[SoundMind]

I recently found a discarded 1985 Norco Kokanee in decent shape which I'd like to use as my new errand bike but I'm pretty sure it had the wrong size seatpost inserted.

The binder bolt was tightened to such a degree that both of the clamp ears were contacting eachother (seat tube not cracked thankfully) and even like that the post was still fairly loose and could be turned with minimal effort.

With the post and bolt removed the inside diameter of the tube opening measures 25.4mm on the nose (same as the post) but one of the ears is clearly bent too far inwards so I'm guessing it should actually be wider than that.

My research tells me this can be fixed by wedging a flathead screwdriver in the slot and use it as a lever to bend the ears back to normal but before I attempt that I need to know what the inside diameter of the tube was originally so I know how much bending to shoot for.

By chance can anyone here tell me the correct post size for an '85 Norco MTB?

 

[FLYBYU]

I recently found a discarded 1985 Norco Kokanee in decent shape which I'd like to use as my new errand bike but I'm pretty sure it had the wrong size seatpost inserted.

The binder bolt was tightened to such a degree that both of the clamp ears were contacting eachother (seat tube not cracked thankfully) and even like that the post was still fairly loose and could be turned with minimal effort.

With the post and bolt removed the inside diameter of the tube opening measures 25.4mm on the nose (same as the post) but one of the ears is clearly bent too far inwards so I'm guessing it should actually be wider than that.

My research tells me this can be fixed by wedging a flathead screwdriver in the slot and use it as a lever to bend the ears back to normal but before I attempt that I need to know what the inside diameter of the tube was originally so I know how much bending to shoot for.

By chance can anyone here tell me the correct post size for an '85 Norco MTB?

Hi,

They didn't start building the Kokanee until 1993, so maybe you mean a 1995? If that is the case, it should be 25.4mm or 1" seatpost.

 

[SoundMind]

Hi,

They didn't start building the Kokanee until 1993, so maybe you mean a 1995? If that is the case, it should be 25.4mm or 1" seatpost.

Hmm thanks for the reply but from the info I've gathered elsewhere I'm fairly certain you're mistaken on that.

Admittedly I'm just guessing the bike is from 1985 since the serial # ends with the digits "85". I haven't found any concrete evidence to confirm that is the year but I did find a guy on Pinkbike who owns an 86 Kokanee so it does appear they were made during that time period. He did change out most of the components and made some other modifications but overall it looks almost identical to mine. (Original colors were different though so can't be from the same year)

The components on mine also seem to be from the mid 80's (SL-MS55 shifters, Chang Star Canti's and levers, Sakae SX Ovaltech crank) so I seriously doubt it could be from the 90's.

The guy measured his post for me with his calipers and told me it came out to 26.5mm. That size doesn't seem to exist so i'm guessing it actuallly takes a 26.4 or 26.6mm. I'm leaning towards the former since I also found specs for a 99 Kokanee with 26.4mm listed for the post so that could indicate it used that size in both the 80's and 90's.

Anyway like I said a 25.4mm post fits way too loose in mine so theres no way that could be the correct size. I've got a 25.8mm in there right now and it's holding much better but once again I had to overtighten the clamp with the ears almost touching to achieve that so it definitely needs something bigger.