Making a new bike from scratch...

[biker38109]

Just like I have made most of my computers from scratch I would like to make a bike from scratch.

I am thinking of two possibilities:

Vintage, 90s era to give me nostalgia from my youth, gear (which may or may not be cheaper depending of if it has retro appeal or not - interested in hearing thoughts on this) or new, modestly priced decent quality.

My goals will be to ride mainly on roads or forestry tracks or gentle off road. Mid wales on and off road terrain. Not this 'extreme' mountain biking that is popular now. I grew up being into mountain biking in the 90s so want to just ride the type of stuff I did back then in the valleys of the depths of mid wales.

Mostly small roads yet capable of modest off roading too.

What I want most is a really really low granny/bail out gear. Strangely that was always my 'fetish' in the 90s. I used to get a kick out of how to get the lowest gear for steep hills which interested me above anything else. I was jealous of some boy who worked in a family bikeshop and seemed to have a tiny, what looked something like 14 tooth, chainring which I was unable to source and watching him glide as if on ice up the steepest hills in our group rides. I do wonder what tooth that one actually was all these years later but my memory pictures it as small as one of the smallest teeth on the back. I seem to recall he said it was custom and not available to buy but maybe I have garnished my memory after all this time and/or he was lying.

Price wise could I get more bang for my buck buying vintage 90s stuff or can I still buy good current gear if I am selective about what I choose? I was thinking maybe I could buy what used to be top of the line stuff then for pennies now? All dependent on how the market is for that era of gear as tastes are capricious.

I am quite keen on trying out all these huge new back cogs and single chainrings, having never ridden them before. So new might be a more interesting prospect for that, and allows better upgradeability, if price permits.

Could I achieve my goals for around £3-400? I am not that invested in it yet that I would want to justify paying much more than that at this time but I want to leave my options open so that if I do get more into it I am starting from a good base and not want to buy a whole new bike.

So could I buy a nice frame to give me good footing for upgrading later in that price range? Not interested in bells and whistles, but respectable good quality products. Could do without suspension if that will reduce costs further. On that last bike I was given I had none and wasn't too bothered. Suspension is more to go wrong for a none essential, for my purposes, piece of equipment.

[pjclinch]

If you want a 90s MTB then start with... a 90s MTB (plenty about second hand to give you a frame) and then retrofit a suitable drive train. A 90s MTB frame should be okay for touring too as long as it it'll take a rack (quite likely it will).

Budget-wise your donor bike would be cheap but a 1x dinner-plate drivetrain would probably knock a bit of a hole in it. You can get a 3x9 Alivio with 22 granny chainring and a 34 sprocket at the back for remarkably little money and that'll go up pretty vertiginous clinbs.

Pete.

[Brucey]

if you want a really low gear, might I suggest combining a derailleur gear with an IGH? If you do this, a range from the low 20s (or lower) to ~100" is readily obtained. Reliving your youth is one thing, but the reality is that any time spent on cleaning or transmission maintenance can (rightly IMV) be regarded as wasted time, if there is another way.

[biker38109]

if you want a really low gear, might I suggest combining a derailleur gear with an IGH? If you do this, a range from the low 20s (or lower) to ~100" is readily obtained. Reliving your youth is one thing, but the reality is that any time spent on cleaning or transmission maintenance can (rightly IMV) be regarded as wasted time, if there is another way.

First time I hear of that and looking it up sounds not my cup of tea reading that it is hidden away.

Part of the charm for me is seeing, feeling and hearing the gears click, clacking away.

It also sounds like voodoo. I had a quick read of how it works and simply don't understand how something that looks like a 'fixie' could offer any considerable gear range.

Are they also necessarily ebikes too, or just a lot of them because if the former you may have missed the part about the exercise bit being important to me?

Just because I like a low gear for hills doesn't mean I want to do away with all effort!

[biker38109]

If you want a 90s MTB then start with... a 90s MTB (plenty about second hand to give you a frame) and then retrofit a suitable drive train. A 90s MTB frame should be okay for touring too as long as it it'll take a rack (quite likely it will).

Budget-wise your donor bike would be cheap but a 1x dinner-plate drivetrain would probably knock a bit of a hole in it. You can get a 3x9 Alivio with 22 granny chainring and a 34 sprocket at the back for remarkably little money and that'll go up pretty vertiginous clinbs.

Pete.

Oh so modern drivetrain can be fitted to an old frame without too much problems then?

Is it accurate then that I could get a higher spec old 90s frame for my money than a contemporary mid range one? As in could I get a top of the line for the period vintage frame which is better than a modern low/mid range frame now? So is old top of the line frame quality > middle of the road current frame quality?

---

This looks like a good resource: https://www.retrobike.co.uk/forums/

---

How's about this frame? Only 30 quid asking price: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/vint ... 1482770144

[Nearholmer]

I found when going down a similar road in respect of recreating the “ride experience” of my 1990 hybrid, which I used largely off-road, that getting an old one and refurbishing it isn’t as cheap as you might hope, and gets you into a lot of hunting around for compatible components. In fact, I abandoned the attempt as the potential costs became apparent (unlike some contributors to this forum, I don’t have two sheds filled with outmoded components, and a fully equipped workshop besides).

I ended-up scratching that itch by buying new a bike built around a Surly frame that was designed in the late-1990s and fortunately still in production until a couple of years ago, and which was discounted in a clearance sale. As a new bike it cost more than all the bits I was setting out to buy/find, but not by a staggering amount.

To be brutally honest, I think you’ll struggle to achieve all of your wants for £400, unless you strike phenomenally lucky on the secondhand market and find a 1990s MTB that doesn’t need every component renewed. You could get new a modern hybrid with very wide gear range for c£500, and you might find a good-quality, not worn-out, 29er with the dinner-plate cog for less that £400, but both would be aluminium, and the latter would have suspension forks.

[Brucey]

....First time I hear of that and looking it up sounds not my cup of tea reading that it is hidden away.

.... simply don't understand how something that looks like a 'fixie' could offer any considerable gear range.....

I think you might have got hold of the wrong end of the stick or something.

FWIW I'd be tempted to take an old road-racing frame, and fit it with some 650B wheels including drum brakes. This ersatz gravel bike would be equally happy on or off-road.

[biker38109]

I found when going down a similar road in respect of recreating the “ride experience” of my 1990 hybrid, which I used largely off-road, that getting an old one and refurbishing it isn’t as cheap as you might hope, and gets you into a lot of hunting around for compatible components. In fact, I abandoned the attempt as the potential costs became apparent (unlike some contributors to this forum, I don’t have two sheds filled with outmoded components, and a fully equipped workshop besides).

I ended-up scratching that itch by buying new a bike built around a Surly frame that was designed in the late-1990s and fortunately still in production until a couple of years ago, and which was discounted in a clearance sale. As a new bike it cost more than all the bits I was setting out to buy/find, but not by a staggering amount.

To be brutally honest, I think you’ll struggle to achieve all of your wants for £400, unless you strike phenomenally lucky on the secondhand market and find a 1990s MTB that doesn’t need every component renewed. You could get new a modern hybrid with very wide gear range for c£500, and you might find a good-quality, not worn-out, 29er with the dinner-plate cog for less that £400, but both would be aluminium, and the latter would have suspension forks.

I am not against suspension per se if I could afford. 29er is the brand? Is it respectable or tat?

I do not have to achieve all goals in the first 400. Maybe the decent frame as priority and alivio (or equivalent) drivetrain as pjclinch suggested and can think about dinner plate later on if I feel I want it after. I will have a lot more wiggle room it seems compared to my other post/existing banger so I could probably be happy playing within the none dinner plate options. If I could get 34/22 within budget that sounds great and see how I go.

[rareposter]

Just like I have made most of my computers from scratch I would like to make a bike from scratch.

I am thinking of two possibilities:

Vintage, 90s era to give me nostalgia from my youth, gear (which may or may not be cheaper depending of if it has retro appeal or not - interested in hearing thoughts on this) or new, modestly priced decent quality.

If you're going to go down the route of refurbishing a retro / vintage bike, you need to know exactly what you're doing and what your end goal is. It also helps if you have a very well equipped workshop otherwise you'll be in and out of your local bike shop like a yoyo getting them to just fix this or just remove that.

Note as well it can be a huge money pit - especially if you're not sure what you're doing. Asking on an internet forum every few hours if this is likely to work or if that is a good price or if X will work with Y is going to get very tiring very quickly for everyone involved.

Since your main goal appears to be to build a bike that is relatively capable off-road and has a low gear, I'd simply suggest looking for secondhand gravel bikes or mountain bikes. If you go for something of half-decent quality (so not your current British Eagle thing!), the gearing is all much of a muchness and plenty low enough for normal use (assuming of course you're a reasonably capable rider).

In fact for your quoted price of £300-400 you're not far off being able to afford a brand new Specialized Rockhopper or even something like this at 1/3rd off (with a low gear of 22/36):
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Aspect-9 ... 260170.htm

I get that there's an element of fun / satisfaction in getting a whole heap of random parts together and building your own bike but it can be very time consuming and costly.

[scottg]

Look for MicroShift Advent, super short.

https://velo-orange.com/collections/shi ... upset-9spd

[Nearholmer]

am not against suspension per se if I could afford. 29er is the brand? Is it respectable or tat?

29er is the generic term for a modern, 29 inch diameter wheel measured over the tyre, MTB, and I’m thinking of ‘hard tail’, so suspension at the front only.

They come in all qualities from excellent to tat, so you’d need to find one from a decent maker, something that probably cost £1000+ new, and crucially not having an already worn out drivetrain. I got a half-decent one made by Giant for my son, in good nick, secondhand, and that has the 1x12 Shimano Deore drivetrain, tiny little chain wheel, and huge dinner plate at the back, very good quality, very smooth.

This is the one:

The weak point of cheap 29ers, the ones that are within your price bracket new, is the front suspension, which is often very poor stuff, and very heavy, but if you don’t mind the weight, and are going to lock the suspension out anyway, that doesn’t really matter.

[biker38109]

They come in all qualities from excellent to tat, so you’d need to find one from a decent maker, something that probably cost £1000+ new, and crucially not having an already worn out drivetrain.

Well that is what I am asking advice on. I have no reference for what good makes are so some suggestions would be good. Just going through what is on offer on gumtree and if it looks decent I will then look up reviews and see what they say about it.

I saw a Giant frame only just now, is that a good one then?

Here are a couple I found so far, say if they are any good or not:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/allo ... 1475938551
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona ... 1484342608

[Nearholmer]

Ah, right, I didn’t understand that you weren’t familiar with current brands.

I’m not really into MTBs, so only know the seriously mainstream ones, any of which are trustworthy at the basic level, things like Giant, Specialized, Trek, Whyte, Pinnacle (Evans) and Boardman (Halfords, who also have other house-owned brands). But, from each of these you can buy bikes with various levels/qualities of drivetrains, brakes etc,

Others here know the more exotic MTB brands, and might be able to highlight particularly gods value ones from among the mainstream.

I think in many ways your most difficult to fulfill wish is the steel frame part, because steel is now considered a non-mainstream material, which means that new steel bikes (apart possibly from some truly terrible ones!) are a bit more expensive than aluminium ones. Scouring the secondhand market is about the only way to get good, steel frames at very low prices. If you have a bike charity nearby, take a small magnet with you and see what they have. [Hold one!! Did you actually say “steel”, or did I read the word “nice” to mean “steel”, because to me the two are the same, and I’d latched onto your 1990s desire??]

[rareposter]

Here are a couple I found so far, say if they are any good or not:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/allo ... 1475938551
https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/kona ... 1484342608

Mammoth is/was basically a WalMart brand - how the hell that American supermarket bike ended up in the UK is a mystery all of its own.

Kona Kula - that's a 2010 model and certainly not a "jump / race / downhill" frame like the advert says. Decent enough XC / trail bike in its time but what on earth are you planning on doing with it? Building it up? You've got a budget of £300 - £400, minus the £70 for the frame so £330 at most and you'll need to source a whole load of obsolete kit for a 26" wheeled bike and either pay a bike shop to build a lot of it or accept that you'll need to buy things like bottom bracket tools, a headset press etc, none of which are cheap or indeed suitable for use by novices.

And after months / years of trawling ebay and your seemingly favourite site of GumTree, you'll end up with a bike that has cost £500+ and is nowhere near as good as simply buying an off the peg entry level MTB.

I’d latched onto your 1990s desire??]

I read that too and then saw the mid/late 2000's bikes selected but whatever.

Still - your money, your choice.
I'm out.

[biker38109]

I’d latched onto your 1990s desire??]

I read that too and then saw the mid/late 2000's bikes selected but whatever.

Still - your money, your choice.
I'm out.

I am not fixed on 1990s now, just browsing all on gumtree.

Don't know where all this talk of steel has come from. I never mentioned that.

Looky here: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/vood ... 1484707881

Only £250.

Voodoo braag and I saw an article https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/ ... ntain-bike that it retails for £600 and that they rate it best in class for the price range.

It also seems to have everything I am looking for, including the hallowed 1x drivetrain. That would leave me with money left in the piggy bank for more upgrades!

Ohh and here is another, a little over the budget: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/vood ... 1484698647

I just put in voodoo mountain bike in the search, having first read that article and seeing the 600 range. So finding decent rated brands and then searching them up seems to be yielding better results than just trawling the whole of the mtb listings.