1991 Kona Cinder Cone - Refresh

[Prodigal Son]

Those brake levers are very good but very heavy: a pair of dia compe SS7 would save you 100 grams. Love the xc pro cranks and those Pace rings are so cool: why go 1x? Front shifting w/ thumbies is near perfect. Keep the patina, it looks great w/ the vintage decals. Those USE posts are as iconic as Syncros.

 

[JCS]

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?

Good call! I will check that out.

 

[JCS]

The Cinder Cone refresh has recently re-started. First priority was to touch up some of the scratches on the frame. I don't want to do a full respray as I like the patina.
So, where to find Cinder Gold touch up paint?


I decided to look for a nail polish...
An internet search revealed one that looked to be a good match. I ordered a bottle and it works a treat. The colour match is spot on.
So, for anyone wanting touch up paint for their 1991 Cinder Cone, you need Chanel !

 

[JCS]

It's a small detail but one of the most satisfying parts of the refresh so far is replacing the crusty old bolts in the USE seatpost.
New titanium bolts fitted.

 

[JCS]

The refresh is nearly there. Just need to tidy up the brake cables and brake pads.









I will be using this bike mainly as a cycle track cruiser. I purposely chose a more upright stem & bars to make it more comfortable to ride. It rides very well however I am still getting used to the úpright' look of the stem & bars.

Overall very happy with it so far. It has a new lease of life after languishing in the garage for years!

 

[Spanky22b]

Lovely build love the little attention to detail bits you've done on it This is one of my favourite colours Kona has done for the Cindercone over the years,this and the 93 colour of green and grey/silver.
I'm gonna have to find a 91 Cindercone for my Kona collection now, i think i would maybe colour match the forks to the frame.

 

[JCS]

Cinder Cone update:

After the rebuild was finished in September the bike was put into regular service, riding several times a week on local cycle tracks (all flat and smooth surfaces). The bike rode very well and the high-rise Tioga stem made it very comfortable.
At the same time I got a gravel bike and have been doing a lot of off-road rides on that, which has been fantastic. The excitement of riding off-road again made me keen to get the Kona back onto some trails, particularly as there are some technical, twisty trails near me that suit a smaller bike - I can ride those trails on my gravel bike but the 700c wheels makes it less zippy through the tight turns.

So, onto the rough stuff we went, at this point still on the Panaracer Pasela's:



The Kona is great fun to smash around the trails - very nimble.

I decided to make some spec changes to suit the terrain:
1. Get some off-road tyres (amber wall is a must-have)
2. Find and fit a slightly longer, lower reach stem
3. Swap out the Turbo saddle and fit my old Flite (from 1993)

Here are the before and after shots:

Before:



After:





Tyres are Smoke/Dart. I also got a set of Panaracer GravelKing SK that I will try. For the stem, I couldn't find a Tioga T-Bone or similar in the size I needed, so I got a 'zoom' branded stem - it does the job and fits well. The flight saddle is still comfortable and has been tidied up to remove the various scuffs and battle scars.

 

[JCS]

Latest evolution of the refresh.
Silver rims with Shimano hubs and full hyper glide set-up. Red richey-style brake pads. Panaracer gravel king SK 2.1 inch tyres.
This is the first time it’s on silver rims since 1993 when I got the black Mavic SUP ceramic wheels.
Also the first time ever it’s on hyper glide. Original groupset was Sunrour XC LTD, and then the Mavic SUP rims were on Mavic hubs with a freewheel.

The Mavic wheelset will be a spare, with the smoke/dart tyres.

I didn’t want to switch out from Suntour completely - the crank is XC Pro. Lovely piece of metalwork.

Now to hit more trails.

 

[Spanky22b]

Really nice build but the seatpost height to the proportion of the frame is huge I think you need a bigger frame Nowt to do with me wanting a 91 Cindercone in that size for my collection, honest

 

[enc]

Really nice build but the seatpost height to the proportion of the frame is huge I think you need a bigger frame

That's what I was thinking. mega rise seat post and riser stem and bars to me spell move up to a bigger frame