Sturuss

Agreed. If the components are new, or period and/or type consistent, then it’s just a build, not Frankenbike.

zandoval 

All my bikes are now Franken Bikes. And often they switch components between each other...

I am sure it is Frau Blücher sneaking in to tinker...

I hear that sad violin as I look into my now empty parts bins...

Example: My last build was a Peugeot Dolomites and assembled from non original components scavanged from other bicycles and parts bins. Just a few of them new. Yep... For lack of a better term I'll call it Franken...

9 China 47%
3 Japan 16%
4 USA 21%
1 Indonesia 5%
2 France 11%

capnjonny 

I think this one qualifies.
Mixte frame, Mtn bike wheels with street tires, Sting Ray Banana seat, home made rear "shocks" Rear fender originally a front from a Huffy, Coaster brake 3 speed hub(not yet connected), Front caliper brake from a kids BMX bike, Head light, tail light and generator. from somewhere.

SurferRosa

Tall, green, cold, poorly clothed with bad hair, lumbers as if music were never invented, grunts a lot, loathes its builder, with bolts in neck, and yearns for a friend.

Chuck M 

capnjonny That in my mind is more of a cool rat bike. It looks like a more deliberate build than just a hodgepodge of parts. I seriously think it looks pretty cool and would look even better with a Schwinn cloverleaf chainring and ashtabula crank.

Jeff Neese

I nominate that bike for the Frankenbike Hall of Fame.

BTinNYC

One of the coolest builds I've seen. There's a heavy old Pug mixte hanging in the garage and right now, it's terrified.

Sturuss

Looks like a bike Frau Blucher (horse whinny here) would ride! Definitely a Frankenbike hall of famer.

Andy_K 

Here's a (fittingly) long dead thread that deserves new life: Show us your Frankenbikes

I knew there would be (at least) one.

Edit: Even older! Frankenbike Appreciation Thread

Andy_K 

I think for some of us frankenbike is a term of affection. In the book, Frankenstein's monster was intelligent and spoke eloquently, but he was hated by the common people.

One of my favorite bikes, my 1983 Sequoia, is definitely one I would consider a frankenbike, but I think it came together perfectly.



Gevenalle shifters (already a frankencomponent!)
Campagnolo Racing T crankset (with a Shimano small ring)
SunTour XC front derailleur
Shimano Deore (9-speed) rear derailleur
Tektro brakes
SunTour seatpost (at last! a match for something else on the bike!)
Specialized Toupe saddle with titanium rails (absurdly light for a bike like this)
Crank Brothers Candy mountain bike pedals
Mid fork braze-ons for the front rack added by a previous owner, with improvised "fade" paint job

Basically, a complete mismash of components but they all work together perfectly to make a great bike.

Is this not a frankenbike?

merziac

This was all about the Frankenchrome of which I still didn't manage to get as much of as I wanted.

And as Kilroy1998 commented in the old and the new thread "lovely or wicked", just like Frank.

Sturuss

IMHO this is a lovely build - not a Frankenbike! Is that av25” frame?

merziac

Tx!

Yep, about 63.5cm CTT full custom and a bit small so it will fit me hopefully to the end of the line with the extended HT and all else.

I currently ride 66cm ideally and that was all factored into that frame, it was sized off of my current favorite rider, a 66 Merz touring and a 60 Bruce Gordon, both customs built for somebody else but both ride fantastic for me despite being so far apart in size.

Dave worked his magic and nailed it on the Strawberry.

Here's the original thread.

The old and the new, the ying and the yang, the good, bad and the ugly, you decide.

grant40

I know that there are some people that think a few Japanese parts on an Italian frame is a frankenbike.

I consider a frankenbike as a bike with parts that are REALLY not meant to go together.

My Ross with MTB cranks, a corncob freewheel, a Dura Ace rear derailleur, a cruiser seat, and Suntour Barcon shifters.



I also found this pic of a late 1920s or early 1930s bike with 1990s Bulseye MTB cranks and early 1990s 700c rims, but it still has an Osgear Super Champion derailleur system.

Sturuss

Yep, those are Frankenbikes. How does that weird Osgear derailleur work? Looks like it could be used as a kickstand!

grant40

That tensioner is too far down. It works as the rider pulls the tensioner up, pedals backwards, and shifts the rear shifter side to side. The downtube shifter has a lever for the shifter mechanism and a wing nut that controls the tensioner.

grant40

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oldairhead 

whoa!!!

SurferRosa

^ Do you really have to lock it up?

JohnDThompson 

This is my frankenbike. The only original component is the seat post. Nothing matches. Front and rear hubs from different manufacturers, front and rear rims from different manufacturers. Different right and left crank arms. Chainring different from crank arm. Chainring bolts and dustcap different from crank arm and chainring. Bottom bracket cartridge different from crank arms; mounting rings different from cartridge. Front mudguard different from rear mudguard. Etc.

scarlson 

You've got it all wrong!!

This, friends, is a Franken-bike.

SurferRosa

Really looks like the perfect bike to meander through two neighborhoods, through the track at the high school and over to the UtoteM to buy a slushy, Kiss cards, and Watchamacallit.

BTinNYC

bamboobike4

I think Al Frenkenbikes have more places to put his hands where he's not supposed to.