burn me on a stake I've modernised my 94 lava dome

.

Don't get me wrong, i like it, i really do.
But..haven't you just made a perfectly good Caldera a little bit heavier :D
 
Yep I have, I'm surprised nobody mentioned the caldera earlier. although the difference isn't huge as the caldera is only single butted. the lava dome is around 200g heavier if I remember correctly.

I actually liked how it rode, even with it's slack angles.
 
Version 2, no bar ends yet though

2012-04-01162814.jpg
 
get matching tyres on it (same as the front) and thats a winner

calderas a bit rubbish ,kinda dead feel to it ,lava domes far nicer
 
mikee":104wjxzl said:
get matching tyres on it (same as the front) and thats a winner

Yeah I know, they were running tubeless front and rear but the dishing on the rear wheel wasn't quite right for the right rear end of the frame. I didn't have time to re-dish the rear so had to change the tyre for something smaller, and all I had was an awful Panracer fire XC, I didn't want to touch the front as its still tubeless hence the odd tyres earlier today. The rear wheel has been re-dished and the matching tyre is back on the rear

mikee":104wjxzl said:
calderas a bit rubbish ,kinda dead feel to it ,lava domes far nicer

Couldn't agree more, I though it was just me, its the most un-inspiring frame I own. The lava dome is a much nicer ride, even with the 100mm forks fitted
 
thats cool.

F🤬🤬k about with it, do what you want but always make it rideable. thats my opinion.

if you render it useless then you have a problem :lol:
 
We_are_Stevo":2atuw342 said:
There's a lot of debate on here re the foibles of fitting too long a fork to a retro frame; but there's only 20mm difference between a period Judy and the fork you have...

...how bad can it be?

If you like the way it looks and rides then it's okay in my book 8)

This is a modern 100mm fork. It's a lot more than 20mm longer than a 63mm Judy.
 
I've got the same '94 lavadome, all original stuff at the moment. I've owned & built a few different bikes, and I can honestly say I've been converted to the 'Steel is real' posse by the Lavadome; it's just such a great frame!

I'd totally disagree with highlandsflyer's comment that old kit is always better. That's an odd thing to say of anything, and it doesn't take much riding different bikes to realise that some of the latest kit is incredible, just as some retro kit is still the best.

The Lefty on the Cannondale I had a few years back was a trillion times better than any [retro] fork I've ever ridden, in fact every single component was technically better than on any 90's bike I've owned. But despite the epic ride, it was a bit soulless. I'm going the retro route with my current Lavadome build because I'm purposefully building something that reminds me of my own glory days. So it'll have Girvin Vectors and old HS33s and club roost all over it... it's more about beauty than it is about engineering or sport.

So the answer to your question is it depends on you; that's the cool thing about building your own, if you want it to ride the best then you'll probably want the boring, faceless modern stuff on it because it's lighter and quicker. The exception is the frame; modern fashion being what it is, steel is nowhere and aluminium frames are crazily overengineered/sized and not that light. So as long as you stick with the Lavadome you can't go wrong; there's a reason it's a classic.
 
It's a much better photo this time, perhaps it wasn't so bad originally, red tyres don't work, and I think the rear mech still stands out like a sore thumb.
 
Completely agree about the tyre,.looks awful and rides awful! Like I said earlier out was only on due to the dish being wrong and nothing else fitting. Its gone in the bin now.

I've got a 95 xt rear mech for it which should look better, along with the original dx thumbies.
 
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