My KONA Bike Rebuild: Sintesi / Verlicchi Bromont aká KONA EFS

by | Jul 17, 2020 | Allgemein, Rebuild |

(not all finished)

Over the years I had contact to a lot of bycicle freaks and parts because of my Marzocchi forks. I got some bike frames and parts by accident. Apart from all the work around my Marzocchi suspension fork parts I had less time to create something usefull with all the bike parts I own.  Shame on me!

For about 8 years ago I bought a fancy fully frame with cool KONA stickers at RetroBike, which I liked the first time I saw it. It has a cool single swing arm on the rear with a rear shock in the center of the frame. And it has disc mounts.
Compared with catalog photos it seems to be a KONA EFS from 1994, as this one was the only KONA one using this frame. But the catalogue photos showed other colours (silver frame with blue anodized cable mounts). May be it is a KONA special edition?

So here are the main identification pictures from Sintesi and Kona catalogues from 1994/1995 :

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”64″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_width=”60″ thumbnail_height=”40″ thumbnail_crop=”0″ images_per_page=”6″ number_of_columns=”6″]Can’t imagine someone takes a Sintesi frame and changed the decals to Kona? Sticker looking very good, no fancy selfmade ones.
The other sticker are the same: the ‘Active Shock’ one on the red back swing, the ‘Downhill…’ one the seat post tube and another on the hoizontal tube near the seat post. My rear shock has no label but searching around it seems to be a Marzocchi C25 with oil-/air suspension.

Here are pictures about all stickers on the frame :

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”66″ display=”basic_thumbnail” thumbnail_width=”60″ thumbnail_height=”40″ thumbnail_crop=”0″ images_per_page=”6″ number_of_columns=”6″]For the files : As you might know in the beginning of the 90’s fork suspension becomes realy modern.  This frame (Bromont – and it’s brothers and sisters aká Thruster, X-Wing and Hantrax)  had been designed by Marzocchi and produced by the well known company Velicchi (the Italian specialists in aluminium), which produced a lot of frames in the beginning of the 90’s. All this frame have nicly done weldings, have ‘NV’ (Nico Verlicchi) on the seat post tube and/or a ‘Verlicchi’ embossing on the dropout. I think Sintesi than customized the frames and sold them.
The name ‘Bromont’ might be used because of some worldcup races which has been won by Dave Culinan using such a (preproduction) frame?

This Bromont – so called the 1st real downhill bike – had been very successfull in this period, e.g. well known names are Dave Cullinan, Cindy Devine, Penny Davidson, Rob Warner, Andrew Shandro and others who won several world and top level championships plus a million races/series in the lower classes. Some called the Bromont a ‘downhill only’ frame setup, because it had been designed early in the fully period and had some problems in stability and swinging during riding.
Also a lot of frames had been sold by various other companies, they created custom configurations and sold them under their own brands. One example is this KONA frame, other well knowns are the brand Iron Horse, Diamond Back Dual Response, Rudy Project Downhill, Saracen, Bogner etc. pp.

(Gallery about drivers)

Marzocchi designed the frame, surley they used almost all of their front suspensions forks for the setup. I have seen purple and blue XC400`s, purple and blue XC500`s, XC600 / XC700 in silver/titanium/gun metall blue/red, XCR, DH3 in red and green. All this forks have ca. 51mm travel, except the DH3 with 77mm travel. Except the XCR (badly painted) all forks had been anodized, which makes very taff surfaces! All this coloured forks made it easy to customize such fancy, colorful bikes.

(Gallery about Verlicchi  / Sintesi Bromont bikes from the net)

This (Kona) frame is one of the later ones from this fantastic period of bike (suspension) history, as this has disc mounts on the left side of the back swing.

Other known production changes for the Bromont frame found on the internet :

  • there seems to be a version with a longer swing (“long travel version (of the same shock) which gives the rear another inch of travel and at the same time”)
  • because of stability problems plates have been welded in the swing
  • for ’95 Verlicchi increased the wall thinckness of the swing from 2 to 2.5mm and took measures to reinforce the inside
  • first ones had 1 1/4″ steerer threadend, later 1 1/8″ Ahead
  • later ones had rear disc mounts
  • Swings and cableguides came anodized in : blue, green, purple, red and bronze
  • Main triangles came finished in : silver, titanium and black (the Rudy Project from the above Dutch review was available in black)
  • Sintesi, Rudy Project etc. called the rear suspension design “Active Shock” and placed such sticker on the swing
  • The later Kona (e.g. EFS) and Ion horse versions and others have the swingarm gussets under the pivot (mine has not) – it is a little reinforcement plate in the angle of the swing
  • 1995 seems to be the final stage of the frames lifecycle
  • 1st frames do not have bottlemounts
  • different positions of cableguides
  • different rear shocks had been mounted : in the Kona there was a version with a spring and I believe with an elastomer inside (?? did not find informations about :-/), another one was the Marzocchi A0033, which Marzocchi designed for this bikes. I have also seen a FoxAlps4 in a Bromont with green swing I own.
  • Later Sintesi Bromons had Formular disc brakes (picture from Sintesi catalogue!)
  • Later Sintesi Bromons had grip shifters (picture from Sintesi catalogue!)
  • From a mail Sintesi Customer Care Service NL 2004 (translated) :
    Bromont is the first full suspension system that Sintesi built in 1991. The
    first model (1991) had 70 mm rear travel, the second (1992-1993) had 90 mm.
    Bromont has been out of production since 1995.
    I’m sorry about the decals, but they’re done.
    Best regards,
    Sintesi Customer Care Service
    LINK
  • …

(Gallery about production changes, marked)

Now it is has been time to make a rebuild, not one into original status but with a little changes for my needs.

Back to my setup about brakes : Most of our familiy bikes have older Magura HS22 or HS33 (there are new generations, e.g. HS22 in 2015), which are unbelievable and absolutly rock solid for more than 20 years. No need to change!! Newer ones are not a good choice because of alle this crazy weight tuning and plastics. Additionaly the Evolution II adapter makes it ugly, as it adds a fancy (?) brace to it. Spare parts market is great, original sparse are still available.
This makes it easy to repair or exchange. My first decision was a red John Tomac HS33 edition. I think I have them for more than 20 years, they never failed.

Than during my recherches I found out about the Magura Anniversary editions which fit perfect because they have red brake levers (anodized)  :

  • MAGURA HS22 10th Anniversary Edition (with steel braided lines, black carbon braces, black Evo I adapter, without TPA adjuster)
  • MAGURA HS33 20th Anniversary Edition (with TPA adjuster, custom red anodized brace, grey Evo II adapter)

Magura 10th Anniversary : limited to 1500 pieces and born in 1996. Technology was from the Race Line. Had red anodized CNC levers where you could only adjust the brake shoes with an allen screw. Not sure about HS22 / HS24 / HS33 and Kolben diameter (a, b).

MAGURA HS33 20th Anniversary : 2007; limited edition Magura HS33 to celebrate their 20th anniversary. The main differences are that it is finished in a gun metal grey powder coat, it has a CNC blade which is anodized red and an anodized red booster. Shipped in a bag. There are only 800 worldwide (c).

If you continue searching you will find a great number of custom products for braces and levers with a lot of anodized parts in all colours. I went for the 10th one because of the levers, not that cheap but I wanted it and I got it.  😉

(Gallery about 10th and 20th edition)

I needed to open the back break line (Stahlflex), because I wanted the line passing the center frame hole and 2 cable mounts. After venting the brakes are working 100%.

Update 20200722 on Magura Stahlflex brake line : As I’m planing a new handlebar with more rise (like the older downhill ones) I need a longer stahlflex brake line. As I know all this brake lines are produced by Spiegler in Germany for many years. I think they have a monopol on it. You can buy brake lines at Ebay, not that cheap. I got a call the next day asking about the correct length (standard length for front brake is 900mm, which is f### long). Thats’s a good service! I talked to the chief himself nicely and he explained, that they nowadays are pressing both ends of the Stahlflex lines because of problems with the screwable ones (on my HS22 one side is screwable and the othe side is pressed). I was afraid of problems with fixed ends during assembly on the Magura, but he told be that the pressed ends will be rotatable. He asked for the version of HS22, he confirmed knowledge about the 10th Edition as the older and that there is a newer one from 2008 with the same name ‘HS22’. We agreed to measure the exact length and talk about next week. Cool!

The brake line connector details for the Magura 10th Editon are:

  • AG M6 x 1
  • AG M8 x 0,75   (AG = external thread)

My first attempt was to mount used parts from my boxes and my older bikes, make the bike rideable, test the frame and suspension  and than decide to update it a bit to my needs or sell it.

 

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Update 20200803 : About cable mounts

Just an update on spares : During working on cable mounts I was searching a long time for red anodized cable mount replacements and found some at AliExpress for less €€, one in a package.

For my rebuild I ended in moving 2 cable mounts from the left back swing (for disc brake lines) to the center frame, but need to drill it out.

Now I’m also in need to have some open cable mounts to be able to exchange also the back hydraulic line (new pressed Stahlflex – it is also a little bit to short) – it won’t fit through closed cable mounts.

So this little wonderparts can do this trick. I received this today – you can order in all colours and the hole – hole distance is the same. You can use the black clip to hold the lines or just use some cable ties. I like it 😉

Check out AliExpress for other anodized parts, it is a great source with less prices.

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And here is all data  about :

Frame weight : aprox. 2.7kg
Bike weight as seen on the picture : ca. 15kg

Dimensions (add picture from catalogue inline) :

  • Catalog model no. : ….
  • L1 – oben mitte-mitte : ….
  • L3 – Länge Sattelrohr – Mitte Tretlager – Oberkante Tretlagerrohr : ….
  • L4 – Mitte Swingachse – Mitte Achse : ….

Head Set : 20200909 : Changed to Cane Creek external  40 – 1 1/8″ – EC34

Stem : Variable one ….. (Changed to another one … (add details))

  • Reverse AL 2014 (1 1/8”) 100mm, red anodized
    – clamp : 31,8mm
    – 20°
    – Weight 139g

Handlebar : black (Type?)  (Changed to another one with more rise)

  • clamp : 31,8mm
  • Rise 30 mm
  • Length 680 mm
  • 10°
  • Backsweep??

+ cross strut red – Total Length: 28cm, Diameter 22mm

Handgrips : Ergon Gp1 Biokork Gripshift (L)

Seat : black, unknown

Seat Clamp : 34mm;

double AUTHOR Fahrrad Sattelklemme ACO-315 31,6 / 34,9 Doppelklemmung Alu6061 schwarz

Seat Post Diameter : 29,2 (29,4 lt. catalogue!!)

Seat Post :

  • 20201205 : New XLC vario Seat Post ALL MTN Remote Vario SP-T08 | 27,2 mm
    That’s a much better one than the China thing. It has more weight, but feels more stiff, clamps well and can hold the seat post at any position (!). This one has 0 – 65mm travel. There are other variants with 85 mm and more. 
  • Cane Creek adapter shim black 27.2 –> 29.2
  • China vario seat post – sold under several brands
    (diameter 29,4 is a real disadvantage as all the modern vario seat posts have bigger diameter. I found only 2 on the market 27,2mm, I bought this one. Not the big deal, but it works so far – funny toy!). Of course there are better ones on the market, also better remote control ones.
    Here are some pictures about the China one, it is broken after 2 months :
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Gearshift :

  • Front Derailleur 35mm (3x) – Shimano FD-M760A E-Type
  • Back Derailleur 35mm (8x) Shimano XTR RD-M950 short cage CS (68mm)
  • Gray shift cable Shimano SP41 with red wire
  • Chain Shimano HG71 6/7/8x
  • Cassette 8x Shimano HG50 12-25
  • Chainring Shimano Deore XT 44 – 32 – 22 – bolt circles 94 & 58 (Shimano compact)
  • New Chainring Shimano 42 – xx -xx.
  • Crank Shimano Deore XT silver (175mm?)

Pedals : Wellgo WPD 998 – SD click + Pedalhaken

Front Suspension : Marzocchi Bomber Z1 BAM (1999)

  • Travel : 130mm
  • Technique : two open bath hydraulic cartridges and sprung by a mechanical coil spring system. Spring pre-load adjustment and rebound damping controlled via external top mount adjusters.
  • Stanchions : 30mm – and full length guide bushing for superior rigidity, pilot bushing length: 92 mm.
  • Crown to axle length : 500,6 mm
  • Weight : about 2 kg (?)
  • Update 20200904 : So in the end I bought a Z1 BAM from 1999 with 130mm travel. Unfortunately one cartridge had a broken thread on the top and was useless :-/ 
    But I managed to exchange the top heads of the Z1 with the Z1 BAM by also exchanging the complete top stanchion sections. 🙂
  • Update 20200815 : I need a little bit more lift in the front, so I will move to a Marzocchi Bomber Z1 classic with 100mm travel and 473 distance axle – crown. As this is usualy from orange colour, I need to paint it (or not??). Today I received a Z1, price was o.k., but I need replacement stanchions and a big service.
    Also the crown is manipulated – not the best. So first is to disassembled it. I think I have a seal kit left, stanchions are rare …. not an easy job.  
  • 202007xx : I started with a red Marzocchi DH3 (1995) with 26mm stanchions, 77mm travel, weight 1446gr. But that fork had not the expected height and travel I’d like to drive. 

Rear Suspension : Marzocchi C25 or C35 with oil-/air suspension (will change to FoxAlps4 (is in service now 20201205)

  • Rear Hub Axle 125mm (end of swing?)
  • travel : 50mm (?)
  • axle – axle distance : 135mm
  • changed spring against a longer / stronger one (120NM)
  • needs special tool to service/fill with air (compare to the manual : REF C, R 5055 – Pressurizing Tool)

Brakes : MAGURA HS22 10th Anniversary with Stahlflex brake lines

  • changed the black Evo adapter to grey ones
  • new front brake line (will change back one later)
  • new oil and inflating

Shifters : Sachs Power Grip Extreme Wavey red, Retro NOS 3×8

Bottom bracket : 68mm

Tube frame diameters : …

Wheels : 26″ aluminium using ‘Schwalbe Marathon’
– 20201011 : Updated : New wheels
Setup Changes :

  • exchanged rivets for water bottel holder (corrosion)
  • dismounted back cable guards on left swing (don’t needed, they where for hydraulic disc brake line) and mounted them on the left side of the frame for Maguras steel line
  • added 2 cabel mounts on center frame tube as I have seen on other fames pictures, I don’t like there cables flying around; drilled them to open ones
  • exchanged the rear suspension spring (longer, stronger : 120Nm)
  • …

To do : 

  • Mount an E-type adapter or add a rivet to better hold Shimano FD-M760A E-Type on center tube (needs to be as there is no frame mount and adapter does not fit because of frame geometry)
  • add another AHead headset cap in red 1 1/8″
  • exchange the DH3 brace against a silver one from a XC600 (with holes) – if possible get a red enodized one!!
  • find other anodized red Maguar braces or silver ones?? (not sure about)

Sources : 

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