In his latest videos, YouTuber Robert Adair transforms a late-1990s Kona Hahanna steel mountain bike into a fully modern gravel machine outfitted with drop bars and converts it to run thru-axles and disc brakes. Watch them here…

In Robert Adair’s latest two videos, he took an old rim-brake ‘90s Kona Hahanna and made it a modern gravel bike by outfitting it with drop bars, hydraulic disc brakes, thru-axle 650b wheels, a 1x Shimano GRX drivetrain, tubeless tires, and integrated cable routing. The build blends retro charm with contemporary tech. Watch below, and then scroll down for a more detailed video he made on the process for converting a quick-release axle to use a thru-axles and adding disc brakes.

Converting a Quick-Release Dropout to a Thru-Axle

In this video, Robert demonstrates how he adapted the Kona Hahanna—originally built with quick-release hubs and cantilever brakes—to run thru-axles and disc brakes. He walks through the process of drilling the frame, fabricating disc brake mounts, making a custom axle nut, and welding everything together. Pulled from his longer build video, this edit focuses specifically on the disc brake conversion for those interested in that part of the project.

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