higgins617

One of the most enjoyable bikes I've had pass through my hands was an absolute frankenbike based on a 90s Specialized Crossroads frame. I built it up with steel 27"s, junk cantis, a long cage V

GT rear mech and 5 speed indexed thumb shifters I robbed of an old Roadmaster BSO. Used cables and housing, mismatched tires, everything about the bike should have been bad, but it was just a blast to ride.

Thinking of doing something similar with a basically stripped Schwinn Crisscross I got, going to rob the wheels to swap onto a better Crisscross I'm building and was going to rebuild this one with the gear of a Le Tour II. Friction stem shifters, 27s, drops.

Have any of you done anything similar?

merziac

Not yet, but it's in the works and it's not exactly demodernizing as the subject is a "grail" frame that generally represents with Campy record or new record, although they are not necessarily correct, it could have come with very early Campy, but as many were bare frames, I suspect many were not outfitted so. They could of course have been upgraded at any time to the level available at the time so like many "grail" frames and bikes it seems to be the standard whether it actually came that way or not. While beautiful and excellent in many aspects it seems to me like something is lost in translation. I will be trying to offer an alternative to some of that by avoiding the norm where possible.

easyupbug 

Not all the way back. When found it was so butchered it could not be shifted with the st-5510 shifters on it and 130 wheel stuffed in it, with parts from a dozen manufacturers and countries as mis-matched as possible, almost as if they wanted to have the frankenbike of all frankenbakes. Now painted by a local builder and early '90 DA build this Colin Lange (1984?) Reynolds 753 custom is a lovely ride.

Bandera

For decades I've had a road bike stripped of it's derailleur drivetrain and converted to fixed gear.
"De-modernized" from 1977 spec to a more 19th century tech this one serves quite well.

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailleur? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"

-- TdF Promoter Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

agmetal

I'm in the process of building up an ANT frame with parts that are mostly 1930s tech or earlier (but mostly modern versions of those parts)...

Sturmey-Archer drum brake hubs, with 3-speed in the rear and generator in the front, Westwood profile rims, pre-war Sturmey-Archer quadrant shifter...

tyler_fred

Probably not to the extent you've described...

I've replaced aero brake levers with non-aero & indexed shifters with friction.

Beyond that my only other consideration was to drew top tube guides and replace with clamp-on guides (for the cool factor).

higgins617

The Crisscross is about 85% "done". Just needs rear brake cable, bar tape, and tidying up. Took it for a test spin after getting the front brake all set and it's an absolute hoot to ride.

It's too small for me, but the geo of the standard riser stem with the old drops feels so good, might have to make the swap on my gravel cruiser.

I'll snap some pictures in the morning and post them at some point tomorrow. Kept the Suntour drivetrain it came with, put on a set of pretty generic alloy 27s with cheap tires, bars and levers off a Le Tour II, horrid Simplex stem shifters, and canti brakes front with V brakes out back.

SJX426 

My brother-in-law has a Crisscross he bought new. It has the RD mounted on the chain stay, Suntour IIRC. The rear DO still has the RD mount but is used to guide the chain or has some strange function. The part can be removed to mount a normal RD.

It has 700c wheels with Canti's and trekker bars and twist grip shifting. Interesting bike that is a bit heavy but runs well.

This is a 1984 Trek 610 modified with braze-ons and equipped with parts that are 12 years older than the frame.
[IMG]118_PaTrek, on Flickr[/IMG]

CliffordK

I put stem shifters onto a cheap MTB based tandem (frame up build).

Most of the stem shifters were made for a 1" stem. My tandem project used a 1.25" quill stem. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed to get some old suntour shifters mounted on the stem. I have documented the effort somewhere if you wish.

I also put drop bars on it.

There is a very long thread on Drop bar conversions.
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...nversions.html

higgins617

Here's a picture as it sits now while I was running out to class.

CliffordK

Is that a 1" or 1 1/8" stem?

higgins617

1" I believe

Salamandrine 

When I got my first PX10 in the early 90s, I immediately stripped off the Shimano replacement derailleurs, and put Simplex plastic ones back on. Does that count?

higgins617

Yeah that's the idea, even though yours was putting it back to more original specs. I think most of the enjoyment of building a frankenbike is the fact that expectations are so low that any semblance of decent performance seems like a win

coolkat

My 70s Centurion with a 60s S/A hub probably counts. No steel rims or cottered crank though...not worth suffering to be more authentic!

tyler_fred

Not a big change but I'm going swap in a 3ttt engraved record stem on a late 80's Japanese bike just because it looks so cool.

T-Mar

Yes, every time I ride one.

top506

When I first had my Viscount I HAD to have index shifting and sidepulls. A couple of years back I put the centerpulls and Crane RD/Shimano friction shifters back on. And the 'death fork'.

Top

philbob57

Today I changed from aero brake levers with black hoods and black cable housing to Suntour Superbe non-aero levers with gum hoods and white cable housing. By tomorrow, I'll have replaced black fake-cork tape with genuine Tressostar white cotton tape.

tyler_fred

Hmm,...gum hoods and white cotton tape? You've got my attention...