The Kona Band Wagon is perhaps one of the most iconic Kona drop bar bikes of all times (sorry Jake the Snake owners) and today we have Juoko‘s build, all the way from Finland, so let’s get to it.
In the past, I’ve also had my BLB Hithchiker featured on Reader’s Rides; the Hitchhiker is currently in the garage waiting for the time and inspiration to rebuild the rear wheel with a new hub. But anyway, today’s topic is the fixed gear steel cyclocross that Kona actually kind of never made, the modified Band Wagon.
I’ve been riding fixed gear bikes since something like 2010, coincidentally around the time when this bike was originally made. Since then, the days of sweet fixie bikes seem to have somehow gone by, I have grown older and even this bike has evolved to keep up with the changing times.
The bike is originally from the streets of Turku, a mythical island between Finland and the rest of the world, where track bikes roam free. There, the frame has also received a layer of olive drab paint and, in a gloomy lair, a local artisan has prepared the frame for brakes of the future – cantilevers, the whole rim is the brake disc and braking doesn’t actually affect the speed.
I bought the frame already modified, in a rather hybrid-y single-speed guise. I had had this sweet Easton EC70 X fork and the blue Frogglegg cantilevers stashed away for a while, just waiting for the right frame, and with some other bits and pieces from my parts stash, the Kona quickly transformed into the sort of fixed gear cyclocross it is now.
Rather than epic bikepacking voyages and thrilling fixed-gear cyclocross races, the bike mostly serves as my commuter in slushy Hellsinki, often with a trailer in tow.
My plans for the bike include replacing the 18t cog with a 17t to go even more faster-er, putting on some lighter knobby tires after the winter, and riding it. It’s a good bike and a lot of fun on the local bits of trail and gravel when taking the long way to work.
Specs:
Frame: Kona Band Wagon 59 cm, repainted and modified with cantilever bosses
Fork: Easton EC70 X, carbon fiber
Brakes: Frogglegg cantilevers
Wheels & tyres: Miche XPress, Continental 37-622 tyres
Drivetrain: FSA Gimondi chainset, Gebhardt 42t chainring, Surly 18t cog, KMC chain.
Others: Selle Italia Flite saddle, FSA seatpost & stem, Specialized handlebar
For the camera geeks among the readership, pictures were taken, depending a bit on the final selection with a Fuji X-Pro 2 and the magical Kamlan 50 mm f/1.1, and an Epson R-D1s. Taking pictures (of bikes) has somehow turned into a similar hobby to building and occasionally even actually riding my bikes, but that’s maybe a topic for another time and place.
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!
