forks seperated from the pile of components, the sorting started.

In the bin went:
- pedals
- rear mech (Shimano STX)
- chain
- brake & gear cables
- rear brake pads (they were generic pads in XTR M900 canti's)

Going in the bin soon will be:
- Bottom bracket
- Hub bearings

These are still in situ due to lack of tools (see post above ) however my LBS will be sorting this in the coming days.

Another category is components that I will not be using for the rebuild, but may survive being binned...

- Headset - it's the original Joe Murray 'Impact' unit. Quite tired now though. Will probably be replaced with a Tange Seiki Falcon.

- Original Kona stem. Modified because a long time ago I shortened the quill and polished it silver. Now looking very sorry for itself. I will swap for a shorter reach & higher rise.



- Onza bar-ends - these won't be used in the re-build.



Firmly in the 'keep, clean up and re-use' pile are XT shifters and MT63 brake-levers.



I always preferred these brake levers to the XT versions, as the levers are silver and there is no rubber cover.



I like the titanium seatpost clamp bolt but want a different colour. If anyone knows a stockist, please let me know.



Feels good to bin some of the old and tired parts, while also knowing that the bike will get a refresh with (generally period-correct) new parts. It will be a new lease of life for it!

 

[minor_LEGEND]

This is great to see. I have the same model/colour of Cinder Cone undergoing resto also. I like that you & yours have a history. Good luck with the resto.

 

[JCS]

Crankset

This was something I was looking forward to getting stuck in to. The XC LTD crank is one of the few original parts on the bike, albeit fitted with 3 new PACE chainrings in 92/93. The whole lot had become very scruffy.



Everything came apart easily except one awkward chain-ring bolt, which was refusing to budge. I got medieval on it with a drill and it was soon out of the way.

There was no way these cranks were going back on the bike in that state. The temptation to get a better replacement was very high, and via the wonders of this site I was soon in possession of a very nice upgrade.

Behold - incoming XC Pro shininess:



Here you can see the difference between XC LTD and XC Pro:




The next step was to give the PACE chainrings a good seeing to. I probably won't re-fit these to the bike because I want to go with a single black chain ring. But they needed a scrub and it was strangely therapeutic to see them turn from crusty to clean after a bit of polishing.
Here are the before and afters:




The XC LTD crank I will keep in the stash purely because it is an original part from when the bike was new. The PACE chainrings - they go in the 'decide what to do with later' pile. I'll probably keep them because PACE is a cool brand and because I have had them for so long.

 

[JCS]

Close ups of the PACE branding on the chainrings:

 

[JCS]

Seatpost

The bolts on the USE aluminium seatpost had become very rusty:



I soaked them in WD40 dismantled them and hit them with some rust remover:



Does anyone know a good source of new bolts? (ideally titanium). These are 45mm long and 4mm diameter:

 

[Pobb74]

Great write up and photos! Isolated parts on a plain background looks so good. Keeping the patina on the frame in this instance is a good call too.

 

[enc]

Great project

 

[moonlite]

Enjoying your approach. Great to still have your first 'proper' bike. Regarding bolts, here in Aus I've found a motorcycle parts site that has all kinds of bolts, many in stainless and titanium and often in different colours. Perhaps there's an equivalent UK site?