My DJ/MTB/BMX Hybrid...

A few years back, I got a hair up my @$$ to build a do-all style bike that I could use and abuse old-school style to channel my inner teen, without fear of breakage.
I wanted to do a chro-mo frame with a decent suspension fork and 26" wheels since I had a fair supply of tires/tubes for my 26" BMX bikes. After some searching, I started this project with a eBay closeout purchase of a NOS 2021 Kona Shony dirt jumper frame, I haggled with the shop selling it & got it for a pretty decent price. It started out as "olive-gold" that was more olive than gold...I found the color hideous, but I knew I was going to powder coat or paint it anyway.


I boxed it up for a bit as I contemplated colors & began researching and accumulating appropriate parts. Last summer while being a cheap-ass, I decided to rattle-can paint it, as I could shoot a decent paint job having a little experience working in several shops in a variety of different industries. I had an idea in mind that started out with Rustoleum Appliance epoxy in black, followed with a dusting of Rustoleum Colorshift Iridescent. Having that done, I hung it up in the shop to cure for a while as the hunt for graphics began. Once again I found some on eBay and ordered them up, not realizing they were being cut to order from a vendor in France!
The frame ending up curing for 6 weeks as that was how long the graphics took to show up! Once they arrived, I applied them and then shot the frame with Rustoleum matte clear.



It got boxed up again as more part were accumulated as the paychecks/budget allowed...

I couldn't justify the $600-800 for a R/S Pike 100mm 26" DJ fork, but I could justify a R/S Recon Air 120mm 27.5" fork for 1/3 the price. Wheels were another matter, as this was a 142mm spacing & my old knees wanted me to run gears. I originally wanted a set of Halo D/J wheels, but they were sold out everywhere. Most of the 26" wheels are 135mm set up for single speed. Once again I found a set of WTB wheels with the required spacing on eBay.



I continued to gather parts from a variety of sources, driving my mail-gal nuts. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to take many additional pics as I was assembling.

I have posted a few of these pics before:

So after a couple of years of parts accumulation & part time assembly work, this is the end result:







Parts List:

Frame- 2021 Kona Shonky D/J short
Fork- R/S Recon 120mm, re-stickered with green decals. 115mm spacing so I had to run a boost spacer kit for the wheel.
Wheels- WTB Frequency I25 26" (cuz 26 ain't dead)! Removed most of the decals and added some reflective green automotive accent decals.
Tires- Maxxis Icon 26 x 2.20
HS- Cane Creek w/alternating blk/green spacers
BB- SRAM
Stem- Profile Acoustic with stainless fasteners
Bars- Surly Sunrise
Grips- ODI long flangeless
Levers- Black Ops
Brakes- TRP Spyke calipers w/180mm front, 160 rear rotors (kit didn't come with the offset for the 180, had to track that down on you guessed it...eBay). w/stainless caliper bolts and green Ti rotor bolts. Jagwire cables with housings sourced from PorkChop BMX.
Drivetrain- All SRAM for easy tuning, SX 170mm cranks, 32t Eagle sprocket, 8-speed chain, 8-speed cassette 11-32t (green Reverse cassette locknut), X4 derailleur & shifter.
Pedals- RaceFace Chester
Saddle- Chromag Trailmaster in pine color, Evolve 350mm seatpost, Legend Q/R clamp (broke on the 1st dirt session, stock Kona clamp back on it now).
Extra crap- Flite Checkerboard pads, SRAM crank spacers, RaceFace chainstay wrap, Sticky-Fingers lever grips, WOW cable wraps, blk/green dice valve caps, green cable ends.

The first shakedown ride was a paved bike-path session for about 20 miles. I couldn't stop smiling, it was riding like a dream! The next ride was an afternoon session on some blue trails at Creekside mtb park from Tiffin IA to IA city. Other than the seat post clamp giving up the ghost (it had slipped a bit the day before, so I brought the stock clamp along) it was perfect! Handled great & rode like a dream! I hit the biggest "jumps" at the trail which were mostly rollers and a few 1.5-2' drops. My inner teenager was channeled... I think it's my new favorite bike... Mission accomplished.

A little better shot of the Iridescent paint:

Otto (Spelled Backwards) said:

Sick build! Very nice, Bro-

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Thanks Otto, it was a long time coming!

69tr6r said:

I love it! I want to do the same kind of build, and the Shonky was top of the list for frames. The only thing I would add to your build is a dropper post.

I have an old (2003?) Specialized P2 that I was thinking of starting with. It's aluminum, so not the greatest feeling when landing drops, but I could always start with that and wait for a steel frame to come up for sale.

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There are still a few of the Shonky frames around on sale, I think Cambria bikes had them the last time I looked. I am still contemplating a dropper post; it may happen down the road.

Thanks man! Yeah that Evil is sick! I almost pulled the trigger on a Evil frame on ePay, but already have too many projects.
My wife's cousin (cuz-in-law?) was a die-hard Kona fan, he had a Shonky and a Honzo, I liked them both, the Shonky is just so flickable.