I’ve had this slightly rough 1994 Kona Lava Dome knocking around in the cellar for a while now. Previous owner had had it from new and had updated it through the ages. Not much remained of the original bike other than the frame.
While stripping the bike I encountered a stuck BB which I basically had to chisel out of the frame. LBS chased the threads for for me afterwards.
Took me a while to work out what to do with it. Eventually I gathered up the energy to embark on a respray. I went for a different decal set because ‘why not’ and some funky crackle paint from Montana.
Other than my usual annoying handling errors and getting loads of overspray on the neighbours car (sorry Tim), I think it turned out pretty good.
Now for the build… I bought an incredibly ugly Saracen Max Trax as a donor bike but I didn’t really end up using much of it – just the v brakes, crank and bb. There were a few issues with kit choice.
Firstly, the forks. Project 2 rigid forks would have been ideal but finding some with a long threadless steerer proved impossible. Some generic cro-mo ones had to suffice. Secondly, finding a narrow wide chain ring for my 5 arm crankset. Basically if they exist they’re expensive. Cheaper to get a new crank – which I did, meaning even less if the donor bike was used.
Anyway, in the end I found some nice finishing kit locally and some other stuff I had collected previously. Used a 1×10 SRAM X9 drivetrain taken from my modern hardtail pre upgrade. Here’s the end result.
Rides really nicely and the gearing 36 up from and 11-36 at the back seems a good fit for Sheffield. Has some bike packing bars up front with the idea that it should make a nice tourer. Now to find a home for it and try and recoup some cash >.<
Another Bike 