2003 Kona Fire Mountain 

I rescued my Fire Mountain from my parents shed in Jan 2017, after what I estimate to be ten years.

The original plan was to use it to practise bike mechanics on. This then evolved into getting it running again for use as a commuting bike.

I also wanted to get it running for minimal cash outlay. That went by the wayside though!

The bike had been stored with wheels off, with the fork legs, chainset and rear derailleur possibly bearing weight at some point throughout that time.

The chain was rusty (but not seized), the handlebar grips had basically disintegrated, the shifters had that vagueness about them, the cables were shot, and there was play in the rear wheel.

I started off with a trip to ‘Cranks Bikes’, a cool not-for-profit in Brighton which has a great stock of second hand parts, as well as some new.

I purchased two tyres, two inner tubes, handlebar grips, a set of DMR V8’s, brake inners and outers with associated ferrules and crimps, a QR seatpost clamp.. and probably some other stuff.. for £30. Bargain.

I dismantled the front v brake and fully lubed it up, but couldn’t get it working satisfactorily, so bought a new one, a ‘Clarks’ from Halfords.

I dismantled the rear hub, re-packed and re-greased the bearings.

That has led to some dramas, along with the crankset causing issues, necessitating replacement.. other posts to come on those!

MTB Blog Resurrection

This is the resurrection of my mountain biking blog, which was originally live between 2006 and 2009. I started riding again in June 2016 after a five year hiatus, and ride all over the South Downs. I am currently considering entering the ‘South Downs in a Day’ event (previously the SDW Randonnee) in July this year.

Kona is my favourite bike brand; I’ve had four of them in total. My first was a 2003 Fire Mountain in bare Aluminium with a Rockshox Judy TT.

Second was a 2004 Kona Dawg, followed by a 2007 Dawg Primo.

The latter was not ridden for five of the years I owned it, and was stored inside the various flats I rented during that time. I absolutely loved that bike.. I nicknamed it ‘Betsy’, and even created a Facebook page for it. That got closed down by Facebook some time in the five non-riding years 😂

I had it serviced in June 2016 and went on a few rides to see if riding was definitely something I wanted to start again.

Once I’d confirmed this (I’ve had a blast), I purchased a 2013 Kona Kitsune in September 2016 as ‘new, old’ stock from an online retailer. I’ve recently sold the Primo on Ebay.

Since then I have got quite into the mechanics side of bikes, and spend hours watching YouTube videos (RJ the Bike Guy, Bikemanforu and Shaibike are my faves) of how to swap out parts etc.

I rescued the Fire Mountain from my parents shed in January 2017, with a view to restoring it back to a rideable condition for commuting to work.. there’ll be a post or two about that soon.

Cheers!

J.