Upgrade or change the Kona??

stantheman206

I have a Kona Caldera which has been modified over the years. (not sure what year but it's dark green).
The upgrades include Reba dual air with pop lock, slx cassette and chain, XTR rear shifter and a few cosmetic things

The brakes, front mech and the saddle all need replacing. I'm looking at the deore 615 brakes, a new XT front mech and SDG bel air saddle. I have had the bike for a few year and it's had relatively little use. I do like the geometry and set up and the frame is in great condition.

I have around £150-£200 to spend on these upgrades.

My question is - do I stick with this bike or is there anything newer out there that is worth changing to.???? It would have to be second hand and i'd have to sell the Kona (I have no idea what it's worth.)

My riding generally is fairly flat stuff XC and trial's nothing too extreme

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Stan.

stantheman206

I apologise to repeat this question in this section but I did not get any response in the Buying forum

I have a Kona Caldera which has been modified over the years. (not sure what year but it's dark green).
The upgrades include Reba dual air with pop lock, slx cassette and chain, XTR rear shifter and a few cosmetic things

The brakes, front mech and the saddle all need replacing. I'm looking at the deore 615 brakes, a new XT front mech and SDG bel air saddle. I have had the bike for a few year and it's had relatively little use. I do like the geometry and set up and the frame is in great condition.

I have around £150-£200 to spend on these upgrades.

My question is - do I stick with this bike or is there anything newer out there that is worth changing to.???? It would have to be second hand and i'd have to sell the Kona (I have no idea what it's worth.)

My riding generally is fairly flat stuff XC and trial's nothing too extreme

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Stan.

cooldad

So you need to work out what you could sell the bike for (look on Ebay for similar) and whether you could get better for whatever money you have.
Current bike seems to have decent spec - what does it not do that you want it to do?

But 'green' is a bit vague as a model - look on Kona website or bikepedia. Although the frame should be fine - most Kona are. Everything else is upgradeable.

t0pc4t

if you like the geometry and set up and it suits your riding I'd go upgrade. If it's not broke, don't fix, just attach carbon bits.

The Rookie

Sounds to me like you'd be better off sticking with what you have, add that £15-200 to even £300 sales price (considering the bits that need doing) and it won't get you something with Reba's on.

Upgrade sensible and you could get some very tasty bits for that money, I certainly wouldn't blow the extra money for an XT front mech over a Deore, use that money elsewhere.

Look on CRC for the older parts in the sales, bargains galore, check the classifieds and ebay as well!

BigAl

I'd stick with the Kona.

As 'the Rookie' has said, most are decent frames. Secondhand values can be pretty low. You'd need to spend a lot more than what you have to get anything new with Rebas. Also you say you haven't used the bike much - so why blow a load more cash?

Again, I wouldn't go higher than Deore for a front mech. There really is very little difference between Deore/SLX/XT other than weight, so save the money - maybe even get one from eBay for virtually nothing.

As for brakes, Deore or SLX would be my choice. Deore can be had for £70 a pair on CRC, which is outstanding value

The Rookie

BigAl wrote:

There really is very little difference between Deore/SLX/XT other than weight

I've not weighed every front mech going, but the lightest I've had was a Deore at 124g*.....lighter than some XT's.

*Low mount, double specific 9 speed.

stantheman206

Thanks for your advice people. I was leaning toward keeping the bike so your comments have confirmed my decision 100%. The new front XT mech idea has been scrapped! and i'll order the deore brakes today £70 !!!! wow. (incidentally while looking on CRC they have the crank brother bars and stems at stupid low prices too!!)

I suppose I should look at upgrading the wheels as they are still the stock sun rims - a pricey upgrade and not sure if i'd notice massive differences ??

BigAl

stantheman206 wrote:

Thanks for your advice people. I was leaning toward keeping the bike so your comments have confirmed my decision 100%. The new front XT mech idea has been scrapped! and i'll order the deore brakes today £70 !!!! wow. (incidentally while looking on CRC they have the crank brother bars and stems at stupid low prices too!!)

I suppose I should look at upgrading the wheels as they are still the stock sun rims - a pricey upgrade and not sure if i'd notice massive differences ??

If you need different length / width bars then go for it. Otherwise money maybe best spent elsewhere. Wheels obviously important - but aren't a cheap upgrade. Tyres can make a massive difference for relatively little. Stock tyres are often very heavy

Chunkers1980

If there's nothing mechanically wrong with the wheels then you need to weigh them nude to see if it's worth it.

stantheman206

Ok, just priced up some wheels - XT hubs on Mavic XM319's - £180 from Merlins!. Not wanting to blow my entire budget on these so can people please recommend some good light weight rubber instead???
Thanks

The Rookie

Get some lighter weight tubes, easy saving of 60-80g.

Lightweight rubber, Schwalbe Rocket Ron, Racing Ralph or similar are about 460g each.

Strip your wheels down to what they weigh....I buy practically all my stuff used, my wheels are sub 1750g and cost me a total of £65, Superstar always have some good wheelset offers, examples below!
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... vh890v7ds4
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... vh890v7ds4
http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... vh890v7ds4

stantheman206

Wow Rookie your not kidding!! Just put the wheels on the scales, interesting!!

Current Maxxis ignitor tyre = 626g
Current Tube = 308g

proposed new Rocket Ron = 480g
proposed new conti supersonic tube = 100g

By changing the tyres and tubes alone will be a saving of around 700g!!

I also weighed the complete wheels
Complete Front wheel with rotor, less tyre and tube = 1218g
Rear wheel (with SLX 9 speed cassette and rotor) less tyre and tube = 1720g

what do people think about the wheel weights ? they seem really heavy to me ?

Chunkers1980

You need to weight them completely nude

stantheman206

Sorry chuckers not sure I follow ? if you mean the entire wheel then the front is 626+308+1218 = 2152g
and the rear will be 626+308+1720 = 2654g. they seem really heavy, 5.7Kg!!!!!

cooldad

Without the rotors and cassette.

Chunkers1980

Apart from your poor maths! Nude means nothing on them, no rotor, qr, cassette,tape - none of which will be included on new wheel display weight.

stantheman206

Epic fail ! The penny has dropped. I get what your saying but I'll factor in weight of rotor and cassette etc when eyeing up new rims, I don't have the tools to dismantle the wheels right now.Does 4.7kg (not 5.7 lol) sound hideously heavy for the total wheel set weight ?

stantheman206

Thought i'd resurrect this post as just changed my tyres and tubes.

New tyres - Racing Ralph evo - weight - 440g each £43.99
New tubes - Conti supersonic - weight - 95g each £20.00

So for less than £65 I managed to save 800g, amazing! and the bike is now super fast rolling too!

Thanks 'The Rookie' for your suggestion

Ferrals

20 quid to save 200g sounds pretty good, especially when I was going to double the amount i spent on a handle bar to save 100g.

The Rookie

No problem,another area to look at is discs, typically a disc will weigh 125-165g for 160mm, lightweight ones can be had at about 65=80g, I picked up 3 alligators for circa £5 each (ebay) I use on my commuter and the rear of my MTB, the front uses an A2Z with a heavier disc part for better heat control, but that's still only 82g.