Bike built from bits

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ElCani
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Joined: 5 Mar 2015, 11:24am

Bike built from bits

Post by ElCani »

I've just built up this bike for a mate who's currently riding around on a BSO. Scarily, the amount of bike parts I've got lying around meant that the only things I had to buy were the tyres. I'm quite pleased with the way it came out and kinda want to keep it (I won't obvs) despite it being too small and me having no need at all for it.

Frame is a Cannondale M500 from around 1993 which I bought about five years ago, had powdercoated, then used briefly before concluding it was too small and stashing in the shed. Mavic rims on Shimano STX hubs. SKS mudguards and a load of fairly Mid-to-low-end-but-solid parts.

The Vittoria Revolution tyres came from planet X and seem like great value at £8 each. The bike is wonderfully smooth and comfortable and I think they are a big part of that.

The only thing that slightly irritates is the non-level rack, but the mudguard prevents it being rotated forward any more. Ah well..

Has anybody else got examples of bitsa-builds they've done?
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robgul
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by robgul »

A bit of careful bending of the rack legs should let you get the rack dead level.

Rob
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iandriver
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Joined: 10 Jun 2009, 2:09pm
Location: Cambridge.

Re: Bike built from bits

Post by iandriver »

Hmm, not sure as I own anything but a shed special any more. Haven't bought a whole bike for decades.

My old CX race frame and some old Tri bars and MTB gears became a beater I didn't mind abusing. It serves me far more loyalty than I deserve and rides a heck of a lot better than it looks.

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alexnharvey
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by alexnharvey »

Looks like the light mount would foul the mudguard.
cycle tramp
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by cycle tramp »

You should be really proud of that bike, it looks like it's just rolled out of a bike shop - such a great level of finish.

I can see that I'm going to have to put more work into my home build :)
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ElCani
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by ElCani »

Cheers for the comments and contributions! The cross brace on the rack fouls the mudguard if it’s level, so surely bending the legs will make the problem worse as they are already too short?

The mudguards themselves have always been wonky, since being purchased new. The brackets that are riveted to the mudguard seem to distort it (it flairs out between the brackets) and generally they’re both rather crappy. I’ve never fitted another pair of 26 inch SKS guards to compare these to, but overall I was not impressed...
drossall
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by drossall »

I built most of my bikes from parts. It's just how things were normally done when I joined my first club.
ElCani
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by ElCani »

drossall wrote:I built most of my bikes from parts. It's just how things were normally done when I joined my first club.


Yeah, me too. Perhaps I was thinking more about the random creations that come about mainly because the parts are lying around...
cycle tramp
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by cycle tramp »

Just toadd that that I really like those handlebars - does anyone know what that style is called? I'd really like to get a set :-)
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ElCani
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by ElCani »

cycle tramp wrote:Just toadd that that I really like those handlebars - does anyone know what that style is called? I'd really like to get a set :-)


They’re “standard cykel” bars, as used on all the ‘normal’ bikes here in Sweden, which are akin to Dutch bikes. Holland Bike shop has lots of similar ones:

https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicyc ... andlebars/
francovendee
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by francovendee »

Nice bike, can you do anything to get the rack level?
Brucey
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by Brucey »

if the rack is mounted on the other set of eyes, maybe it will clear the mudguard?

cheers
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horizon
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by horizon »

There is definitely something amiss with the rack. The mudguards appear to be well positioned clearance wise over the tyres but the tyres are pretty large. That means there isn't much space between mudguard and rack so perhaps a 700c rack would do better.

But the rack braze-ons seem quite high too, maybe positioned for a different rack arm. Bending the rack arms might do the trick. But there still seems to be something that isn't quite right.
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reohn2
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by reohn2 »

robgul wrote:A bit of careful bending of the rack legs should let you get the rack dead level.

Rob

Or swapping the fixing points with the mudguards :wink:

Elcani
Nice job BTW,very workmanlike and would make a great doall bike :D
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reohn2
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Re: Bike built from bits

Post by reohn2 »

ElCani wrote:Cheers for the comments and contributions! The cross brace on the rack fouls the mudguard if it’s level, so surely bending the legs will make the problem worse as they are already too short?

The mudguards themselves have always been wonky, since being purchased new. The brackets that are riveted to the mudguard seem to distort it (it flairs out between the brackets) and generally they’re both rather crappy. I’ve never fitted another pair of 26 inch SKS guards to compare these to, but overall I was not impressed
...

I strongly suspect those mudguards are foc700C wheel size
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