The sky is the limit for how you choose to adorn your Ti frame, and Chase Prezioso of Charlotte, NC has taken quite the creative license with his Raijin Ti build. The most obvious point is the 27.5+ wheels with Nox carbon rims and Industry Nine’s Torch hubs with anodized green spokes.
Yet, when you peek a bit closer, you see that Chase has gone the extra mile with all of the details. How about that Eriksen Ti seat post, and the matching green King headset and Salsa seat clamp? How did this beautiful Raijin come to be? Chase explains:
“I bought the Raijin around year ago to replace my Lynskey Pro29 that cracked. My local shop, Queen City Bicycles, was a Kona dealer so I immediately wanted a Raijin. I ran the Raijin with same 29er setup as the Lynskey for a year. The Raijin geo is definitely more fun than the Pro29, but I felt that the slacker head tube angle with the 29” wheels was pushing in corners. My buddy Rich Dillen had our friends at i9 build him a set of NOX/i9 wheels, and I got to spin it around and really liked the plus combo.
My next step was to test fit his wheels on the Raijin, which fit with plenty of clearance. Shortly thereafter, I had i9 build my own set of NOX Kitsumas. The front definitely hooks up better with the 27.5+ over the 29. Overall lap times are the same and it’s a more playful ride – win win. The only downside is the lower BB with the smaller wheels. I had a couple of pedal strikes at first, but once I learned to watch out for it, it hasn’t been a problem. I will probably put a 120 or rigid fork on it eventually to compensate.”
Chase also rides a Process 134 DL, and has shared a couple photos of that with the Raijin – scroll down for the the detailed photo set. Beautiful build, Chase! Thanks for sharing!
To see more Kona Ti bikes, click here to see the Ti Tuesday archives – and share your own Ti builds at the #TiTuesdaysWithKona tag on Instagram.
