Repurposing an older Kona Jake the Snake

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Powerful Pete
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Location: Lima, Peru and the Washington DC area - it's complicated.

by Powerful Pete

Hello all - a quandary.

I have an older (2008 - as per pic) bog standard Jake the Snake collecting dust. I hate the braking and fork shudder, and the components are crap. I need a second string gravel bike for use on light gravel riding (in the DC area for those who know) that would be used 2-3 months a year. I have a nice gravel/all-round bike in Peru, where I spend most of my time (Jamis Renegade Elite) that I thoroughly enjoy, but spending another $4K on an equivalent bike would be silly.

So another option is repurposing the JTS with better components (either a new 105 groupset or used Ultegra) and a new wheelset (Campagnolo Zondas or something). But what about brakes? I hate the standard Avids that aren't very good at stopping and provide me wonderful front fork shudder that I have never been able to address.

What would you do? Thinking of a budget in the $1K range for the work required?
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kona08_JTS.jpg
Road bike: Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix...
Supercommuter: Jamis Renegade...
Oldie but goodie: De Rosa Professional Slx, Campagnolo C-Record...
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

mattr
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by mattr

Does the Jake have a drilling for a fork mounted cable stop.
The top race mounted ones are terrible for judder (the whole steerer system gets involved).
Moving mine from top race to fork crown gave me a) really good braking with no judder b) the ability to do rolling stoppies on my CX bike.

by Weenie


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mattr
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by mattr


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Powerful Pete
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by Powerful Pete

Hi - I'm on the wrong continent right now to confirm, but I don't believe so - it has the dreaded top race mounted one.
Road bike: Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix...
Supercommuter: Jamis Renegade...
Oldie but goodie: De Rosa Professional Slx, Campagnolo C-Record...
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

mattr
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Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

Yeah, that's what most of mine have had from new. Usually a quick swap except for my last one, which required new forks (original was carbon crown with no drilling). Well worth it to get rid of the judder. (Even the new forks with the top race mounted stop juddered........)

mattr
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by mattr

And the few pictures i can find of earlier jakes all have drilled crowns, so it may yet be an option.......

Marin
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by Marin

Exactly, get some good, wide tires (Gravelkings?), fork-mounted cable stop, TRP or R55C4 brake pads - and new chain / cables - done.

Maybe a bigger cassette and a 9-speed MTB derailleur for better gearing?

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jcrr
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by jcrr

Get some TRP v-brakes (either 8.4s or 9.0s, depending on your choice of SRAM or shimaNO), forget about cable stops, and enjoy the braking power.
"If it ain't broken, it could be lighter"

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Powerful Pete
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by Powerful Pete

@jcrr that approach appeals to me. Never ridden v-brakes - would they not play well with Campa (I would like to standardize away from Shimano and have never enjoyed SRAM)?
Road bike: Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix...
Supercommuter: Jamis Renegade...
Oldie but goodie: De Rosa Professional Slx, Campagnolo C-Record...
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

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ALAN Carbon+
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by ALAN Carbon+

The TRP 8.4 are designed to work with both SRAM and Campag.

I have 8.4s on my Felt CX bike (come commuter) which has had both Centaur and now has Athena on it.

Only advice I can provide is replace the cable noodle with ones with a barrel adjuster to make it easier to set the pads up.

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jcrr
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by jcrr

Powerful Pete wrote:
Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:17 pm
@jcrr that approach appeals to me. Never ridden v-brakes - would they not play well with Campa (I would like to standardize away from Shimano and have never enjoyed SRAM)?
I just learned CX8.4s work with Campy. I love this place! :beerchug:

I raced CX for many seasons w CX8.4s and SRAM shifters. Never a complaint from me. They were always more reliable and WAY more powerful than any cantis I ever tried. The only reason I went to discs is b/c I was wearing rims down because of muddy racing conditions. Much cheaper to replace brake pads than wheels. Also, yes, there is no denying they do not stop as well in wet & muddy vs dry, but they still do much better than any cantis in those conditions, IMHO.

I'm confused by @ALAN Carbon+'s comment. Mine (and every TRP set I've seen) come with a cable noodle WITH a barrel adjuster. Do a quick google search.
"If it ain't broken, it could be lighter"

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ALAN Carbon+
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by ALAN Carbon+



The set that I got from Taiwan off eBay didn't come with noodles that had a barrel adjuster.

Could be that they came in nondescript OEM looking packaging rather than retail boxes, but it was also a couple of years ago. Who knows.

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Powerful Pete
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Location: Lima, Peru and the Washington DC area - it's complicated.

by Powerful Pete

Thanks guys - you've provided plenty of useful information!

Now off to think this through... mumble mumble...
Road bike: Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix...
Supercommuter: Jamis Renegade...
Oldie but goodie: De Rosa Professional Slx, Campagnolo C-Record...
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

FilmAt11
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by FilmAt11

Coincidence, I'm currently re-building my 2008 JTS with Campy Xenon + Zonda C17. I'm using v-brakes as well.

by Weenie


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Powerful Pete
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Posts: 4132
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2004 10:22 am
Location: Lima, Peru and the Washington DC area - it's complicated.

by Powerful Pete

Nice - might you post a build thread with some pictures to provide some of us other poor souls some ideas? On a different thread I saw the cheaper Fuji and possibly even a Cannondale that might, as new with hyrdo discs, be cheaper than repurposing my Jamis...
Road bike: Cervelo R3, Campagnolo Chorus/Record mix...
Supercommuter: Jamis Renegade...
Oldie but goodie: De Rosa Professional Slx, Campagnolo C-Record...
And you can call me Macktastik Honey Pete Kicks, thank you.

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