Finished my project bike! - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

02-24-2005, 08:16 PM

Pat wrote:
> I was given a mountain bike in pretty sorry condition as a project
bike. I
> stripped it down to the empty frame and rebuilt it one piece at a
time (with
> the help of some bicycle repair books). Along the way I learned a
ton about
> how bikes are put together and some of the little "tricks" to getting
them
> to work right. Yesterday, I finished putting the new cables on the
> derailleurs and I actually got them to work correctly!
>
> I highly recommend this approach to learning how to work on a bike.

Reminds me of how I got my first "good" bike.

I was riding a ten (count 'em, 10) speed I bought in a drug store,
believe it and drool, but I was newly married and scrimping. I
figured the Raleigh Super Course would _someday_ be within my budget...

Then I found out my guitar teacher had one lying in his basement.
Seems he'd bought it, fell off, and never rode it again. Soon we had a
deal: He got the Staiger, perfectly tuned and trued. I got the Super
Course - with the tweaked plastic derailleur, the wheels out of true,
the freewheel that freewheeled both directions, the cables that were
rusted solid, etc.

It took a week of vacation to get it right, working in our tiny living
room. I learned a lot, indeed! But the bike was such an improvement
over what I'd had! I wanted to ride it forever.

And I may. That was 1976. It was the bike I took on my first overseas
tour, my first cross-state tour, my first century, my first road race,
etc etc. And it's still the bike I ride to work, 29 years later!

Except, that is, for the few upgrades I made along the way. New tires,
hubs, rims, spokes, saddle, seatpost, cogs, cranks, shifters,
handlebars, stem, seatpost, brakes, paint...

02-25-2005, 04:01 AM

Well I already knew about welding, and as far as angle go I mostly looked at
other people bikes to find out about how to build a frame. And cutting steel
frames is easy with a good sharp hacksaw!

Ken

"Pat" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> "Ken Marcet" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> : Yeah I agree with you Pat! I went one step further and cut up two old
> bikes
> : and built myself a short wheel based recumbent!
> : And yeah you definately will learn alot, I know I did.
> :
> : Ken
>
> Yeah--like welding, for one. And, what did you use to cut up the old
bikes?
> How did you figure out the angles to weld them together? I read your
post,
> and my first thought was: Gulp!
>
> Pat
>
>

02-25-2005, 04:01 AM

Well I already knew about welding, and as far as angle go I mostly looked at
other people bikes to find out about how to build a frame. And cutting steel
frames is easy with a good sharp hacksaw!

Ken

"Pat" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> "Ken Marcet" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
> : Yeah I agree with you Pat! I went one step further and cut up two old
> bikes
> : and built myself a short wheel based recumbent!
> : And yeah you definately will learn alot, I know I did.
> :
> : Ken
>
> Yeah--like welding, for one. And, what did you use to cut up the old
bikes?
> How did you figure out the angles to weld them together? I read your
post,
> and my first thought was: Gulp!
>
> Pat
>
>

02-25-2005, 05:17 AM

:
: And I may. That was 1976. It was the bike I took on my first overseas
: tour, my first cross-state tour, my first century, my first road race,
: etc etc. And it's still the bike I ride to work, 29 years later!
:
: Except, that is, for the few upgrades I made along the way. New tires,
: hubs, rims, spokes, saddle, seatpost, cogs, cranks, shifters,
: handlebars, stem, seatpost, brakes, paint...

looks like you've gotten the perfect frame geometry for you. I suggest that
you figure out exactly what that is---angles, tube lengths, etc., and write
those down somewhere.

Pat
:

02-25-2005, 05:17 AM

:
: And I may. That was 1976. It was the bike I took on my first overseas
: tour, my first cross-state tour, my first century, my first road race,
: etc etc. And it's still the bike I ride to work, 29 years later!
:
: Except, that is, for the few upgrades I made along the way. New tires,
: hubs, rims, spokes, saddle, seatpost, cogs, cranks, shifters,
: handlebars, stem, seatpost, brakes, paint...

looks like you've gotten the perfect frame geometry for you. I suggest that
you figure out exactly what that is---angles, tube lengths, etc., and write
those down somewhere.

Pat
:

02-27-2005, 08:18 PM

Zoot Katz wrote:

> Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:38:41 -0600, <387acdF5mf957U1@individual.net>,
> "Pat" <Pat@newstime.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Just doing something from start to finish and seeing the results is
>>rewarding. Now, I know why so many people like working in construction....
>
>
> It has its moments but you usually end up having worked yourself out
> of a job. The daily progress in the early stages is satisfying but
> when you get down to the details it can start to drag.

Punch list!

The best part of construction is arguing over payment for change orders
and changed conditions.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth

02-27-2005, 08:18 PM

Zoot Katz wrote:

> Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:38:41 -0600, <387acdF5mf957U1@individual.net>,
> "Pat" <Pat@newstime.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Just doing something from start to finish and seeing the results is
>>rewarding. Now, I know why so many people like working in construction....
>
>
> It has its moments but you usually end up having worked yourself out
> of a job. The daily progress in the early stages is satisfying but
> when you get down to the details it can start to drag.

Punch list!

The best part of construction is arguing over payment for change orders
and changed conditions.

--
Tom Sherman - Earth

02-28-2005, 12:34 AM

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:18:53 -0600, <38fk4vF5kbpmiU1@individual.net>,
Tom Sherman <tsherman@qconline.com> wrote:

>
>Punch list!
>
>The best part of construction is arguing over payment for change orders
>and changed conditions.

That was my speciality - from foundation to finish.

Lots of jobs were done by the "just in time" method so there were
always new things cropping up. It kept my interest peaking for years.

I have a many horror stories of "tradesmen's" gross ineptitude.
--
zk

02-28-2005, 12:34 AM

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:18:53 -0600, <38fk4vF5kbpmiU1@individual.net>,
Tom Sherman <tsherman@qconline.com> wrote:

>
>Punch list!
>
>The best part of construction is arguing over payment for change orders
>and changed conditions.

That was my speciality - from foundation to finish.

Lots of jobs were done by the "just in time" method so there were
always new things cropping up. It kept my interest peaking for years.

I have a many horror stories of "tradesmen's" gross ineptitude.
--
zk

02-28-2005, 08:02 AM

: >
: >The best part of construction is arguing over payment for change orders
: >and changed conditions.

:
: That was my speciality - from foundation to finish.
:
: Lots of jobs were done by the "just in time" method so there were
: always new things cropping up. It kept my interest peaking for years.
:
: I have a many horror stories of "tradesmen's" gross ineptitude.
: --
: zk

I'll bet you do--because I have a few myself just from the position of being
the "home owner". For example, when the plumbers removed that blue plastic
protective cover from the bathroom sink, they just stuffed it down the
toilet! I didn't find that out for about a week or so when I had to have a
guy come out to fix the drainage and he fished that out of the drain....

Pat in TX