tgot 

Hi,

I have a desire to try a bike-frame balance stool. Because...I want to.

I could grab a goodwill BSO, but what is the fun in that?

If you've got a frame that isn't ridable due to damage to top tube, head tube, or downtube, I'd like to repurpose it, just the seattube and rear triangle, as a stool. Seatpost would be a bonus.

I'm sure I could make anything 52-58cm work. Probably 50 or 60cm?

Something fun or classic-y would be a bonus. Note that I don't particularly care if it's a conventionally nice frame, a bottom end frame is just as good as a top end. A light blue bottom-list Peugeot from the 80s to match what I had in highschool would be perfect.

In the SF Bay area is a big bonus, because shipping a broken thing for an experiment is kind of goofy.

I'd rather not deal with a level of rust that would shed into the floor...

I realize this is a fairly specific and semi random ask. But I bet there are C&V folks with damaged frames that they can't justify repairing, and don't want to throw away.

I hearby solemnly and publically promise that if I repurpose your frame into a stool, and hate using it, that I will offer it here on C&V Sales rather than discarding it.

Dylansbob 

If you were closer, I'd set you up with a Gitane TdF with a cracked headlug.

I made mine out of a Trek 720 hybrid with a stuck seatpost...

tgot 

Ooh...pictures?

sced

Sadly, this 1985 Bianchi Brava has a broken-through headtube-downtube lug. It was my wife's who weighed less than 120 lbs. A framebuilder said the gap between the downtube and lug wasn't properly filled with solder when made.

nlerner

I have a damaged motobecane that I already tried to turn into a stool in a not terribly effective project. Probably not worth shipping from MA to CA.

romperrr 

I have a damaged Raleigh Techmeium (sp?) frame that I could send you. I may even be able to cut it in half for you to save on shipping costs. Let me know if you're interested.

marius.suiram 

Trek 620, excellent condition, but had a front impact

unworthy1

I am in the Bayarea and had a medium blue Stella frameset that nobody would snag so I donated it to Waterside Workshops (AKA Street Level Cycles) on the Berkeley estuary, last month.
They are having a "garage sale" this Saturday and I bet dollars to donuts that frameset will be there. Not a Pug, but French and...better!
They promise prices as low as $5 for frames so if the Stella is gone there's probably others to pick from, money spent goes to promote their not-for-profit services including bicycle repair classes and used bikes/parts sales.
Check 'em out (and apologies for this being an IG link but that's how they sent it to me, NOT a user of IG):

https://www.instagram.com/watersideworkshops/

nathand

I've got a Scott Speedster S20 with a damaged downtube (from a head-on crash; I'm shocked that the aluminum downtube bent with no visible damage to the carbon fork), and I'm in San Francisco. If this is of interest I'd be happy to add a photo.

tgot 

Yours is definitely closest! I'd like to see a picture. What size is it?

In pictures, the seat is nearly as far back as the rear axle, so if I needed a lot of seatpost I'm worried about going over backwards.

​​​​​

nathand

Here you go. Size Small / 52cm.

tgot 

Looks great. What do you want for it?

I don't need the BB, by the way, I'm probably drilling through the shell to put a wheel there.

tgot 

I do appreciate all the sweet offers! If I find I enjoy the stool, I may need one for the office, too.

This is speculative enough that the physically nearest frame is appealing.

nathand

I'm happy to give the frame away, I would much rather have it put to use rather than me put it in the trash. DM me to arrange a time to pick it up.

I tried and failed to remove the BB once already, and it didn't seem worth bringing it to a shop since a new BB isn't that expensive, but if you can remove it I'll keep it for some future use.

tgot 

I will DM you. Thanks!

tgot 

I don't know if this thread now belongs elsewhere, nothing seemed very appropriate, but since I started on C&V Sales, and hang out mostly in C&V, I thought I'd keep going here.

Mods: Feel free to move if inappropriate.

First off, I picked up a frame from nathand . Thank you so much for making is easy, too!

Here's me sizing up the wooden additions, because mounting to the aluminum seemed sketchy.


After cutting, some work was done with a 4-in-hand to rough out space and increase contact area with the frame. I had to remind myself about telling my kids: Not everything is done in two minutes! It didn't actually take very long.

tgot 

Since I had paint open and mixed anyway, and it was a compatible color, I painted the wooden pieces. Notice the fourth part, which represents the gate-limiting block that was the work I was *supposed* to be doing today.



Washed the frame while the first side dried, and got ready to cut.


I had thought that the dremel cutting wheel would be best, but I couldn't get it properly perpendicular to the frame, and abandoned that for just a hacksaw.


As I was almost through the downtube, the saw kept binding. It reminded me of cutting a log or board unsupported, when its weight causes the cut to sag closed. But that couldn't be it!! Then suddenly the frame parted with a PAANG! The crumple zone that made this a donor frame had apparently left some residual stress, and the cut-tube jumped ~3/8" out of alignment.


Gave the cut tubes a few minutes with a file, flat, inside, and outside, to remove any dangerously sharp edges. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the holes at this point.


Off to the HW store while the paint finishes drying!

tgot 

Here's the rear support, between the dropouts. I used beefy lag bolts, because it is just friction that keeps this part from rotating.



The front pieces were held together, pinching the chainstays, by a small bolt. I found screw-on rubber feet. I was hoping for basically that style of foot; I'm a little worried that they're small enough that they''ll compress under my weight and the screws will contact the floor. We shall see.


Here is the assembled stool! I found rubber stoppers that fit the tubes, and gave them a good mallet-whack to seat them. My notion with leaving ~4" of toptube was that it could serve as a handle. It actually seems too low to be useful for that, I think I'd always grab it by the seat.


After taking the picture, I decided my weight was too far back, the seat is now basically at max-forward on the rails.

The stool is, by design, narrow enough that my legs need to be active to keep from falling left or right, but not fully supporting my weight. My hope is that by using this as a balance stool, it combats the "too much sitting, legs stiffen up" which I believe has contributed to my knee issues. We shall see!

All in all, I feel that I built what I was hoping to achieve, it looks decent, feels about right, was cheap, and only took 3 hours start to finish because of a lunch break and multiple hardware store visits.