Rediscovered my old '96 Cinder Cone.....

[murf]

Hi Everyone

A quick intro first! I'm Paul, i'm 28 and been MTBing since 1991 so i'm just old enough to be retro! I'm from Fort William in Scotland, a fantastic place for biking, i live in Glasgow now but pop home whenever i can.
Ive had various bikes over the years, i currently have a 6 weeke old Specialised Stumpjumper FSR expert, an Orange Mr XC and a crappy trek Y bike.
One of my favourite bikes was the Kona Cinder Cone that i bought as a frameset in 1996, i built it up with loads of trick bits and it was a really snappy race bike.
I sold it around 1998 to a chap one of my friend met through Uni, i kinda regretted it right away but i was getting old and soft and full suspension was the way to go as i only had one bike at a time then.
So, last week i was wandering round the shops with the missus when i met the chap who bought my bike. Chat quickly got round to the Kona and it turns out he had bought a new Trek and it been sitting in his cupboard for the last couple of years.
I went round to his for a chat and a cup of tea, next thing my bike is mine again and heading home

Its pretty much exactly how i sold it(rear wheel is missing), still in pretty good nick and with only a couple of bits having been replaced over the years.

Ive stripped it down to the bare frame ready to clean and rebuild it and ive got some nice gear lined up to fit

Original XT/XTR spd pedals
Middleburn cranks/rings
Mint DX thumbies
Answer hyperlite bars
USE seatpost/ Flite titanium
Original XT rear mech
Magura raceline Johnny T ltd edition, orangey red (rear only)
XT front v brakes
Blah blah blah

So, the big question is, what forks should i fit? Period of course, i was thinking of RC35's but will they feel crap now compared to modern forks? Would fitting some SID's be considered bad form?
Anyone that suggests project 2's and a girvin flexstem will be ignored...........

Thanks for reading this far, pics soon

 

[ian31]

has to be the original marzocchhi XC 700S or rock shox quad 21Rs

i have X 700s on mine looks the dogs

its a retro bike they dont have to work good just look retro

 

[haggis]

Stick whatever forks you want on it mate, I ride a '95 Kilauea with a Fox 100RL on the front and its pretty damn good. Welcome to Retrobike dude!

Stew

 

[magicmistertea]

mate.... get with it
rc35s DO NOT feel crap :!:
buy some rc35s in the for sale section..... fit them...... sure they feel "different" to modern forks, but they look really cool and ride okay

 

[lewis1641]

its ace getting your old bike back! i sold mine only to buy it bace a few months later!

sids would be fine on your bike if thats what you want to do rc35's would be better though!

 

[cce]

project 2's and a velocity stem. it's the way to go.

 

[Anthony]

I think fitting a suspension fork is as retro as keeping the P2s, in the sense that although there was no suspension option on the 96 Cinder Cone, many if not most of them had suspension fitted either before they left the shop or soon afterwards. If most people used to do it in 1996, then it's retro.

Same with V-brakes, which appeared in 1996 and everybody fitted them. If anything, Vs are more retro-valid than cantis for a 96 bike, as cantis were widely considered as junk back then, and shops were giving them away.

RC35s are fine but I would have thought the perfect match for the character of a Cinder Cone is a 97 Z2. Early SIDs with 63mm travel are fine, but it's really a race fork and suits an Explosif better. The Cinder Cone is more of an all-round trail bike and the Z2 is the classic fork for that.

 

[murf]

Thanks all, some good tips!
I think that the XC700's were an option on the cinder cone as i saw loads with them fitted at the time. I originally had XCR's on it, they had loads of stiction and flexed so badly you could get brake rub sitting down!
The Z2's are a great suggestion, i hadnt thought of them. RC35's i think need special mounts to use magura's with. I remember seeing a tandem in a bike mag that had rc35's that had been modded to fit twin magura's up front, awesome!
P2's give you awesome handling but it'll be difficult enough to give up rear suspension nevermind the front as well!
Heres the frame stripped down, needs a good clean and polish whilst i find shiny bits for it

Heres some of the bits i removed.

And i found this lurking in the back of my bike gear drawer, retro-tastic

I'll start a proper thread when i'm ready to build it up

 

[Neil G]

Good project, I think you can rely on the guys on here for advice etc.