I have an old kona…a 97 cinder cone which is well used and been converted to SS.

The frame is a little rusty, worn etc and the seat post is stuck in the frame!

The frame is too small for me with flat bars fitted so options are…

Fit front suspension forks to get front height right…what type, how much?
Fit gears back to original…LBS quoted nearly £300 for this
Sell as is for best price with seat post stuck in
Extract seat post…how to do this, tried mull grips, hammer, etc?

In a word, yes!

Nice alpha!

Details of renovation project?

Most definitely. Lovely frames and make excellent bikes still. I have a 1994 Lava Dome and love it

It’s all here:

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=187958

Have a look at the rest of the website for inspiration. Just be warned the project will grow and grow and grow…

You better do! 🙂

Dont waste a great bike!

I can quite imagine its a bit small without a saddle 😯

Seatpost out should be quite straight forward. Quite common to have a 27.2 wedged in a 27.0 frame. Bottom bracket out, cover the seat tube bottle cage bolt holes, turn upside down pour some Coke in, leave it 48 hours. End of seatpost in vice, use frame as lever.

If too small sell it. If not build it up. Nice riding bikes

Absolutely, i have a 99 cindercone amongst others,still love it to bits.
Your cindercone has a great frame well worth upgrading!

I thought of using heat on it but didn’t want to burn the paint on the frame?

1 x 9 or back to full set of gears?

this has got me thinking….

I recently bought an old 94 cindercone frame and forks off here. Was intending to use it as a pub bike, but it turned out my non disk wheels are goosed. So my options are:

Sell it….

or

Spend a hundred quid or so on a set of carbon exotic rigids and a rear disk converter, use a spare set of wheels and disk brakes and have a lovely full rigid single speed for the winter…

If I go down the second option, is it going to cope with a disk adapter on the rear, and will it ride like an ‘old’ bike regardless, ie, not nearly as good as a more modern frame.

I wouldn’t use heat except as a last resort. Plus gas is another thing that might work

My 1994 Kona Kilauea restored from this….

To this….

It’s worth it!

That restoration ^ looks rather lovely … but I don’t have the patience, so if it was mine, I’d do the upside-down oil / coke in the frame twisting about in a vice malarkey to get that seatpost out – then leave it as SS, fit a set of 29er (~470mm A-C) rigid forks with a big volume front tyre on a 26″ wheel, add some comfy alt-bars of choice, and just ride it about in the countryside with a big grin on my face.

Err, hang on … 😉

This is why I don’t go on retro bike anymore. I’m gonna have to hunt down a Zaskar. I had a yellow one from 97 and I sold it. Big fat regretting it now. Never had a Kona but had p2 forks on my Zaskar. That one you have alpha with the crossrides and road tyres. Lush.

Keep it, renovate it to retrobike standards or just get it working in a configuration suitable to your needs and enjoy it.

I’ve a ’93 Cindercone that gets used more than most, primarily for kiddy hauling.

Lovely bike RobDob and a brilliant restoration.

My 95 Kilauea.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/triggers-broom-bikes

It’s great as it’s got history for me but it doesn’t ride as well as my newer bikes, not least because the rear tyre clearance is rubbish.

My Kilauea rides soooooo nicely – I did a ride in the Surrey hills in the summer and couldn’t think of a better bike I’ve ever ridden for the trails I did. The only problem was the guys on the modern bikes holding me up….. 😉

Yes they are well worth the effort

1995 cindercone

Before

Untitled by Plus one2010, on Flickr

After

Untitled by Plus one2010, on Flickr

Tpbiker: don’t bother with a disc converter, get it done properly. I went to Argos cycles in Bristol and they put a cross brace between chain & seat stays to reduce brake squeal. A set of hope mono minis with the smallest disc is perfect. I rode the welsh coast to coast on it this summer and it was ace. Fox floats are spaced to 100mm giving an a2c of about 410 when running sag, only about 20mm more than a set of P2s handling’s not effected to any noticeable effect.

Aphex: thanks!

As a Retrobike member and fan I should say restore but if it’s too small you may as well sell (on Retrobike) then buy something that fits.

Alpha – that my friend, is a tragedy! Sorry.
Robdod – stunning. Simply stunning.

Since we’re posting pics, here’s mine in its current incarnation

The Cinder Cone bug will get you- here’s my 1992 Cone:

Old Kona’s are always worth the effort- you’ll love it forever 😀

Mulacs: a tragedy? If you mean that it’s a tragedy that I didn’t restore it to its original state, I can see where you’re coming from. I toyed with the idea but my original intention was to build a bike based on the frame from spare parts in my garage. But then the hack bike project grew legs… That said, I really like the fact that I’m still able to ride my very first MTB 16 years on from original purchase. Plus, discs are so much better than v’s!

Alpha I think yours looks great. The slicks just make it look odd.

Robdob that’s lovely. Nearly as nice as your brothers 😉

The slicks just make it look odd.

They do make great commuters- mines currently wearing slicks for roadie chasing on Strava for the winter 😉
V- brakes in winter mud is a bad idea when you have a disc wearing ‘other’ bike to your disposal. Off road in summer with v’s is no problem on the other hand.

Mine with slicks:

I’ll admit, it’s not as ‘badass’ with slicks on- but it is bloody quick!!

Alpha- nice effort, take a pic with ‘proper’ tyres on and await applause 😆
Plus One’s is lovely too 😉

Aye I get the slicks 😉 . My 98 Explosif as commuter

Ah, I understand! Ok, well here it is in the guise with proper tyres which took me from one end of Wales to the other…

It’s a non drive side pic to show the disc mount welded to the seat stay and cross brace.

Ok so if I take on the renovation project where or how is the best place to re spray. As my pics show quite a bit of frame damage! Obviously will need new decals at the end.

Going back to gears will cost … Was originally Alivo shimano with twist grip shifters.

Notice some of the pics with flat bars and p2 forks give quite a steep front forward riding position. Don’t really want front suspension forks as it spoils the looks in my opinion. I do many road miles now so this more aggressive racing position may not be as much as a problem as it sounds? I also want to stay with flat bars so again does not help riding position but keeps original look.

Not sure if it is a 17 inch frame or 18 inch frame? Is it the distance between bottom bracket and seat post meets top tube?

I am not that good with bike mechanics and also time is an issue so going LBS renovation has anybody got recommendations of who or how to do this and probable rough cost?

Thanks for all the inspiration thus far, some lovely renovated koans on display!

I’d love to restore my 93 cinder cone but I fear its got terminal rust

Yours looks 18″ kona measure centre of bb to top of seat tube.. Your paint doesn’t look any worse than mine when I got it.. Get a close match to paint(local car parts are good) the original paint/decals are worth keeping in my opinion..

Your p2’s look original too and really suit the bike and give razor sharp handling.. An over long sus fork will kill looks/handling..

A few bits and bobs and tlc she’ll be a cracker.. Retrobike/ebay are the places to source parts if you want original parts..

Col 🙂

I’d love to restore my 93 cinder cone but I fear its got terminal rust

Nothing is terminal.

Ok. Maybe not terminal but it’s going to take a lot of surgery

It looks like the chainstay bridge has rusted through and this may have caused a crack around the bb chainstay join

Yep, get it fettled – used mine to try singlespeeding and got hooked – made it super light and the frame was as nice to ride as I remembered.

The frame is now hanging back in the garage as I have cannibalised it for the latest build but it looked like this after a quick resrray (not really into restoring things, prefer to see how far I can push them)

EDIT: if you do go the ‘alternative’ resto route don’t put a pic on restobikes – mine got a very cool reception!

Aw – where are you based? On Retrobike there is some good recommendations for powder coaters but it depends where you are.

Mine was powder coated, metallic silver (tiny sparkly bits!), frame fork and 2 stems for £40. But some powder coaters are rubbish.

I am the south east in North Kent 🙂

love the 1995 cindercone

thats the bike i wanted when it was out
i had a Marin 😐

my Kilauea from around ’97 / ’98 I think:

That was first install, different forks and ‘proper’ chainring now.

My frame was in a pretty good condition but had some changes (hose guides, disc mount and cross brace) so it needed a respray. I decided to get it powdercoated by some guys in Bristol who do motorcycle paint jobs – the result was really good and considerably cheaper and tougher than a paint job. About £40 for a strip and spray?

As for the steep riding position, P2s are about 390mm axle to crown but if you want to slacken it and don’t want suspension then look at Salsa’s cromoto forks.