Barn find: what year? and what to do with it. (retro kona content)

Just got my hands on this old cinder cone, xt rear mech, lx hubs (snowflake rear wheel) renthal sub130 bars etc. (not sure what the post is tho?

Can anyone tell me what year it is? & do I rock it as is or get it painted?

iirc the two tone fade paint job is frmo 92/93 – I had a hahannah from the same time. I would definitely save this one!

looks like a 93.

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/v/Manufacturer+Archive/Kona/Catalogues/Kona+Catalogue+1993/8.jpg.html

Clean it up, and ride it as it is. You might get a few quid for it cleaned up and shining.

The guy said it was once his pride and joy. Said he got it in the early 90s. Any thourghts on what the post might be?

money pit; once you start you won’t be able to stop “restoring” it and it will only ever be good enough to go to the pub on…

I’ve just been gifted an early days Muddy Fox Courier from about 1988??

Needs a fair bit of TLC, so if anyone knows anything about restoration??

you sir, are on a long, dark, slipery slope. 😀

Hijack.
How much is something like that worth?

I saw a bike very similar, with lots of purple bits down the tip the other day, I left it as I had no idea what the frame was as it had been sprayed & was undecaled, & it was pretty rough, I thought better of it went back within 15 mins & it had gone.

It had STX shifters I think, & a few nice looking bits, like the canti’s, with lovely booster things, was rigid, but had been outside a long time, wheels needed a re build but could have been saved, had Mavic rims, shimano hubs, I think STX again. I have no idea where STX was in the food chain though.

I kick myself about it still.

I really want that DCD if you want to sell it? Been looking for one for ages.

STX was below Deore.

Del: I know… been looking for one of these for ages.. and this turns up in Topsham of all places…

P’n’M – If i do I will get in touch.

Deore wasn’t around during STX. STX was below LX (and STX-RC for a while), above Alivio

First thing to do is tidy your garage up a bit!

wwaswas: hear that. It is in a right state. Bit like your garden in that c456 photo! (iirr) 😉

STX was below Deore.

ish
can I have those wheels that are lying around doing nowt neil?
the havens or the stans not fussy

well LX was Deore LX wasn’t it?

donk – check out my other posts in the FS section if you want them 😉

I love the way the spokes have been crossed. Ride it and tell us how they feel.

Deore wasn’t around during STX. STX was below LX (and STX-RC for a while), above Alivio

Clubber speaks the truth.

The stem looks older, TBH. And the forks – Mag 20s or 21s? Proper early 90s.

well LX was Deore LX wasn’t it?

hence my ish, you had/have deore dx, deore lx, deore xt. Nowadays plain old “deore” is below LX (and slx) all very confusing.

always fancied snowflake wheels, bet they’re a bugger to true

SS it and maybe stick on some bits from the spares box I say… But don’t spend a fortune on “restoration” or paying over the odds for period parts, That’s a Mugs game…

I love old steel Konas but they should be working bikes not polished, adorned with sparkly parts from the past and treated like a show pony or something…

Build it up cheap, ride it mean and enjoy…

Nowadays plain old “deore” is below LX (and slx) all very confusing.

They don’t have LX “nowadays”.
Current list is Deore > SLX > XT > XTR
Below that is the “recreational” MTB stuff topped by Alivio. Back then, the hierarchy went something like:
Alivio > STX > STX-RC > Deore LX > Deore XT > XTR

That Kona is very early 90’s, they changed the logo in about 1993/4

deore dx

ah, I’d forgotten Deore DX. I had Alivio/ STX when I was a kid and saved up my paper round money for a DX rear mech.

I’d just clean it up and leave it with it’s nice ‘patina.’

ah long syncros stems, renthal bars, dia compe (?) brakes and mag21s. The heady days of crap braking noodly suspension and your bars being in a different postcode to your saddle. Good times.

They don’t have LX “nowadays”.

oh my mistake, but if LX has been dumped it must have been pretty recent

Build it up cheap, ride it mean and enjoy…

Cookeaa – this is what I will be doing.

ah, I’d forgotten Deore DX

This has got a dx front mech.

I concur with it being a ’93 with the two-tone paint. Based on the spec it’s also been upgraded back in the day too.

One slight correction the pecking order was Deore LX > Deore DX > Deore XT

garden all sorted now

I shall expect to see a similar transformation with your garage in due course 😉

Although I’ll accept criticism of those brake hose lengths…

It went:

Alivio
STX
STX RC
LX
XT
XTR

STX RC was a slightly shinier finish, from memory – not much more.

Get over to retrobike. And if you fancy splitting, there’s some money in some of those parts too.

And everything (well maybe not quite) you wanted to know about retro Shimano… http://www.mombat.org/Shimano.htm and http://datenbanken.freepage.de/cgi-bin/feets/freepage_ext/41030x030A/rewrite/traut/SHIMANO.html

STX RC had a sort of grey chrome finish, whereas std STX was silver.

STX RC was 8 speed and STX 7 speed if my memory serves me right, I had STX RC on my ’98 Rockhopper.

Blokes and their hobbies eh? Can’t beat a good bit of arguing over pointless semantics 😉
Wasn’t stx rc 8spd as opposed to the standard 7? I was still using some shifters till start of this year.

If it is anything like the Kona I used to own it will not have much clearance for a wide tyre at the back. I am sure I was limited to 1.9″ or something similar.

still got STX RC v-brakes on one of my bikes. They’re rather handsome in an uncomplicated way.

STX RC was a slightly shinier finish, from memory – not much more.

I thought STX was 7 speed, while STX RC was 8 speed, wasn’t that the big deal with it at the time? the cheapest group to offer 8 speed…

I only had an STX rear mech…

What about the old “Exage Country” Series… that was even earlier IIRC my first “MTB” A Dawes Tracker in 1986 had Exage Country Trail components…

That Kona is very early 90’s, they changed the logo in about 1993/4

But it’s not the slick logo of ’90 and ’91…

What about the old “Exage Country” Series… that was even earlier IIRC my first “MTB” A Dawes Tracker in 1986 had Exage Country Trail components…

I take your Exage and raise you Mountain LX! (came on my ’89 Rockhopper)

http://www.geocities.ws/cegrover/StumpySideB1s.jpg

😯 thought I needed to get out more…
😀

If it helps any, original STX-RC (1995) was 7 speed 🙂

(It did have IG shifting though which made sod all difference)