Kona Hoss Deluxe restoration, advise re Sus forks please

[Martyn-123]

Hi,

Always had a thing for Kona's and still have my original Firemountain from new at least 25 years ago and refuses to die (the bike not me).

I bought a Kona Hoss Deluxe frame with the intention of being a little more up to date, it's been powdercoated my favourite green and have just recieved a Shimano SLX 1x11 groupset with disc and hydraulic brakes (oooh excited at going over the bars the first time i touch the brakes and a set of Mavic rims with Novotec hubs are being built up for me as we speak by my local shop.

Suspension is a complete newbie for me and need some guidance, i guess Rockshox are the way to go,

The original forks on the bike were 100mm according to the Kona page and i now know that i need straight as opposed to tapered, i assume i will have to purchase a second hand set on ebay and need some basics, i.e. What does the 100mm refer to and do i need to stick to 100mm and what else to i need to know to ensure they will fit and work.

I am not into any serious off roading and only do the occasional trail and mainly use bike for commuting but want to ensure the forks match the quality of the groupset i have bought as this bike will be a keeper the same as the other Kona i have,

Any advice gratefully recieved and please don't talk too high tech as it will go straight over my head,


Regards


Martyn

Edited by Martyn-123 on Tuesday 17th October 10:34

Edited by Martyn-123 on Tuesday 17th October 10:36

[Martyn-123]

Here is the frame, 26" wheels i forgot to mention

[joshleb]

100mm is the travel it has, that's how much vertical movement the shock offers.

You could increase travel for more 'give', but this has an effect on head angle and puts more pressure on the frame due to increasing slackness, would be best to stick to 100mm.

As far as what to go for, do you know what size front hub you've got going on?
QR, 15mm or 20mm?

Rock shox are a good brand, and lots available on the second hand market, either ebay or pinkbike.
What's your budget?

Installing new seals is easyish enough to do yourself, or you could get lbs to do it, get the forks feeling like new if second hand.

[Martyn-123]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply,

Front size hub ? Sorry i don't know what that refers to, please excuse my lack of knowledge re cycles,

Regards


Martyn

[Paraicj]

Your front wheel will be a certain width and the way it attaches to the fork will be a certain size and style. You would need to get a fork that has the matching style. If there is no info on the hub/wheel, you can just ask the shop making up the wheels for you, they'll know straight away.

As for forks, a good 2nd hand pair of Rockshox 100mms is a good bet. The 30 Gold or Recon are solid cheap options, the Reba is a bit fancier if you expect to do harder trails. There are a huge number of options though.

[joshleb]

As Paraicj said, ask your bike shop for further details of the hub they've used. I imagine it will most likely be QR, that is a 9/10mm axle.

One consideration when buying second hand forks is the steerer length of the fork. This is the length of the steerer tube that comes from the top of the fork, through your headtube, headset and what your stem clamps onto.

You need enough enough length for all of this, easiest way is to measure the headtube of your Kona, add 40mm for stem, 30mm for headset and maybe another 30mm for spacers, and that should let you know how long you need. (Calcs may be corrected by someone if they deem necessary)

I bought some forks a few years ago that required me to have a super low stack headset and stem for them to fit!