Spld cyclist

I've been thinking about a new foul-weather commuter to replace my 1997-ish Bianchi steel frame, rigid fork, mountain bike, which is getting a bit rusty. I want this bike to have at least a front disc brake because it will be used in poor weather conditions (both as the snow bike and other parts of the year when heavy rain is a possibility).

Goals are:

- Aluminum frame for rust prevention and to keep the weight manageable
- Rigid Fork with disc mount (fork can be steel - I haven't found my fork gets particularly rusty)
- 26" tires (to reuse my current studded snow tires and road tires, which have tons of life left)
- Not spend big money on project
- Having a cheaper, non-flashy bike is a plus, given the not-so-nice neighborhoods I need to ride through and parking downtown.

Mountain bikes with 26" tires are starting to disappear from the marketplace, so there isn't the bike selection that there once was. The choices become more limited because I need rack and fender mounts and long enough chain stays for heel clearance.

The $100 Nashbar aluminum mountain bike frame seems to meet my needs. It has both disc tabs for a rear disc brake and canti/v-brake pivots, so I can save a little by going front disc and rear canti or v-brake (have both, along with the correct levers). Nashbar 26" Mountain Bike Frame

The $50 Nashbar rigid fork should work well with this frame. It also has both disc tabs and canti/v-brake pivots. (There are also other possible choices, such as Surly and Kona). Nashbar Rigid Mountain Bike Fork

There are any number of choices for disk wheels, but I'll mention this $120 Rhyno LIte/Deore set for discussion purposes (rock solid and not flashy): Sun Ringlé Rhyno Lite / Shimano Deore 525 Mountain Wheelset

I was thinking of an Avid BB7 mechanical disc brake (about $70 with rotor) for the front and an existing rim brake for the rear. I can add a 2nd disc later if I like the first one.

Most of the drivetrain would get stripped off my current bike. It's lower-end 7-speed Shimano, but everything still works really well. I think I have an FD in a parts box that will work. All the other necessary parts are fairly affordable, or in some cases, I already have them. I'm coming up with around $465 for the total build.

A different approach would be to buy a complete new bike and swap out parts as needed. This one from Bikesdirect is close: Save up to 60% off Mountain Bikes - MTB - Motobecane 450HT

The same Nashbar fork may work with this one. Pros are that I would get an upgrade to 8-speed, I could keep the old bike intact as a backup or parts bike, and maybe the project will be cheaper overall. (Don't really *need* another N+1, but....). The quality of some of the parts will almost certainly be lower, especially the wheels. I haven't been able to find many reviews of the Tektro Novela brakes, but what I have read hasn't been kind. Therefore, I might need to swap out at least the front brake right away, wiping out most of the price advantage. By the way, I've bought from BikesDirect before and been happy with what I got.

Any thoughts on these choices, or other bikes or frames I should consider as well?

P.S. What I don't want to do this time is buy a bike from Craigslist. I've done it before, and found it can be a PITA if one isn't looking for something that can be found under every rock.

bikemig 

I prefer used but the bike you sketched out sounds solid to me. The wheels are pretty good. I own a pair and use on my primary commuter which is a drop bar mtb conversion. The total cost was, understandably, considerably less than the commuter you are thinking of building:

awfulwaffle 

I can vouch for much of that build that build as a commuter. My very first commuter was built with low end 7 speed stuff looted from an old Trek 820 I broke the frame of as a kid, and a Nashbar AL MTB frame. Had BB7s too. Sun Rhyno Lite rims with Deore 525 hubs. Bike got a then-250lb me around for 2 years with nary a problem, and plenty of curb hopping and potholed city streets. Frame currently lives on as my MTB, now re-equipped for some more serious trail riding. Here she is shortly prior to being reborn as a dedicated trail bike, circa 2013:

Bruzer

Your plans seem sound. I have built up the black Nashbar cyclocross frame for commuting that is still working pretty well. Building cost more than buying used for me. I already had the wheels too but all the individual parts added up. I am in no way telling you not to build. Building a bike can be very rewarding and then you have exactly what you want. I am just saying exactly what you want will often cost more than "good enough" (buying something else used).

Spld cyclist

Thanks for posting the picture.

One thing I'm reading (and can also see from the geometry chart) is that this frame has a bit shorter top tube than some other frames, which reduces reach to the bars. Did you find that to be an issue for you? Maybe not, because it looks like your stem is on the short side. What brakes did you use?

Bruzer - thank you also for the feedback. What do you think of the top tube length? Did you go with a rigid fork or suspension?

Spld cyclist

Did you buy the same set from Nashbar? If so, did you find that they came well-tensioned and true?

I have Rhyno Lite rims and Deore hubs on other bikes (although I believe they are older versions than the ones currently for sale) and I believe they are very good parts in general. But I would love to avoid messing around with tensioning because I'm not very efficient at it.

bikemig 

I can tension and build my own wheels but these came through pretty well built. I really didn't do much to them other than adjust the hubs properly. They're stout wheels and very reasonably priced.

Eric S.

Those late '80s/early '90s MTBs make great commuters. I ride a Bridgestone MB-1. I had it set up with drop bars for awhile and it felt as sporty as my road bike(s).

I also have the Sun/Shimano 525 wheels; got them from Nashbar in 2007. Still going strong and I've never had to deal with any tension or truing.

mconlonx

I would do this. As you've done, find the BD bike which most closely matches your desired spec, get it, ride it, and then start upgrading as your mood and wallet dictates. Building a bike from parts will cost more, take longer, and you're bound to run into issues you didn't consider which will cost more money and time.

Building a bike from scratch is fun, I've done it in the past, probably will in the future, but unless it's something you can't get most of in a stock bike, getting an off the shelf bike as a starting point is always a better deal.

Darth Lefty 

I'm not sure buying pieces is your best bet for this. Specialized Hardrock or better frames from about 2000 onward have disk mounts, and from about 2005 mostly have disks, and so probably do other manufacturers' bikes. You can find a bike like that for probably 2-300 bucks or less, then $50 for that fork, while I bet a frame+fork+groupset+wheelset+tires+cockpit is going to run you well up over 500 and make you do a lot of assembly work. Will it be done by winter?

awfulwaffle 

Frankly, at the time I built the bike I had a big ole gut and no core strength, so I defaulted to a pretty upright position. Now has a much longer stem on it, after I got in shape and spent a lot of time on a road bike,so perhaps the TT is on the short side. That said, I don't have much to compare it to.

The brakes are Avid BB7s, which I like very much. Great during the winter, though I did use mostly the front so your plan to have the disc up there is probably a good one, especially if you don't want to spring the cash for both. Might try finding old model BB7s, I recall buying previous year BB7s on Pricepoint for $40 apiece for this build.

rmfnla

Lots of killer deals on eBay for NOS parts, which is how I built up my Curtlo and my wife's Orbea.

Plus, if you decide you don't like a component or need a different size you can turn around and sell it...

Spld cyclist

So I did what I said I wasn't going to do. I looked at Craigslist. There was one pretty good possibility in the first 500 - 600 listings, which I'll look at on Saturday if it isn't sold by then.

The problem is that people are asking $300 +/- for entry level bike store bikes, which (after perusing the specs) likely aren't any better than the $320 Motobecane I linked to in my first post. Plus, they're used. Of course, people may take less than what they're asking up front, but I prefer not to bother unless the price starts at least somewhat close to what I'm willing to pay. They probably won't come down $100 from asking.

The other issue is that if these entry-level bikes often come with an 80 mm travel fork instead of 100 mm, which means I might end having to pay for a $100 Surly fork instead of the $50 Nashbar fork. Price advantage is rapidly disappearing.

If I was looking for a stock rigid fork MTB with canti or v-brakes, Craigslist would be the place to go every time. But it may not pan out in this case.

One thing for sure is that if I buy the Motobecane or any of the used bikes I saw on Craigslist (meaning the ones in my price range), some of the key components will be lower end than if I put together the Nashbar frame and fork with a combo of new and reused parts. Given that the price difference may not be all that much, the Nashbar route might be a better value.

Darth Lefty 

The Surly 1x1 "80mm" fork is the same size as a very old-fashioned suspension fork from the 1990's when they were aftermarket upgrades on steel frames with canti brakes. I think that most midgrade aluminum sport or XC MTBs you might look at from the last 10-15 years are going to have the Suntour elastomer forks and they are mostly suitable for the longer Nashbar fork. My 2001 Hardrock certainly fits that description, anyhow, and so will just about anything from then or later.

Premium bikes tend not to sell as well on Craigslist and you might check Pinkbike. But also I may be spoiled in general to think you can find your bike used, since I live in bike heaven and our CL is the envy of the country.

Remember also that from BD, the price is the price, but on the used market, the price is what the seller hopes... especially if it's a racing MTB that's old enough to be obsolete but not old enough to be "C&V"

Spld cyclist

There's another potential problem I learned about today. The Surly 1x1 80 mm fork isn't available anywhere I could find. Perhaps it's discontinued. There is the Big Dummy fork, which has an extra 12 mm in the fork to crown measurement (and is heavier and more expensive) as compared to the 1x1. Might be close enough.

I'm leery about screwing up the bike handling using a fork that's too long (and/or has improper rake for the frame). I know the thing to do is to measure the fork to crown distance of the actual fork I'll be replacing, taking sag into account, and using that measurement to select the right replacement fork. If the Nashbar fork turns out to be ok for the used bike, then that's great. We'll see.

The bike I might look at on Saturday is at a bike shop, so they can probably help measure the thing as I sit on the bike....

Based on this time as well as past shopping, I think that a lot of people here overestimate the value of their used bikes. And again, they may take much less than what they ask initially. The problem is that I might have to chase around a lot and go back and forth with potential sellers to get a decent price. My free time is fairly limited and I don't really enjoy the hunt, so I don't want to drive 15 miles each way to look at some bike that is priced $100 higher than I think it's worth. Might be a waste of everyone's time. I know that others really like the thrill of the chase, and that's cool too.