I've rebuilt a lot of mtbs over the years. The best way to hold the cost down, is to find a donor bike, and swap parts. For instance, I picked up a 1988 Cannondale SM700 MTB at a garage sale last weekend, didn't have wheels, no chain, ripped up saddle, but everything else was there. And the frame is good. As luck would have it, about a week ago, I picked up a mid grade, Novara MTB (REI brand) at a thrift store, suspension fork is shot, frame is scraped up, but it has good quality parts on it (all STX). Out of these two bikes, I'll build one good bike, and spend very little doing it. I paid $25 total, for both bikes. Some parts are repeats, so I'll end up with a couple of extra derailleurs, brake calipers, crankset, seat post, bars, stem, and bottom bracket. I'll add a new chain ($5), cables, tires, bearings and grease, and it will be ready to go. I'll have less than $50 into the finished bike. And all of those left over parts will come in handy, as I have about a half dozen other mtbs to build up/repair.


Spending $150 just on parts for an old mtb is an expensive option. Finished, ready to ride, mtbs with those shifters you posted above would go for about $100. The Cannondale I picked up has better components and shifters, so it will bring more, but not a lot. Sometimes I just rebuild a bike to get it back on the road.


Over the years, bikes have paid for bikes, tools, keeper bikes and more. Early on, I did very little work on them (lack of skill and tools). My first project was a $10 garage sale bike: cleaned it up, trued the wheels, adjusted the cables, and moved it on to a new owner three days later. I learned as I went, getting more tools, more knowledge and more comfort with the whole process. With hundreds of projects, I have yet to have bought $150 in parts for a single bike. Donor bikes rule.