moonlite
Kona Fan
I'm in a quandary about this '96 Koa I bought here in Australia. 90s Konas are rare beasts here at the best of times and at the height of lockdown I despaired of finding a steel one so jumped on this as it's a larger size which is even more rare. But it was in Perth WA while I'm in NSW, so no inspection was possible. I took the leap and initially wasn't too concerned when it arrived: the main concern was that awful stem and the poor condition of the forks. There was a lot to be pleased about: lightly-used STX-RC, good wheels, new tyres.
It's taken a while to pull it apart, mainly because the stem was solidly seized inside the steerer (and as things go, a decent '98 Explosif came up which served as a birthday present and took up a lot of attention). After liberal doses of penetrating oil, vinegar and even Coke, I finally had to saw through the stem to get the forks off and the headset out. And while I'd noted the damage to the paint, the full extent really becomes clear when the frame's fully stripped down.
The strange thing is, while there is some significant damage to the finish, overall the bike appears not to have been used much. The surviving paint and decals are unfaded and rather nice. But there are random dings and bashes everywhere, and the two gashes on the head tube are deep -- it's baffling as to what the previous owner(s) did to it to mess it up this much.
So -- the logical thing to do would be to strip off the paint, polish everything up, and respray. But I doubt I could manage such a nice, deep metalflake red and am not sure that replacement decals for this model are available (not on eBay anyway). My general approach would be a kind of restomod -- I'd re-use the BB, crankset, cantis and wheels, and find good replacement for the shifters, stem, bars, and derailleurs. Overall, I'd want the end result to be what I would have if the bike had been mine from new -- functional, quality upgrades when needed, keeping the bike in use and fun to ride.
But that paint . . . I suppose the options are: full respray; extensive touch-up with the risk that the colours won't match; or thorough clean and re-seal, given that rust isn't an issue on an alu frame.
What thoughts? Is a Koa special enough to attempt the respray? I do want it to be a rider, but also want to do it justice.
It's taken a while to pull it apart, mainly because the stem was solidly seized inside the steerer (and as things go, a decent '98 Explosif came up which served as a birthday present and took up a lot of attention). After liberal doses of penetrating oil, vinegar and even Coke, I finally had to saw through the stem to get the forks off and the headset out. And while I'd noted the damage to the paint, the full extent really becomes clear when the frame's fully stripped down.
The strange thing is, while there is some significant damage to the finish, overall the bike appears not to have been used much. The surviving paint and decals are unfaded and rather nice. But there are random dings and bashes everywhere, and the two gashes on the head tube are deep -- it's baffling as to what the previous owner(s) did to it to mess it up this much.
So -- the logical thing to do would be to strip off the paint, polish everything up, and respray. But I doubt I could manage such a nice, deep metalflake red and am not sure that replacement decals for this model are available (not on eBay anyway). My general approach would be a kind of restomod -- I'd re-use the BB, crankset, cantis and wheels, and find good replacement for the shifters, stem, bars, and derailleurs. Overall, I'd want the end result to be what I would have if the bike had been mine from new -- functional, quality upgrades when needed, keeping the bike in use and fun to ride.
But that paint . . . I suppose the options are: full respray; extensive touch-up with the risk that the colours won't match; or thorough clean and re-seal, given that rust isn't an issue on an alu frame.
What thoughts? Is a Koa special enough to attempt the respray? I do want it to be a rider, but also want to do it justice.
