gravel; — Reviews — Hairpins Not Hairshorts

This is a guest post from Germany-based cyclist and mechanic, Owen Lewis. You can connect with him on Instagram to tell him how much you like his new/old Kona.

We all have that old frame. The one in the garage. The one we see on the street. The perfect fixer-upper.

This is the story of mine - an “old” 2013 Kona Jake the Snake - a loyal gravel and cross racer I bought six years ago. Not old, but maybe a bit old in bike years.

I’ve maintained the bike and it was a sturdy and stable machine. But there were signs of wear and tear. The rims - an old set of Mavic Ksyrium Elites - were a little lifeless. The free-hub made noise. When I freewheeled, it squealed - - a sound no amount of grease could fix. The bottom bracket had also seen better days. When wet, rust streamed down the fork, akin to having a bleeding nose.

The frame was in excellent shape and fit well. I’ll give it that. But it looked dated. It had long ceased to emote any sort of joy simply on aesthetics. A workhorse, definitely, but the Snake had lost its bite. I was a bit conflicted. Bin it, sell it or breathe new life in old stock?

“Newbikeday” posts about bike upgrades create unnecessary wants to which every cyclist is susceptible. Myself included. Maybe I’d have gotten 200-300 euros on Pinkbike for selling the old build. Disc brakes and more modern geometry had me thinking that buying a new bike would just be easier, and lets be honest - more fun.

But once I realized how easy it was, the idea of restoration sucked me in. Why not bring the bike back from the dead? On the heels of the Global Climate Strike, buying a new build stopped making sense. The satisfaction of salvaging the Kona became an obession.

Step one was stripping the bike down completely. To do this I used a small sander and some steel wool. The combination of both cleaned the frame and fork and made the surface paint-ready. Once dry, the frame was immediately transformed, looking fresh from the service course. My decision to refurbish was completely validated.

I bought bits and pieces throughout Autumn and Winter, looking for online sales (note to self: there are a lot of online sales) for “old” or just released parts which year-over-year, are consistently supplanted by innovation from industry. Others pieces I had lying around my wrenching room at home.

I opted for a 1x SRAM Force group from a Shimano 105. The beat-up and scratched orange was upgraded to a two-tone red and gunmetal grey. For a first timer, my steady hand yielded something that looked fresh off the factory floor. Put together with ‘last year’s’ performance parts, I probably gave it another decade of life. Maybe some cross racing, too.

On cost, I spend less than 1200 euros. Had I spent that in an LBS, I’d barely have gotten a frameset for similar money. I’d have also been forced to compromise on component quality, putting me into Shimano Tiagra 10sp or something equivalent - - a compromise I didn’t want to make.

The biggest project cost was a pair of Hunt 4 Season wheels. In my opinion, they are nothing short of spectacular for the money. They are relatively light at 1579g, wide, and have internal width of 19mm so I can run them tubeless.

Having looked at many Eurobike 2019 galleries, so much new tech is being released, especially in the gravel sub-segment. You can either take advantage of the rapid technological progression by buying new, or looking downstream, scouring, as I did, for older components that can be bought cheaply, especially if you’re patient.

It really doesn’t take much to breathe new life into our old stock.

Specs

Model: 2013 Kona Jake the Snake

Frame: Aluminum 7005
Fork: Kona Full Carbon CX
Paint: Spray.bike Excelsior Red and Gray’s Inn, Keirin Flake
Wheelset: Hunt 4 Season Aero, rim brake
Tires: Specialized Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss, 700c 38mm
Brakes: Avid Shorty Ultimate
Seatpost: Canyon VCLS 27.2mm (shimmed for 31.6mm seat tube.)
Saddle: Pro Stealth
Stem: Bontrager RXL
Handlebars: Easton EA70 AX
Shifters: Force CX-1
Rear Derailleur: Force 1 3.0
Bottom Bracket: Praxis Works GXP BB30/PF30
Crankset: SRAM Red, 172.5mm
Chainring: SRAM narrow wide, 42T
Cassette: SRAM PG1170, 11-36
Pedals: Shimano XT PD-8020

Investment - all figures in Euros:

Spray paint from Spray.bike: 55
Bottom Bracket: 75
Wheelset, Hunt: 350
Bars, Easton: 60
Bartape: 20
Shorty ultimate: 120
Force CX-1 shifters: 175
Force 1 rear D: 100
Cassette: 55
Chain: 25
Chainring: 56
Tires: 83
Spacer/shim for seat post: 9

Total investment: 1183