Bikedued

I am building a somewhat modern mountain bike. I believe it has a replacement frame, and all the parts are from an existing complete bike that suffered enough damage to be replaced. The paint looked original, and no graphics. Nicer drivetrain components, like Deore XT and LX. Anything not drivetrain was branded as Koski. Brakes, stem, handlebars etc. The only thing I have found so far is a couple of references to Salsa? Kinda like Coda for Cannondale?,,,,BD

ollo_ollo

My only experience of Koski was years ago when their saddles were showing up at swap meets in new/nearly new condition. Bought a couple @ $5ea. They were comfortable for commuting/touring but mountain bikers bad mouthed them. Don

DorkDisk

Maybe the new Koski is a QBP brand, but Koski is a MTB pioneer-rode with Breeze, Fisher, Ritchey, Potts and such. He sold frames and parts under his name;
I don't know much about him, but his products are linked closely with WTB

Deore LX is kinda old for MTBs, ending at 9sp; now its a touring group.

T-Mar

FWIW, I've seen IronHorse bicycles with Koski components.

Reynolds 531 

No. But selling Koski frames through QBP is quite a feather in the cap for Donny and Dave Koski *.

It is quite difficult to gather the resources needed to build a frame (the TrailMaster from the 80s), and then relaunch an updated copy of it in the modern era (Koski Brothers), so a few calls went out to friends and an initial batch was first sold, paid for, and then manufacured by Ventana. This was a leap of faith for all involved to pay first, get later, so having the initial momentum, and now being distributed by QBP and Merry Sales (soma) is really cool.

*The original Koski components (saddles, stems, pedals, a few other things) were brother Erik Koski, but he is not involved with the Frames and Forks.

I will add pics when I get to work.

mechanicmatt

Pictures? Honestly if it is Koski v-brakes, those are about the nicest v-brakes ever made. Excellent modulation and stopping power. I have them on my wife's bike paired with older SRAM v-brake levers (before Avid purchase) and they work excellent!

TenGrainBread 

@Reynolds 531 Weren't there issues with the batch that Merry is selling? A missing housing guide on a chainstay? I remember seeing an email blast a few months ago from Soma about the frames and was blown away that they were charging that much for frames while simultaneously telling people to just use a zip tie for the housing guide. At the very least the batch should have been discounted. Were those made by Ventana?

seypat

It's not a spice/ingredient used in making a salsa? Similar to cilantro? Well, I've learned something today.

Reynolds 531 

I don't know. If so, that would be a stupid way to solve a manufacturing problem. As far as I know, they are all being made by Ventana.

TenGrainBread 

https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/pro...ber-white-2219

"Note: Upper seatstay cable guide for rear derailleur was missed in production. The missing cable guide allows for alternative cable routings. For standard routing, just add a zip tie."

Reynolds 531 

I wish somebody at Merry Sales (Somafab) would walk over to the shelf and stick this on, instead of the "it's not a
bug it's a feature" blather that comes from being too close to Silicon Valley.

Bikedued

Here's about the only pic I have. I don't have any closeups. I also suspect the longer travel fork might not have been recommended with this frame. It seems kind of laid back. The wheels are going. I have a set of NOS Deore hubs that match these cranks, and getting them laced up to Rhyno Lites.,,,,BD

mechanicmatt

Bikedued, that appears to be a bunch of sweet NOS parts on there. Those are just new old stock Koski parts from around '97ish time frame. Again though, those brakes are fan-effing-tastic if they are paired with good levers. Looks like an enjoyable ride, although I do agree that the fork may be too long a travel for the frame. Some forks have a way to adjust down the travel, although I wouldn't know how you could check.

Bikedued