Originally Posted by
oddjob2
+1
Low cost Kenda tires are OEM on a lot of bikes these days, even LBS bikes. You'll also need ball bearings for hubs, BB, and steering, along with brake pads. Maybe get rid of the mountain bike pedals as well. Usually for me about $50-$55 in parts.
I get tires fairly cheap, a couple guys at the flea market come in with 30-40 tires occasionally and I can pick up 2 or 3 matched-set Chang Yao or the sort for $10 a pair, as long as I'm buying a few other bits. The last set I got was $15 which included an almost new Mongoose seat and two excellent condition alloy clip pedals with good straps.
I'm usually in it for the $10-15 for tires, $7 for bar tape, $7 for cables, and worst-case $10 for a chain. If I've got to get some hard parts, I find a junker with components for $25-30 and it'll take me through 2 or 3 bikes needing parts, so yeah, about $47 average plus the normal add-in for the lube, nuts, bolts, vinegar, WD-40, etc that's already on-hand. It's weird, but most of the junker bikes I get have good tires and the keepers usually don't. Unless the tires on a bike I get are almost new, I put new ones on them, then hold the good old ones for my riding bikes.