Custom Build: a Pony Express Van Inspired, Totally Over-the-Top Kona Process 153 29er
Chainline Bikes in El Cajon, California aren't your average bike shop. Located amidst an industrial area filled with body shops and mechanics that are there to pimp your other ride (the one with an engine) Jason Guthrie and his crew has found a niche building one-off custom bikes for their customers.
Some of these are simple, changing out a bike's wheels from the stock ones to a set of Enve's laced to Chris Kings. Some are a little more involved and require swapping out a few more parts, but then there are the truly one-off custom builds where Jason and his team provide custom paint and decal finishes to the frame. On top of that, every single part is swapped out, some receive custom paint and decals much like the frame, the attention to detail is meticulous, and the results are always mind blowing.
The latest bike to receive that treatment? This absolutely over the top 1970's Pony Express van inspired Kona Process 153 CR DL 29 affectionately named "Fez".
Frame Kona Process 29 153 CR/DL
Rear Shock Fox Float X2
Fork Marzocchi Bomber Z1 170mm
Crank Arms SRAM X01 DUB 170mm
Chain Ring SRAM Eagle 32t
Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB PF92
Pedals Kona Wah Wah II Alloy
Chain SRAM Eagle XX1
Cassette SRAM Eagle XX1 Gold
Rear Derailleur SRAM Eagle X01 Red
Shifters SRAM Eagle X01 Red
Brake Rotors Hope Floating Disc
Brakes Hope Callipers E4
Brake Levers Hope Tech 3's
Headset Cane Creek 110 Series
Handlebar ENVE M7 40mm Rise
Stem ENVE M7 50mm
Grips Ergon GD1
Top Cap One Up EDC Orange
Seat Post Fox Transfer 150mm
Saddle Ergon SME3
Hubs DT Swiss 240 DT Swiss
Rims ENVE M730
Front Tire Ibex 2.4 FRC Onza BF
Rear Tire Ibex 2.4 FRC Onza BF
Jason has gone to town with his tribute paint job, the front to back stripes, the colors, and the gold leaf inlay. That's right- what looks like wood paneling in the photos below is actually 22-carat gold leaf. The red in the stripes is taken from the Marzocchi forks and then tied back in via the grips and the custom ENVE decals.
You read it right, that is a 22-carat gold head tube badge!
The gold just looks right surrounded by the ENVE Carbon M7 bar and stem combo.
But it does not stop there. The gold leaf is also laced throughout the top tube and...
...It goes all the way back to the seat tube. Damn!
Even more gold leaf in the Kona down tube graphics.
I am not sure if reflective gold vinyl stickers are an everyday option for your ENVE M7 hoops.
While the red in the Marzocchi Bomber Z1 forks forms the basis of the colors used in the bikes new paint job, the gold comes in here in the form of a custom graphics package
Jason just can't help himself. Even more custom decals, this time on the SRAM XO1 Cranks.
At this point it would be rude not to spec a XX1 gold cassette, right?
SRAM's hard to match red XO1 rear derailleur finds the perfect home on Fez
Nothing on the build goes untouched.
Well, maybe not nothing. The Ergon SME3 saddle is stock.
An orange One Up stem cap and EDC tool rounds out the cockpit.
Fez would be proud
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Hope everyone’s having a great Christmas/Boxing Day period.
Given quotes i got in the past, I'd say the frame alone was arount 3k ( for the paintjob), probably more if the frame was brought stock and the artist had to sand it first. etc...
But when you are doing something of this caliber you don't really discuss petty things like price.
I’d rather go for performance than looks, though it’s awsome if you can afford something that looks like this.
I'm telling you this from years of experience working at a shop restoring pre-74 Mustangs. Not trying to be an ass- just how it is.
I’m glad that other people can afford it. Because I really enjoy seeing what can be done artistically when money is no object. It is a shelf queen but it is sick.
Let's get a spotlight on the dad or mom riding a clapped out, barely hanging on, early 2000s Kona Stinky or Rocky Mountain Slayer. This version of the "custom build" is a series of old components gifted from friends or giveaways from the local bike shop's dusty parts bin.
Instead of a matching custom Sprinter van, they're stuffing that same bike into the back of the family mini-van, right next to the car seats, mis-matched kids socks and long-forgotten french fries.
Now that my friends, would be a hoot.
www.pinkbike.com/news/retro-tech-6-classic-mountain-bikes-crankworx-whistler-2018.html
Enjoy.
Just wondering why they went with a Cane Creek headset instead of a Chris King headset, at this build legel? Seems like a mango or red Chris King headset would fit with the theme.
That Fez´outfit doesn´t look mudproof.
www.vitalmtb.com/community/chainlinebikes,31215/setup,38118
Custom frames are built by framebuilders, now as then. Production frames too. A few of those builders are robotic.
It's not a requirement to forge your own tubes or weave your own carbon to build a custom frame.
Custom geometry is mostly irrelevant given all the factory variation, yet NAHBS persists, so people must want something of it.
So: custom built? No. Nonstock build with custom paint? Yes. Article title isn't incorrect. I was just trying to amplify Dirtpaw's distinction, which isn't absolute, and suggests generational conflict. Old days of old people.
You want to argue semantics over what the word 'build/built' means, go ahead but that's more your opinion than fact.
Hack.
He clearly doesn’t.
@treymotleyDH
Nope, WTB SL8 is the stock saddle for the CR/DL.
People still buy ENVE? I thought they were mostly road and gravel now.
FYI, your derailleur cable is too long.
Maybe we should start a series of youtube videos like American Copper, just with custom MTBs instead. We can have stupid (and made up) deadlines to stress people out and get the drama going....