After I spend some quality time on Monday tearing down the Albatross, I didn’t feel like building it up right away. As I was poking about in the garage after work on Tuesday, I spied the ten-year-old (or perhaps older–I can’t remember quite when I bought it) Kona Jake frame-set peeking out from behind a pile of junk and covered in cobwebs.

Since I was in the mood to build something up, I cast my mind over the expanses of my spare parts bins, and the pieces started to fall into place. I realized that I could build this entire bike from what I already own, right down to the rim tape.

I give you the Kona Jake: Gravel Mutt.

Mutt with raised bed.

There are a few things that I’ll replace, sooner than later. The TRP M920 brake calipers are somewhat above this bike’s station in life, so I’ll probably clean up a more modest set of Shimano or Tektro linear pulls to replace them. And the Clement MSOs will be replaced by either Vittoria Randonneurs or Panaracer Urban Max 35s when I mount the fenders after the holiday weekend.