Finally got myself a retro/old skool bike!

[Spudly]

Hey peeps hope this isnt the wrong section, im John and have been on here for a while but not really said much, been scouring ebay and the for sale section on here for ages looking for something that tickled my fancy, had a punt on a few assorted bikes on the bay, a few early zaskars, a couple of marins, but nothing really stood out and said i needed to buy it, till i spotted a proflex 856 on the bay last week, well as always happens i missed that one by £2 last saturday which was a blessing in disguise as it lead me to see this on monday......

Its a '98 Kona Caldera, with almost exactly factory spec still present, only the tyres, seat and bar-ends are non standard.


Knew straight away i wanted it and messaged the seller to ask what groupset it was as there was only a picture of the non driveside of it, and also asked if he would end early as it doesnt hurt to ask, long story short and he wouldve ended early if it werent in the last few hours of the auction, not to worry the auction ran and i ended up going to leeds last night to collect it!

Took a few pics before i fiddled with it, and ill be posting up a thread with a project in the proper section later on, but ive swapped the tyres for new panaracers (as they were the only 26x1.95 my LBS had in stock) changed both tubes and ive already fitted a brand new set of dmr v8's as it was running the original ritchey logic clipless pedals.

And after, new cables all round and readjusted the brakes, removed the bar-ends as im not a fan, and considering fitting my club roost go fast riser bars that i have in the shed but dont know as they will suit?

Anyways, bit of a cleanup and here she is currently, all comments welcomed and if anyone knows of an original 'crud catcher' available anywhere please let me know, either in black or blue!

 

[pavement]

black saddle and that's job done. Was that one of the scratch and sniff tyres?

 

[coomber]

You got that for a good price.

Looks in good nick. Could make some money selling that tyre and getting a black on the front which would look better too.

 

[AR-CoolC]

Very nice.

The more of these old Kona's I see, the more I feel I need one myself

 

[chrisv40]

Very nice Kona Spudly

Whereabouts in East Yorkshire are you?

You will have to join us for a ride, the next local one is here - http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=158048

 

[Spudly]

Cheers for the positive replies peeps, wasnt sure if i was doing the right thing by pulling off the bar-ends and taking the ritchey logics off, but im glad you guys like my work so far, not sure what im doing with the seat as yet, and the front tyre was a michelin wildgripper in butterscotch (as ive been advised by sylus, thanks for info bud) its fairly worn and starting to go hard which is why ive removed it.

Ive been on bikepedia and it should have 'break' and 'enter' tyres as standard, would i be doing myself an injustice with this if i were to upgrade the rear mech from xt, to xtr, and the front from stxrc, to xt and other bits and bobs, all period obviously, but i cant help thinking that a bike of this spec and condition cant come up very often?

And if anyone saw the auction, i actually paid less than the final bid as i had agreed a BIN with the seller but he couldnt end the auction, wont go into details but i will say the seller has to be one of the most genuine people i have ever had the pleasure to deal with/buy from, sterling bloke and im really happy he let me buy it as im really pleased with my little birthday present to myself lol!



*edit*


Chrisv40, thankyou, im in Hull, are there many peeps in the area, id love to go for a ride with other locals now ive actually got a 'retrobike'

 

[drcarlos]

Cheers for the positive replies peeps, wasnt sure if i was doing the right thing by pulling off the bar-ends and taking the ritchey logics off, but im glad you guys like my work so far, not sure what im doing with the seat as yet, and the front tyre was a michelin wildgripper in butterscotch (as ive been advised by sylus, thanks for info bud) its fairly worn and starting to go hard which is why ive removed it.

Ive been on bikepedia and it should have 'break' and 'enter' tyres as standard, would i be doing myself an injustice with this if i were to upgrade the rear mech from xt, to xtr, and the front from stxrc, to xt and other bits and bobs, all period obviously, but i cant help thinking that a bike of this spec and condition cant come up very often?

And if anyone saw the auction, i actually paid less than the final bid as i had agreed a BIN with the seller but he couldnt end the auction, wont go into details but i will say the seller has to be one of the most genuine people i have ever had the pleasure to deal with/buy from, sterling bloke and im really happy he let me buy it as im really pleased with my little birthday present to myself lol!



*edit*


Chrisv40, thankyou, im in Hull, are there many peeps in the area, id love to go for a ride with other locals now ive actually got a 'retrobike'

Looks good and should be able to hold it's own with most modern stuff out on the trails. Upgrade the non-XT to XT in my opinion and ride it.

Carl.

 

[Spudly]

Looks good and should be able to hold it's own with most modern stuff out on the trails. Upgrade the non-XT to XT in my opinion and ride it.

Carl.

Old skool bikes in my opinion will always be better than new skool, as for one they just look soooooo much better, but i was thinking of upgrades, its just i dont want to mess with perfection and do away with the fact that its now twelve years old and still in factory spec

 

[jimihendrix]

Great stuff so far, nice bike

Have to agree with Pavement on a black saddle though, a Flite would be ace.

Recon the Club Roost bars will look fine on it, may find your cables short for the higher wider bars though, unless you were generous when trimming the outers

 

[Spudly]

Great stuff so far, nice bike

Have to agree with Pavement on a black saddle though, a Flite would be ace.

Recon the Club Roost bars will look fine on it, may find your cables short for the higher wider bars though, unless you were generous when trimming the outers

Cheers matey its nice to know im not just 'chavving' it up in your eyes, and id not thought of the extra on the outers, ive lubed and reused the original outers but renewed the inners only, and what a difference already, im actually gutted that im not going to ride it to work tomorrow as i need to use my car tomorrow, oh well hopefully next weekend ill get out for a shakedown ride