Kona Caldera commuter

[JhnBssll]

Thought I'd put a thread together to show the progress I'm making with converting my Caldera to a winter commuter. I won't be retiring the charge as #1 commuter but the Kona is not getting used so I figured I'd try and give it a new lease of life

I built it up at the start of the year and it's only covered a few miles since then - I always choose the Stumpjumper if I'm going mountain biking Its got a nice mix of components, XTR group and mavic rims so is a decent enough bike, just needs to find its niche

Anyway, as mentioned in the fettling thread, the rack arrived yesterday I got that fitted but unfortunately missed the attempted delivery of the mudguards

So far so good...

 

[JhnBssll]

The mudguards arrived this morning I've gone for 26x60mm SKS Commuter Hybrids, I've had good experiences with SKS products in the past and wanted something with proper stays. Of course this poses a question about fitting them to suspension forks...

The pedals are for the Stumpjumper as I robbed the spds off it yesterday for the Kona build

I tackled the rear guard first - it was pretty straight forward as mudguards go. I took advantage of my stash of various spacers, nuts bolts and washers to get it sitting in the right place and ended up bolting the stays to a couple of the rack mount bolts. It's all adjusted but I'll leave cutting the stays down until I'm happy - I've cut them early before It'll be getting new tyres later in the week so may need some final tweaks when they're fitted

Next up was the front guard. I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish this today as the brackets I'm going to try and use for the fork leg stays won't be here until tomorrow but figured id start anyway and see how much progress i could make. First step was to check clearances so I attached it roughly with cable ties...

Looked promising so I set to work making the bracket to fit the guard to the fork brace.

This is as far as I got this morning. More updates when the fork leg brackets arrive. Once they're done it'll be just the tyres to swap, I've ordered some Schwalbe Marathon Mondials in 26x2.0 guise - I've not used them before but they seem to get excellent reviews

Bike now looks like this... I think it's rather smart

 

[raleighnut]

Looking good.

 

[si_c]

Nicely done. Zip ties are a great option for holding mudguards in place they never come loose and rattle for starters.

 

[Mrs M]

Nice work, looks great

 

[JhnBssll]

Thanks, it's coming on nicely

The brackets I'd bought to try out arrived this morning. I wrapped a layer of electrical tape around the fork leg then popped a bracket on to test it and they're spot on - I couldn't have asked for a better fit. Despite being advertised as SKS parts they have CatEye moulded into the plastic so I'm not sure what I ended up buying but I'm not complaining Within a few minutes I had both brackets fitted although still waiting for the new tyres before I do the final fettle and trim the stays

 

[DCBassman]

Looks good!

 

[JhnBssll]

Tyres arrived today I fitted them this evening. Unfortunately I was quite late in from work so didn't want to fire up the dremel and upset the neighbours so the stays will be trimmed tomorrow I did get the guards adjusted to where I want them, although I'm not quite happy with the rear. There's a big unsupported length between the seatstay bridge and the rear mudguard stays so it flaps about a bit. I'm probably going to fashion another mount midway between the two using the rack to brace against, that should improve things.

 

[JhnBssll]

I bought another guard mount cheap on eBay, finally got around to fitting it this afternoon. Also required for the bodge were a nut, bolt, washers and a reshaped p-clip It has made all the difference, absolutely no wobble now

And with that final fettle she's finished, all ready for her first commute. My only concern is she's now a little too nice to leave out in the bike sheds

 

[tom73]

Great job

 

[JhnBssll]

Cheers dude It remains to be seen how it actually rides

I've just ordered a pair of lightly used Schwalbe Marathon Winter studded tyres on eBay, will swap them on when the weather gets cold enough and see what they're like I've never owned studded tyres before so it will be interesting to see how they perform.

 

[JhnBssll]

I rode her in and back today, 15 mile round trip in pretty good but damp conditions. Averaged 14.5mph, 1mph slower than I normally am on the Charge. I was expecting much more of a difference so really pleased.

Overall it rides really well - the forks are still a little clunky, but they're 20 years old I might treat them to a service. I need to pop the saddle up 10mm or so, it felt quite low and was limiting my pedal stroke. I noticed she had a few admirers when I walked past the bike racks at lunchtime

 

[JhnBssll]

I've done a few more commutes on her now and dialled in the saddle height, she really rides well. The forks are the weak point - they're fine if your in the saddle but as soon as you stand up and put any power down they flex so much the brakes rub Not super impressive, but then they're 20 years old Fortunately I don't tend to stand up on the commute so its not going to affect the majority of my riding if I can't do something to improve it.

My eBay bargain studded marathon winter tyres arrived last week, they're now hanging in the garage ready for the first signs of ice I won't put them on yet, I don't want to tempt fate

 

[rogerzilla]

I'm commuting on a refurbed '92 Cinder Cone with 105 road mechs and M+ tyres. It took me months to track down the correct (triple-butted, 182mm steerer) P2 forks for the frame.

 

[Pale Rider]

My eBay bargain studded marathon winter tyres arrived last week, they're now hanging in the garage ready for the first signs of ice I won't put them on yet, I don't want to tempt fate

My Marathon Winters had a slightly taller profile, so the studs scraped the inside of the mudguard.

I see you've fitted your mudguards nice and close.

It would be worth test fitting the studded tyres before you need to use them in earnest.