David325

The entries for the Velo Cheapo 2015 contest have been submitted and collected, and here they are!

The complete set of photos for each build, with a description, can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129722936@N08/sets/

Here are the entries.

nlerner's Raleigh Sports:
nlerner3 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

rgver's Gitane:
rgver3 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

rgver's Trek:
rgver8 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

lotekmod's Sears:
front side small by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

Bike Cottage's Raleigh Sprite:
P1000488 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

BluesDaddy's Fuji MTB:
image (8) by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

CliffordK's Litespeed:
SideView by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

mrv's Raleigh:
mrv1 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

Barchettaman:
barchetta5 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

LasCauxCaveman's Apollo "Legnano":
lascaux2 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr

David325

continued...

wrk101's Schwinn Sierra:
wrk2 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr


wrk101's Schwinn:
wrk8 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr


osiris419's Trek:
osiris1 by Velo-Cheapo 2015, on Flickr


EDIT: Late entry, dweenk's Miyata:
IMG_0253 by dweenk49, on Flickr

David325

Unfortunately the poll only gave me 10 options and there were 12 users who submitted bikes. If you wish to vote for wrk101's builds or dweenk's build, simply post or PM me your vote.

Great job to all!

Seabass_First

what is "velo cheapo"

David325

A valid question- this is a small informal contest started about 2 months ago. See threads: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...iscussion.html https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...stick-pig.html For rules, discussion, and previous progress updates.

mountaindave 

rgver had two entries but only one voting option. His Gitane save was saintly. It's nice to rescue a bike from the woods, but I think one deserves slightly more kudos for saving a bike from a shameful build.

crank_addict

Just went thru the lipstick on a pig thread. What a hoot! Great work by all. There's some late comers in there to.... that pug UO8, and a $20 Prelude! Creative - Tim's Japanese Legnano is quite the looker, Cliffords hotrod Litespeed and then look how nice that Gitane or Barchettaman rides turned out. Do we have to vote?

non-fixie 

Well done, contestants, but I'm afraid the caveman is just too good at this ...

Italuminium

Thrifty Bill's Sierra caught my eye immediately. I know, I'm weird. Can't seem to be able to vote for it, though.

RobbieTunes

I grew up with the Sears catalog. The green machine does it for me.

rhm

Oh, man, I missed the deadline! My entry sits in an unheated barn and I haven't been able to work on it since early December. Lame excuse, I know, but there it is.

As to these entries... well, I am impressed all round. That is one cheap titanium bike! I really like lotekmod's beater. But the caveman bike has bogus decals. And a reasonable number of miles. Best thing is that in in the photos I can see the sky, and the bike has a shadow. Admittedly, I might be voting for better weather.

Bike Cottage

Wow, there are some nice machines in this contest. I rode mine to work this morning even though it was in the low 40's. I'm holding off on voting until I can go through the entire flickr album. I like to see the stories and though processes of the builders. Well done all.

clubman 

I too, am lame...never got past the Mockup.

LCC's decals are the cats arse. I've got a well worn Apollo in the pile, maybe they should all be this way.

Lascauxcaveman 

BTW, if any of the the other contestants here want one of my decals to commemorate their entry, I'd be happy to print a few more up and mail them out to you. Just PM me with your physical address. It's a waterslide decal on white, but I think I have some clear waterslide stock if anyone prefers that. I'll have to check.

Although it's based on the Legnano headbadge, it's suitable for any velo cheapo you'd care to deface. I swiped a Legnano graphic off the internet, modified the hero Italian warrior so he looks like a vacationing tourist gone spearfishing, complete with surfer baggies, swimfins, mask and snorkel, shield---> boogieboard (I added a fin) and nice fat sea bass held triumphantly aloft on the end of the spear. I had read somewhere that Legnano was a popular resort town, and went with the seaside theme before checking a map. Apparently it's up in the mountains and snow skiing is the local sport. Oops.

All drawn up in gloriously cheesy bitmapped graphics:

Kobe 

All great entries and worth at least $150, maybe even $160. But the caveman's faux Legnano impressed me the most.

non-fixie 

See what you're up against?

Barchettaman

Big thanks to David325 for all the logistical work.

Bike Cottage

I'd also like to thank David325 for the efforts in putting all of this in one place. My info and pics on my build were in two separate emails and I don't think all of it made it through. Here is some more info for anyone interested:

Hello David, Here are the details for my Velo-Cheapo 1974 Raleigh Sprite:

This is my Carmine Red 1974 Raleigh Sprite. Unique, Lazy and Custom touches include: Sturmey-Archer 2-speed kickback coaster brake hub, original Sturmey hub up front, both wearing the original 27" Silver Seal Rims and Cat Eye reflectors. Original Cottered Cranks (note the awesome, and nearly straight, welding job on non-drive side pedal). Also, the chain is a combination of 2 too-short chains (we did say cheap right?). Spare spoke holder was made using the cable stop for the rear Derailleur and a strip of electrical tape. Used Sadem saddle is from India. Repurposed "Fond De Jante" wheel rim tape is used for the grips. Well-used Panaracer Pasela TG tires were sourced from another bike. Total package weighs in at 27 pounds and goes plenty well enough for me.

Future plans include shortening up the gearing a touch and maybe getting some proper fenders. However, this would be a fine working man's bike as is. Just my opinion. I hope you all like it and I can't wait to see what else folks have come up with.

Bike $55
S2C hub $20 (thanks to nlerner)
Gold Paint pen $4.49 (notice that I hardly used it?)
2 chain combo $10
Sadem Saddle $25 maybe (from Glennfordx4 couple years ago)
Old Rim Tape $2 FMV
Old Paselas $15 FMV

Total comes to $ 131.49 Bike has a whopping 9 miles on it. However, it will become a daily driver in the near future.

sunnyone

My vote goes to wrk101's schwinn sierra.

Arrowana

I'll cast a vote for wrk101's Sierra as well.

CliffordK

A lot of nice bike builds. And a lot of time and effort went into making them quite nice. Each one a little bit different. Nice to see a lot of different and unique viewpoints and designs.
Did anybody else put significant miles (over 100) on their bike?

Lascauxcaveman 

^ A hundred and thirty something on mine before the deadline, plus another 20 or so today and yesterday. But it was too easy with the weather we've been having here in the PNW. No cold weather bonus for me.

For the record, I cast my vote for Bluesdaddy's all chrome MTB, partly because of the frigid miles logged but mostly because of the all chrome MTB, duh. I want one so bad. I kinda fell in love with Rgyver's bike too, except chrome steel trumps AL in my book, generally. I also want to see lotekmod's Sears bike in better light. There's something going on with that thing.

BluesDaddy

Thanks caveman! There is something about a chrome MTB... I've wanted one for quite some time.

BluesDaddy

Thank you to @David325 for putting this together! I'm looking forward to the judges' final ruling!

RandolphCarter

After a while, I picked wrk101's orange Schwinn. Nice save!

Great job all other contestants!