The Kona Rola

Roller1990

Think its time i officially introduced my self, im Martin and i live in Preston, Lancashire. ive decided to get back into mountain biking and this is what ive come up with.... ;-)



To be honest i think i got a good deal on it paid £400 its only an entry level down hill bike which is more than enough for what i will be using it for, it came with marzocchi 888 vf2 bommer forks which give it a nice touch i think, anyways this is were it should of ended.... but i got carried away and so did the frame to the powder coaters. I was umming and arring for days deciding which colour scheme to go for and decided to choose white and black.






I wanted to get my fork lowers powder coated aswell but i was unsure about them going into an oven so i decided to rattle can them my self, its not the first time ive done this so i was fairly confident i also used a heat gun to harden the paint a bit more than what the fresh air would of done and the finish result was pretty impressive



after apply the new graphics and cables it was starting to look like a bike again, you might notice the graphics are not kona stinky graphic, they belong to the kona operator but i got them specially made to fit my frame.




Added a bit of carbon fibre to break it up abit, the handle bars are off Tintin rize, thanks again mate, and seat post from chainreactioncycles, and the head tube spacers are carbon aswell #attentiontodetail.



new halo wheel, tyre, innertube, rim tape and anti puncture tape, its starting to take shape.



and this is its current state...



Ive still unsure about the rear suspention contemplating wether or not to get a fox float just for its 99.9% adjustability.

all feedback welcome and updates will be added thanks for looking

anyone fancy a bike ride :-D?!?!?!

pesky_jones

Thats awesome buddy I think you've done a wicked job! If you lived closer id go for a ride!

chez_m356

Pesky Jones wrote:

Thats awesome buddy I think you've done a wicked job! If you lived closer id go for a ride!

+1 to that, looks really good, nice one

cj11

Looks great you have taken years off.

Bnewsom

Simply stunning, I am inspired.

IT66T

I'm not a fan of full sussers but you've done an amazing job of the bike 8) ..

Roller1990

Cheers, much appreciated, like i said im new to this and so far only been to cragg and lee quarry, planning on going again this weekend, only go for a laugh really nothing serious unless anyone can suggest any other trails around the north/west, i dont mind traveling so if anyone fancies meet up one saturday or sunday that shouldn't be a problem there is only 2 of us at the moment but we are both keen enough (not very fit)

IT66T

Well i've no bike at the moment so i won't be going any where but on the plus side their is a few guys on here that go to lee quarry and the surrounding area quite a bit .

harrybarfield

Looks great. I know nothing about downhill bikes so please correct me if im wrong but I wouldn't have thought carbon was a good idea on downhill bikes?

russyh

What a great job, you should be very proud of yourself.

Roller1990

Maybe carbon isn't used in downhill im not sure but i dont do downhill i just like the shape of the bike for general use thats all and the fact that they will take a good beating and can go more or less anywhere :-)

IT66T

The strength of carbon fibre can vary due thickness of layers and how often the weave of a layer runs across the previous layer and it wouldn't be used in F1 cars if it couldn't be made strong ..

DCR00

Nice job

I wasnt sure when you said white, but i think it suits the bike.

You must have legs of steel to use a bike like that for general use. I tried using my Stinky on the FR trail at Delga and it was pretty hard work. Only really any use for gravity stuff.

Roller1990

Yeah the white was a last minute thing it went from red to yellow to black then i decided white and no i dont have legs of steel lol but i still manage to ride around the out skirts of preston every weekend 21 mile route, not very fast mind. I dont know muchabout carbon fibre but if they make handle bars our of it then they must be strong enough for my use because its certainly not strenuous besides it was either renthal bars or these but everyoe has alli bars so i went for something different

gt-arrowhead

Looks absolutely mental! Love it!! I personally would have went for a different colour scheme as i like to be flash. But black and white looks amazing on that. Great job with the whole thing, custom paint, custom decals and everything else. I am very jelly of your bike. Top job.

ry1978

Roller1990 wrote:

Yeah the white was a last minute thing it went from red to yellow to black then i decided white and no i dont have legs of steel lol but i still manage to ride around the out skirts of preston every weekend 21 mile route, not very fast mind. I dont know muchabout carbon fibre but if they make handle bars our of it then they must be strong enough for my use because its certainly not strenuous besides it was either renthal bars or these but everyoe has alli bars so i went for something different

The bike looks great, I've refurbished a few bikes myself and find it really satisfying.
Is that the "guild wheel" loop that your talking about round Preston? I've rode that a few times, it's pretty good as a fitness builder but not really designed for actual mountain bikes! Me and a mate ride it some evenings as its only a mile from the doorstep and can be done in about 2hours or quicker if you fit some slicks. I would recommend gisburn forest as a potential destination, it's about 45mins - 1 hour away from Preston, but well worth the drive. Some great sections of trail with plenty of scope for all ability levels

Roller1990

Yes the guild wheel its a good route and its about 100 meters from my house to get onto it so there is no excuse for me not to go on it, im actually going to gisburn today we was supose to be go this morning but got dragged out last night. Il take your advise on slicks for the guild wheel because 24x3" nobbleys did cause a bit of a drag

rgliniany

you didnt happen to live in Porthcawl Mid Glamorgan for a while, way back when did you?

Roller1990

rgliniany wrote:

you didnt happen to live in Porthcawl Mid Glamorgan for a while, way back when did you?

Never herd of that

Roller1990

Well its been an eventful couple of days to say the least saturday went to morcambe sunday went to gisburn forest for my first time monday just pottered about and today had another crack at the guild wheel and got my time down a lot so i was pleased with that, ive no legs left now though think they need some rest so i will be leaving the bike for a day or two. Im chuffed that its not fallen to bits yet i must of done a good job mechanical wise although i should do as i did use to work in a bike shop which unfortunatly no longer exists probabily the best in preston, anyways here is a couple of pictures i didnt manage to get to many (no one warned me you have to be super fit for gisburn forest) lol cheers for the heads up, its was a brill day though but the weather was cr*p

IT66T

Wow! you did get some miles in over the last few days and well worth it by the sound of it and just getting out there and enjoying ride is what it's all about regardless of the weather and good pics by the way and that last one looks 8) lol ..

rgliniany

Roller1990 wrote:

rgliniany wrote:

you didnt happen to live in Porthcawl Mid Glamorgan for a while, way back when did you?

Never herd of that

Chainspotting?

nice looking bike btw.... Kona DH bikes always look special

pesky_jones

wheres your helmet sonny

Roller1990

Haha still in the shop, ive been shopping around for one for the past week or so and when i have the money fjor one i get one until then im just going to live life on the edge lol