Sunday 6 April 2014

Bike Project: 1995 Kona Muni-Mula "The Colonel Mustard"

1995 Kona Muni-Mula = "The Colonel Mustard".  The idea was to build up a minimalist 1X quick and dirty commuter for short distances and flatter conditions, with parts I had just kicking around.  Yet another garage build, but I wanted to adapt an MTB SRAM Grip Shifter to work on drop bars just to see if it could be done (and yes, I'm aware the original Grip Shift back in '87 was a road bike product).  Normally, I would run a bar-end shifter in this situation, but this was just a experiment to create a working bodge.












Frame: 1995 Kona Muni-Mula 7005 aluminum frame 18"
Fork: Ishiwata EX triple-butted cro-moly rigid fork
Headset: Kona Impact
Seatpost: Kona Race Light
Stem: No-name (with a quill-to-Aheadset adapter)
Bars: Cannondale/Coda
Shifter: SRAM Gripshift ESP 5.0
Rear derailleur: SRAM ESP 5.0
Brake Levers: Shimano 105 SLR non-aero brake levers
Front Brake: Shimano STX cantilevers (with Kool Stop red compound brakes shoes)
Rear Brake: No-name red anodised cantilevers
Crankset: Sugino with 42 T (Specialized StrongArm clone with added spacers for chainline)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano UN-51 sealed cartridge
Rear wheel: Sun Rims Rhyno Lite rim, Shimano Deore freehub, Shimano 11-32 T 8-speed cassette
Front wheel: Mavic rim, Shimano Deore LX hub
Tires: Specialized Fat Boys 26 x 1.25" (100 PSI) road slicks
Chain: Shimano HG
Saddle: Rocky Mountain (not pretty)
Pedals: Wellgo








The frame had a nice dent on the top tube.  The previous owner mumbled something about a roof rack, a garage, and her idiot husband.  But I picked it up on the cheap, and it was otherwise aligned.  Cosmetically not pretty, but damage to the top tube is less crucial and should be structurally safe enough for road use.  I think it gives the bike character.












Who remembers the old Scott-Mathauser Superbrakes? Their brakesets used repackaged Modolo brake levers with the cable run coming out of the bottom between the lever body and lever blade.  I figured out a way to run the housing out through the lever blade of a non-aero SLR brake lever. This was a less tortuous route for the cable, and created less friction.











I was planning on using an aluminum sleeve, but found a 3/4" poly plumbing coupling was an easy solution to adapting MTB Grip Shifts to drop bars. Cut off the ridges on a side, and the cut end inserts nicely into the ID of drop bars.  I've got nothing against glue, but I trust mechanical interference a whole lot more, so I fitted a small steel press-fit pin.











RIDE REPORT:

This little machine proved pretty fun!  The slicks blew away all those peeps still riding fat knobbies to work, and the wider 8-speed gearing with allowed me to thumb my nose at those trendy single-speed or fixed-gear hipsters once the road goes a bit up, or a bit down (which it inevitably must).  26" wheels are really agile for those circuitous routes where cutting through back alleys, parking lots, and strip malls are de rigeur, with the occasional bunny-hop over curbs and railway tracks thrown in.

I had my fun with it for a bit blasting through my part of the urban jungle, then sold it as a trusty transporter to a deserving starving student.

N+1-1.

(2014-04-05) 

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