Look what I 'made'

[mickle]

Following the failure to find my daughter a small enough complete touring bike for her little short legs we descended on this: an old 16" Kona Smoke mountain bike that's been hanging around in the garage for - uh - seven years. It has the reach and stand-over she needs, is a Chromoly frame and we've replaced (or are in the process of replacing) everything but the fork, headset, seatpost and collar.

I'll show the progress as it goes along:

Recent additions: Rigida Sputnik rims (32h w. eyelets) on a vintage SON dynamo hub and a Scott cartridge bearing MTB hub of indeterminate age. Marathon 32-559 tyres. Stronglight crank 28/38/48, Zoom 380mm bar and shorty stem. Tektro levers for V-brake. It's a little gem. More later.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Nice; Bar end shifters?

 

[mickle]

Nice; Bar end shifters?

All shall be revealed!

 

[dan_bo]

That's chuffing ace that. She'll be riding that for a long time. Nice one Dad.

 

[Dayvo]

At least the chain's not slack!

Nice looking bike, mickle.

 

[crazyjoe101]

Nice project. I have the same chainset on my tourer but I have the 46/36/26 version though. I'll be watching to see which derailleur you use -I have one from the 80s at the moment but it isn't playing nicely with the 10 speed chain - I've heard the Shimano CX-70 double can work well with non Shimano triples on friction.

 

[raleighnut]

Nice.

 

[mickle]

So it's a little further along. 170mm which is better than 175 but not ideal. Microshift bar end shifters. Suntour XC Pro mid length cage mech (Hoorah!). I managed to cobble together one good one from two wrecked ones :-) Best touring derailleur ever? I do think so. Selle Italia X2 vegan saddle. There'll be no bits of dead animal on this bike. My old EX1 rear rack. Best rack ever? Mos def. Crappy NOS Suntour XP300 until a good XC Pro comes around.

I want to make sure that the stem is right before I cable it up. And then have her ride it for a bit before taping the bars.

Still to come: pedals, mudgourds, lights and phone charger off that front hub, lowrider front rack, bar bag. Extra long rear rack mounts required. We have 4 panniers and a garmin kindly donated by Cunobelin of this parish. Chain is here - SRAM 991. Awaiting arrival of nine speed 12-28 cassette. And new jockey wheels.

And can i just mention in case anyone's failed to notice: No Shi**no!!

 

[Bollo]

View attachment 132093
And can i just mention in case anyone's failed to notice: No Shi**no!!

I did notice the curtains in your shed.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Good job, all the better as it's a labour of love, I'm sure your daughter will love it.

Those kona frames are great.

I hope your daughter has many a happy mile on it.

Best of luck.

 

[dan_bo]

View attachment 132093

Suntour XC Pro mid length cage mech

Werd.

 

[Bollo]

Werd.

As in 'weird' (strange, unusual) or 'word' (boss, top, well-weapon)?

 

[dan_bo]

As in 'weird' (strange, unusual) or 'word' (boss, top, well-weapon)?

The latter.

 

[Tiger10]

Mudgourds...... are they to go with the vegan saddle, a mid ride snack or like organic panniers?? ☺

But very nice.

 

[mickle]

Cabled up the gears, fitted cassette and chain and front brake burgled off another bike for now so she can try it. Flat plastic bmx style pedals are her choice. Maybe she'll adopt clip-ins later, but I'm not convinced that they're essential.

I've taped the lower part if the bar separately. The levers are a stretch and leaving a gap in the tape optimises the reach without affecting comfort. The brake is amazingly powerful - better than any cantilever I've ever tried. So her little digits should have no trouble at all hauling it down from speed.