Old Kona frame rescued

[JhnBssll]

I've had a go at touching up the paintwork. It looks better from a distance but its war wounds are still pretty obvious up close

I might try and give it a quick tcut and polish tomorrow to see if that makes much difference but I'm not overly fussed. Realistically I'm just killing time until the spokes show up

I still haven't decided what to do about the brakes. I am still super tempted to get some old Hopes of some description, there are plenty floating about on eBay. The only thing stopping me is I'm likely to sell it at some point and I don't want to lose too much money on it Who am I kidding, I'll end up buying decent brakes...

 

[JhnBssll]

Done. Some old Hope minis on the way and a pair of used discs. They're IS no.3 calipers so 180mm front and 160mm rear all being well.

I've now spent about ~£160 and have everything needed bar spokes and new grips which are on the way

 

[DCLane]

Keep going with the paint: my son's Columbus X-Wing cross bike came to us absolutely battered. It took a lot of Humbrol coats in 3 colours but it now looks OK.

 

[NightCruiser]

There's certainly always a low-cost solution, but I'd probably have a professional special paint done, including the fork. What is also crucial here is what should happen with this bike afterwards and who rides it. One of these artists is to be seen here at his work.

 

[JhnBssll]

There's certainly always a low-cost solution, but I'd probably have a professional special paint done, including the fork. What is also crucial here is what should happen with this bike afterwards and who rides it. One of these artists is to be seen here at his work.

That's incredible work

One of the options is to respray it myself but that's a decision I'd make once its built and had been ridden a bit so I know what my plans for it are. Until then I'll make the most of the current paint job so I had a quick go with some tcut this afternoon with reasonable results. The red and white look much improved, it hasn't really touched the black areas though which were already the worst. Potentially if I'm able to get the red and white areas reasonable I could strip the black and repaint just that area then laquer over the lot but we'll see how I get on

 

[JhnBssll]

Keep going with the paint: my son's Columbus X-Wing cross bike came to us absolutely battered. It took a lot of Humbrol coats in 3 colours but it now looks OK.

Thanks for the tip - I hadn't considered Humbrol... I won't even bother looking for my old set as they'll have long dried up but I've just ordered a couple of shades of red to see if I can get a better match

 

[JhnBssll]

I had a chance to play with the new brakes this evening; I've got the levers and calipers bolted on, but I can't play further until I get the wheels built for which I'm still awaiting spokes. I also fitted replacement grips as the originals were ripped and falling to pieces, as well as a lizard skins chainstay protector.

The brakes look like they're fully functional, all the pistons appear to move freely but it's difficult to tell for sure until there are some discs between the pads Speaking of pads I'll probably order new, there are some odd scuffs on them and a few chunks missing indicating they've had a troubled life despite there being plenty of wear left

Oh, and I'm aware I've fitted the discs in the wrong place

 

[JhnBssll]

I've got a bit more clarity with this build now; my brother has decided he wants it but has requested a fork upgrade As a result I scoured eBay and have managed to procure these bad boys for a reasonable sum...

I think they should look ace, and I know from experience that Z1's are great forks if a little on the heavy side

In addition to these I've sourced a cheap 8-speed LX cassette and a pair of even cheaper STX cranks and chainrings, it's all coming together nicely I'll pop in to the lbs tomorrow to see if my spokes have arrived ready to build the wheels up

 

[JhnBssll]

I picked up 32 spokes today, 32 more to be picked up next week. This evening's job was of course wheel building so I have just finished the front. I brought the stand inside as it's cold in the garage

Wifey was deciding what to watch in that first photo, she decided on Thelma and Louise in the end Fortunately not long later the wheel looked like this so I'm now going to take it in to the garage and fit some rim tape

 

[JhnBssll]

Got the wheel finished and quickly popped it on. No point adjusting anything as I'll be swapping the forks as soon as the replacements arrive Now more waiting

 

[JhnBssll]

I've had the day off so popped to the LBS to pick up the remaining spokes this morning, shortly after I received a couple of exciting packages in the post - some lovely bouncy forks and an old 8-speed LX cassette

Once back at home I got to work building the rear wheel...

Before long I had two finished wheels in the garage ready to go on - I think they look pretty good considering the only new components are the spokes and nipples, all the other parts are second hand

Next it was time to swap the forks over.

I cleaned the headset bearings up, regreased them and swapped the lower crown bearing race on to the new forks then fitted them - I'll probably trim the steerer at some point but figured I'd get it fitted as is first. I also removed the Suntour cranks to replace them with the STX jobbies I sourced on eBay - I'm going to need to replace the BB as the current one is too long and is feeling a little graunchy. The rear hub needs a service, I will probably do the front too when I get some new 17mm cone spanners - no idea where mine have gone The other minor problem I've got is I hadn't realised these forks were the super early models which means they have pre-IS caliper mounts I believe they were called Formula Standard mounts and only really appeared on 97 models, the ones I had before were 98's and they were IS. No matter, I think I've found someone that makes adapters, and if not I'll draw something up and get it machined at work Bit of a nuisance and will likely cause a delay in getting it finished but not the end of the world and I may as well get it working properly rather than bodge it

It's really taking shape now, I'm worried I'm going to want to keep it

 

[JhnBssll]

New UN55 BB went in today with no trauma.

I tried to sort the rear brake but I'm having problems, the pistons are a bit sticky. To save messing around I've ordered new pistons and seals for both calipers - my brother lives a few hours away so it needs to be fairly reliable as no doubt I'll be fixing it when it goes wrong

Anyway now the chainset spacing is correct next job is to fit the new gear cables and index it all up

 

[JhnBssll]

I had the pistons and seals delivered today so I set about stripping the rear caliper down. Came apart fairly easily although I had to be careful not to score the bores when popping the old pistons out.

Reassembly was a royal pain, super fiddly and I ruined a piston in the process. Fortunately I had bought two sets and was only planning on doing the rear today so I was able to finish it. It's now back together and working perfectly again

I've got the cables fitted but the super cheap rear mech is causing problems. Whilst setting it up I realised how much play there is in it and I can't index it, I think it's scrap. I've ordered another bargain second hand mech and will hope for better luck this time

 

[JhnBssll]

Bargain LX rear mech arrived yesterday, fitted this afternoon. All indexed and working perfectly Just waiting on the front brake bracket now then I can rebuild and fit the caliper and new pads

 

[dan_bo]

I've got a bit more clarity with this build now; my brother has decided he wants it but has requested a fork upgrade As a result I scoured eBay and have managed to procure these bad boys for a reasonable sum...

View attachment 444351

I think they should look ace, and I know from experience that Z1's are great forks if a little on the heavy side

In addition to these I've sourced a cheap 8-speed LX cassette and a pair of even cheaper STX cranks and chainrings, it's all coming together nicely I'll pop in to the lbs tomorrow to see if my spokes have arrived ready to build the wheels up

Correction. Z1s broke new ground at the time and are still bloody good. That'll be an ace bike.