I’ve got a Kona Caldera 2005! Its been excellent but about for some upgrades what does the stw collective recommend?

Current kit:
Marzzochi exr pro coil
Sun dx2 xc rims on fh.. Standard ish shimano rims.

I mainly ride local bways with occasional trail centre visits.

Not being unhelpful but I’d be asking (a) what don’t you like about it now (b) what needs upgrading I.e. Is anything worn/seen better days (c) what is you budget?

Treat the forks to a service/refresh at TFtuned, custom wheel build from Superstar, dropper post, Renthal lite bars…i had a Caldera back in 2010, mine was aluminium but they still managed to keep the delicate 27.2 mm seat tube and it had stays as thin as pencils…lovely to ride and with its standard 100mm fork (mine was a Recon Gold) it had a relatively slack (for the time) head angle of 68 degrees which was great fun given that it had a short fork in there….wish i’d kept it, it was a great singletrack blaster.

I had a 2008 Kona which was great.

I would look at alternative forks-I bought a pair of rebas and they transferred the ride.

Brakes have improved a lot so I’d be looking at them too.

Trouble is if you end up changing forks, wheels, carbon finishing kit etc you venture into new bike territory for the same cost.

I’ve had some issues with the rear hub, the cup cones prob need replacing. There not the best hubs ever but the wheels have kept straight. I changed oil this yr and put new brakes on last yr. Front end always felt a bit heavy. Budget £500 ish. I did think about a fs but would get the use and the Caldera does what I need it to.

Budget £500 ish.

In that case get a new set of forks, Rebas can be had new for around the £200-250 mark…then get some new wheels from Superstar on new hubs that have SKF cartridge bearings, that will also be around the £200-250 mark.

You’ll notice those upgrades more as they directly affect the way the bike rolls, rides, steers etc rather than some blingy carbon tat adorning the bike elsewhere.

Apart from spending money on what is needed (ie new cables and outers, grips perhaps,and generally giving it a spruce up), I’d be looking at a lighter air fork and possibly a lighter and stiffer set of wheels.

Just give my 2001 HT a set of XT brakes and XTR gear cable set, along with a brand new set of tyres. It’s nice to give the old bike a bit of TLC.

Deviant +1

thanks for the info guys, I’ve got some thinking to do. Wheels forks new or bargain 2nd hand bits, 26″ ain’t the in think these days it seems!

So what do we think of the bike.

Like has been said, eBay the forks and wheels….

….buy some new Rebas

….buy a set of wheels from Superstar

….shorter stem

….new tyres

That’ll be great once done, the Caldera frame is a decent short travel HT.

So after a day at Sherwood pines I think its new wheels and forks rather than bike. I did think the caldera was to small for me but I should have noticed some years ago I would have thought!
So what superstar wheels do people recommend?

With Superstar it’s the hub choice that’s important, they do Switch hubs that have been in their range for years and are bombproof or they do Tesla hubs which was their attempt at a clever hub with click on and click off axle standards and loads of points of engagement…. Trouble is the first batch were crap and ruined their reputation.

I have Tesla Evo hubs which have supposedly ironed out the problems and touch wood they’ve been faultless but I also have some Switch hubs on another bike and can’t notice the difference in performance so if I was buying again I’d go with Switch hubs.

Any of their new rims are good, they vary from 21-25mm internal widths and are usually available on prebuilt wheel sets for much less than £200….have a browse of the site but I think you just missed out on their August wheels promo where they were offering 15% off certain sets.

Like I said, Switch hubs (evo model now available too) with their DS25 rims or EX23 rims and you can’t go wrong, the hubs are easily serviced at home and axle standards can be changed in minutes depending on whether your fork is QR, 15mm thru-axle etc….

Cheers, thats great they have some on offer, stans and pacenti. I like the idea of been able to change axle standards as I ain’t decided on fork yet.

Cheers, thats great they have some on offer, stans and pacenti. I like the idea of been able to change axle standards as I ain’t decided on fork yet.

What do we think of these wheels: Alexrims or pacenti on switch ultra hubs. Any good, suitable for xc and odd trail centre use. The other ones are stans arch or crest on switch ultras clerance wheels.

As others have said forks definitely.. Rebas are just great but look at sids too. Wheel wise look out for some hope pro 2 evos with crest rims. I would go second hand as some bargains to be had. I have some of these wheels and been problem free and are good weight wise. Great for long life with sealed bearing cartridges. Some slx brakes too are the biz

like the colour on yours and older koans ride so well

What do we think of these wheels: Alexrims or pacenti on switch ultra hubs. Any good, suitable for xc and odd trail centre use. The other ones are stans arch or crest on switch ultras clerance wheels.

I’d go for the Stans as first choice (width depending) as I don’t know which of Crest or Arch is wider and I tend to run wide tyres but you may be different….after that I’d go Pacenti (I have TL28) myself and they’re great, light and wide…last choice would be Alexrims, they just scream budget to me….i’m sure their top end stuff is good but every ‘reasonable’ priced set off Alexrims I’ve seen have looked crap.

So there ya go:

Stans
Pacenti
Alexrims

…..in that order.

Switch Evo hubs are very good, not just for the price either….they’re good hubs full stop, I believe the Evo upgrade included a move to SKF bearings….which was probably just as well as about the only criticism you could level at the old Switch hubs was the standard bearings were a bit crap.

I run 2 on back and 2.1 on front can’t really go much bigger than 2.2 on back due to frame. I think arch so covers me for stupid line choice etc unless people think over kill for my frame etc. I only do xc bridleway locally and a few trial centres a year. Arch I bit heavier and wider than crest.

I got some bargain (second hand) Sentinel rims on Switch hubs earlier this year and they’re really good, so good I’d happily (well, relatively!) buy a set at full price.

Don’t be drawn into paying for a badge on your forks, Suntour Epicons (32mm, around 1.6kg) are brilliant for the money and are easily as good a comparable spec badge fork for half the price (around £140 or so). Stay away from their budget stuff but anything from the Raidon model up is good.

So, £200 for wheels and say £150 for forks. That leaves £150 change from your budget for pop and crisps!

Ordered wheels! Thanks for all the advice, looking at forks at Xmas the financial controller has stipulated.