Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

My select:
Pic 1, Dr Dew with a bunch of new parts could be okay
Pic 3, something with dual crown forks there
Pic 4, that GT looks fun. Also the Holdsworth looks like it deserves better.

There are a few Konas down there. Worth taking a closer look at them?

Thanks for this, I just rode them anyway and they were fine (felt a bit divey though - but they've always been like that). Will have a look at servicing them when I get more time.

Hopefully not doubling up photos. These were the others taken. There is the yard, the basement, and the dungeon. These are just a fraction of the yard and dungeon, the ‘good’ stuff stripped into parts bins (ie vintage campag or mavic wheelsets or whatever) are in the basement and locked away.

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There are some great old Konas and they have a good pedigree in off road stuff, but I'm no expert. @TvH has had a few I think

I honestly didn’t give them any looking-at, thinking I should be searching for some nugget in a Specialized/GT/Marin but the name seemed too familiar in a positive way. I doubt any mtb down there will be high spec, the ‘good’ stuff gets sold pretty quick.

May go back and give the Kona stuff a second chance.

All of them produced some duff bikes but I'd rate Kona as highly as those others.

The suspension forks are probably going to be universally terrible unless you're lucky. The RockShox fork on the Specialized Rockhopper might be okay

There are dozens of forks in the basement I could swap for, though I was half tempted to look for something solid with zero suspension to avoid all that hassle. Suppose front sus is ‘necessary’ though...

Suppose front sus is ‘necessary’ though...

What/where are you wanting to ride?

What’s that Reynolds Rando?

Raleigh I think.

Could be quite cool...

Initially wanted to get something CX style. Road geo with chunky tyres for shit weather winter riding, and very occasional unavoidable trails - I miss out on a number of options locally by sticking to road and paved routes.

But actually I was thinking something more of a trails and general mountain biking thing. No crazy drops off rocks, nothing too technical, some kinda pure roll over the grass and through the woods nearby, and hit the bridleways without any fear. Bog standard basic mtb I guess. Hardtail, zero frills. Even 1x setups seemed interesting.

Since budget is painfully tight, grabbing a mid-range hardtail from the dungeon seemed a good segway until i find what I actually enjoy offroad.

@Phildas it’s some amazing Reynolds 708 handbuilt Raleigh Randonneur cantilever thing. Apparently quite good as far as touring frames go. It was my plan B if I couldn’t find a suitable mtb, though indeed it is yet another road bike to add to the pile.

That pic ^ reminds me, if you see anything with Maguras definitely rescue them.

Maybe get a pic of the spare suspension forks and the people in the know can tell you which (if any) are worth a go? But if you find something that fits fat tyres you can do a lot of stuff on a rigid fork.

I’d much prefer rigid forks. It’s unlikely I do more than pop up and down a kerb, more for a few great shortcuts through ex-railway gravel paths, and the routes along the ridgeway that I am missing out on. Trying increase my winter leverage, and reduce my road/car interaction.

Right on. Retro 26" MTB conversion to fat slicks rat is a classic solution? One of those GTs would be great

Pretty much. Something that’ll flick the dogshit out from under it rather than skid on it.

👍 build thread? Take a million pictures and we can pick out the best parts of the bunch for you to assemble into something fun

The shiny chrome Kona looks like a Colin Mcrea (sp) version....any of those would be a decent base. The bronze Marin Pine Mountain has potential, but if your looking for a cx/gravel doobrie, then you could do worse than that GT hybrid thing.....already takes 700c, so salvage a pair of drops and associated gear cabling/shifters, and you're most of the way there.....

That black charge mixer might have some stuff on it worth pinching; an Alfine 8 hub gear and crank and some hydraulic brakes?

This crazy hoard needs it’s own thread

The Charge is ‘spoken for’ because someone already saw it and wanted the hub gear.

@frankenbike I’m not allowed total freedom or I totally would strip best bits from whatever down there. I can just about get away with doing that, but in reality the basement has the best groupset parts anyway.

@stedlocks which GT already takes 700C? Won’t it be a pretty skinny tyre in that case?

it’s some amazing Reynolds 708 handbuilt Raleigh Randonneur cantilever thing. Apparently quite good as far as touring frames go. It was my plan B if I couldn’t find a suitable mtb, though indeed it is yet another road bike to add to the pile.

what size is it? Ive been keeping an eye out for one of those for many years.

I’ll check on thur/fri/whenever I can get down there again. I think it’s a good size like 58, considering how it looked in the pile, didn’t appear little nor giant. What’s the budget by the way? I can always see what they’ll sell it for as-is.

Thanks. Don't know on budget, See how much they want?

Will do. Generally it’s easier to make an offer and hope nobody did a sold/completed ebay search. PM me a figure you’re happy with and I’ll try get it for that or under.

Before I chuck these on eBay is anyone interested in some POC VPD AIR elbow pads size Lg?

BNWT

£30 posted

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