1994 Kona Fire Mountain

[Kieran-b]

I've mentioned this bike a few times before. Bought as a project and got up a running with parts from the shed, stripped to sell, changed mind, and rebuilt but not as I want it to be. The aim is rebuild (again) but with some carefully selected upgrades, so it doesn't look noticeably different from standard (because I like it that way). Kona say in the catalogue that it is ripe for improvement, but you won't be winning any races on it - sounds like just my thing so my upgrades will be mostly from parts higher up the 1994 product range.

 

[moonlite]

Nice example -- looking forward to the upgrades.

 

[Kieran-b]

Nice example -- looking forward to the upgrades.

Thanks, it's got a bit of rust in places, but it's by no means serious and the paint still polishes up nicely. Have a few parts already which I acquired from a rather sorry looking 94 Kula that came up for sale locally. That's what gave me the idea to do the upgrades. I only bought the Kula because I noticed it had the rubber top cap for the stem which I was missing and the Kona brake levers which I sold and regretted. The Kula also had some other goodies on there which I shall reveal later along with photos.

 

[captainsully]

Nice! Looking forward to this one - love the colour of this frame

 

[Kieran-b]

Nice! Looking forward to this one - love the colour of this frame

It's a lovely colour and I think the nicest the FM was offered in. First choice would have been a 95 Hahanna though - I must have spent hours looking at it in the catalogue as a kid, but never got one.

 

[Kieran-b]

Here are some of the parts I'm considering.
- Kona brake levers to replace the ones I regretted selling - I actually found the shape of them a little uncomfortable, but that could have also been down to the fact the original brakes barely worked and how hard I had to pull them, so will give them another go.
- Kona Race Light brakes. Was undecided about these, but I think I'll give them a try. Just need a good clean and have a few minor bits missing. So these may be one of the last things to go on. Or I might go for the easy option and get some XT ones that are ready to use.
- Suntour thumb shifters. The obvious upgrade over the Deore would be XT, but Kona chose to spec these so I'll give them a try.
- Titec titanium handlebars. It was a pleasant surprise to find these. Out of curiosity I weighed them and they came in at 161g compared to 195g for the standard alloy ones. Width is around the same with slightly less sweep so I'm not sure how comfortable I'll find them, but will give them a go.

The colour of the stem and forks is also very close to that of the titanium so they will look nice on there.

 

[Kieran-b]

Some progress:

Titec titanium bars fitted along with Suntour Thumbies.
Brake Levers are Shimano XT M095 with Shifter mounts removed. I would have put the Kona ones on there, but I discovered one had a broken spring so it's these for the time being.

Here we have XT M737 derailleurs and Cranks with DX Pedals.
I have 3 options for cranks, the first being LX as seen in one of the previous builds, these XT ones or some Sugino ones which haven't arrived Yet. The original Cranks were either Altus or Alivio and Sugino were fitted to the higher end models.
The Sugino Crankset I have coming is not the same model as Kona would have fitted, but it is NOS and also has slightly larger chainrings which is a plus as this bike wil mostly be ridden on flatter /smoother surfaces. However, all the chainrings are silver and I think having at least the big one in black looks better. I also really like M737 cranks.
Interestingly, the XT drive crank and chain rings was 2g heavier than the LX. The cranks themselves are 9 or 10g lighter per side for the XT. I had planned to use the LX chainrings anyway as the XT ones were quite worn. So it is nice to know I have the lightest combination.

And a Kona Race Light saddle. This is exactly what was fitted to the FM in 94 only a better example than the one I had.

 

[Kieran-b]

The last thing needed is the wheels which I have been putting off as it is going to be the most time consuming part.
The easy thing would be to keep it on the m900 XTR / Mavic 231 set I have on there already, but I really like the original Weinmann Bontrager BCX Rims.

However, the standard Alivio / Acera (can't remember which) hubs simply won't do, especially as I now have 8 speed shifters. So, my plan is to rebuild the wheels using M737 XT Hubs. To the untrained eye, they look exactly the same.

This will be my first attempt at wheel building so will see how it goes. Both the original wheels needed truing anyway so at least I'm not going to make things much worse. I have already dismantled the rear and thought I'd have a go at improving the appearance of the rim. They are just plain aluminium, not anodised and have a brushed finish. So I thought I'd give it a rub with a brillo pad and it worked a treat.

Can still see a bit of pitting and a few marks, but looks much better.
Will update as more progress is made.

 

[Paul R]

Looks tidy, perhaps some bar ends too?

 

[Kieran-b]

Looks tidy, perhaps some bar ends too?

I've never really been a fan of bar ends so will give them a miss.