A while back I picked up an older Kona Hahanna locally for what I felt was a good price. It was steel, it was green, and it fit me. That's all I needed. It did need a little work, but it was functional. The stock RST pogo stick was blown, the cables were all rusted and the drivetrain was gummed up. But it did ride and shift. The previous owner, apparently had either been real tall or liked to be very upright, as evidenced by how far up the handle bars are spaced.
So, I initially set about cleaning it up. I ditched the fork in favor of a Surly 1x1 rigid fork that I picked up from a friend (thus Hahanna-x1). I also did away with the stem extender, steel bars, as well as the kick stand. Having a friend at the LBS is handy, I picked up a second-hand set of straight 56 cm hybrid bars and a suitable stem cheap. I also replaced the torn saddle with a green Brooks that I used to use on my touring bike. And I stuck a set of green Schwinn Stingray grips on it, since I had them and they were green. That brought me to this:
This worked ok, I rode it a bit like this. It even did a decent job at the local MTB park.
I was quite happy to find that a rigid MTB actually climbs much easier, which I should've known but forgot.
However, in proper fashion, I felt I hadn't thrown enough money at a bike that was worth less than $100. So, I bought new wheels for it. The reason was that I wanted a disc-compatible front and cassette rear hub. That way, I could spend more money on a front disc set and to switch the rear over from 7 to 8 speed, going MegaRange in the process. I also threw a new Origin8 saddle at it as well as Ergon grips (frankly, the Schwinn grips were terrible for mountain biking). Also, I adopted a set of CST Caballero tires that friend left at my house. All together, I wound up with this:
Its actually been a lot of fun to ride, I've only ridden my Diamondback MTB once or twice since. Without suspension, I'm somewhat compromised in being able to really fly downhill, but I don't really do that anyway. It's pretty light, at 27 lb, and it climbs well. The narrowish bars might be less maneuverable, but can fit between trees and things that other bikes can't. In short, its pretty ideal for riding I do local. I even rode it in a cross race back at Halloween time, where I got my butt handed to me. But it was a hoot.
So, I initially set about cleaning it up. I ditched the fork in favor of a Surly 1x1 rigid fork that I picked up from a friend (thus Hahanna-x1). I also did away with the stem extender, steel bars, as well as the kick stand. Having a friend at the LBS is handy, I picked up a second-hand set of straight 56 cm hybrid bars and a suitable stem cheap. I also replaced the torn saddle with a green Brooks that I used to use on my touring bike. And I stuck a set of green Schwinn Stingray grips on it, since I had them and they were green. That brought me to this:
This worked ok, I rode it a bit like this. It even did a decent job at the local MTB park.
I was quite happy to find that a rigid MTB actually climbs much easier, which I should've known but forgot.
However, in proper fashion, I felt I hadn't thrown enough money at a bike that was worth less than $100. So, I bought new wheels for it. The reason was that I wanted a disc-compatible front and cassette rear hub. That way, I could spend more money on a front disc set and to switch the rear over from 7 to 8 speed, going MegaRange in the process. I also threw a new Origin8 saddle at it as well as Ergon grips (frankly, the Schwinn grips were terrible for mountain biking). Also, I adopted a set of CST Caballero tires that friend left at my house. All together, I wound up with this:
Its actually been a lot of fun to ride, I've only ridden my Diamondback MTB once or twice since. Without suspension, I'm somewhat compromised in being able to really fly downhill, but I don't really do that anyway. It's pretty light, at 27 lb, and it climbs well. The narrowish bars might be less maneuverable, but can fit between trees and things that other bikes can't. In short, its pretty ideal for riding I do local. I even rode it in a cross race back at Halloween time, where I got my butt handed to me. But it was a hoot.
