emarg0ed

This thread inspired me to work on cleaning up my old crappy singlespeed. It went from a Frankenbike to a really sharp and nice bike. My goal is to make it a porteur-style bike, w/ fenders and a front rack. Just haven't gotten there yet. Here's the before and after pics:





Frame is unknown..when I stripped off all the old stickers there were no identifying marks there. It is lugged steel, but I don't think I really have some hidden gem here. It's solid enough though.

My goal in rebuilding this bike was not to spend any extra money on it (for now), only pay for paint and then use original parts and extra parts off of other bikes. And that's what I did: original wheels and cranks. Used a set of Nitto North Road bars I had lying around, put on a Velo Orange seat that was in-between bikes as well. Slightly newer parts include some Tektro aero levers and MKS Touring pedals. But again, I already had all these parts lying around or on other bikes.

I did break down and order a new seatpost from my LBS so I could have a more modern post. I will probably also add a chainguard, fenders and a porteur rack from Velo Orange in the near future so I can carry some loads on it. Other than that, I think this is done. I'm excited to start riding it. If I can get used enough to the single gear it might become my daily commuter. That would be fun Might need to replace the front chainring to do that though, it's a bit small at the moment.

Anyways, this was a really fun project. I'll add another to this thread in a couple of months when I finish building my touring rig.

ilikebikes

Before:


After:

cobrabyte

1983 Peugeot PX 8 M

before:


after:


thanks for looking!

rccardr 

Before:
This was what the box looked like when I opened it up- it was a mess.

Seller had used newspaper (the worst packing material) and notmuch of that, and the disassembly job was...not great

The box was from some furniture sture and not sized correctly, so parts were sticking out all over the place:


This is what it looks like today- just finished the build this afternoon:


Drivetrain is now a mix of Shimano 600 and Ultegra, with a Brooks B17 and matching bar wrap.

emarg0ed

Trek 520 touring bike. Bought in October '09 and completed it in January '10.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

YoKev

^^ total transformation on that Trek! NICE!

layhole

that cannondale looks too fresh! nice job!

raverson

1996 Schwinn Cruiser 6. A CL find for $30 last month. Besides a through cleaning, the Shimano Altus brakes were shot despite showing absolutely zero use. The plastic backing that holds the spring tension were broken on all four arms. I added the chrome Wald rack and rear LED light also.

raverson

This 1967 Varsity came from my next door neighbor. Complete overhaul including replacing a bunch of frozen spokes on the rear wheel and she's ready to go. Rides like a big caddy, but is happy only on flat ground. New Pyramid brake shoes from Niagara and stopping is satisfactory when dry.

ransom63

Here's the '74 Raleigh Sports that I put together from this man's & woman's bikes. I had forgotten what a smooth ride these old bikes are. I had a Hercules back in the 60's that I didn't appreciate & this bike is my homage' to that great ride.

KOTA

Usually post in the "Alt Bike Culture".....Occasionally over here, if the bike isn't to radical. This is a 62ish Meteor Flite, bought at a flea market, for $30. Made it into a "cruiser" for my wife, for club rides......Hope ya like it.

Sixty Fiver

I purchased my 1987 Kuwahara Cascade in '06 for a whopping $25.00... I never took a picture of the bike when she was a stock 18 speed (and nearly mint) and consider her the best deal ever.

The frame is Ishiwata 022 quad butted and the frame is hand built, headset and bottom bracket were Kuwahara / Tange and are still in use. Components were Deore from top to bottom and I still have these stashed away. Wheels were Araya RM 20's and brakes were and still are Shimano.

Converted her to an ss and then a fixed gear for extreme winter commuting as the geometry and frame is really better suited for road and expedition touring than mountain biking.

Single speed... note the u brake.



She was my 2nd fixed gear bike...



I converted the girl to a drop bar version in the spring of '07 using some salvaged rando bars which have never changed and added the front rack. The tyres were Schwalbe Hurricanes that were bought in '06 and were originally fitted to my mtb when I used it as a commuter.



Nicer fenders... still in use.





Obligatory white door shot after I built a new fixed wheelset and swapped the Hurricanes for Schwalbe Marathons... this was 2008. I replaced the Vetta saddle with a Wright's leather saddle.



Did a lot of fixed gear commuting and short day tours and when I got to demo the new Brooks Imperial it spent a little time on my folder but knew it belonged here.

This was taken just before the 2008 Tour de Perogy which is an annual ride I started in '07 and it covers a distance of 140 km and is easy to do on a fixed gear.



I acquired a nearly identical 1988 Kuwahara Shasta and built it into another drop bar fixed gear mtb for winter use and I have another vintage fixed gear touring bike.

I test drove a Miyata 1000 in the same size and even with an excellent fit I quite honestly found that my Cascade was a much more comfortable bike so rather than pull the trigger on the Miyata decided that Yuki should get her groove back.

She's almost done... I just need a single barcon for the left / front and will swap in some Superbe pedals but otherwise she is now a 26 inch wheeled, 24 speed expedition bike and we went on our first shakedown ride on Wednesday night.

And we got our first flat after traveling at least 20,000 km together.



Waiting for spring now...

Doohickie

Before (before I even bought it, at the pawn shop)





After (minor adjustments, truing the rims and getting rid of the pathetic aftermarket friction stem shifters and reverting back to downtube S.I.S. levers)

junkfoodjunkie

Great job on the prelude!

Doohickie

Thanks.

I still need to do the handlebar tape and clean up the drivetrain, and probably spring for new cables.

Sixty Fiver

hickie - You do some nice work.

droobieinop

Here's a cross post from catch of the day thread.
95 trek 700 before.

And after with sora brifters. Incidentally, the rear shifter crapped out, probly while out on loan.
Only three gears working, front only, will likely get barcons before its over.

jeremyb

Okay, here is the before and after of my wife's bike that I built up.

Took the Schwinn she had and added $200 worth of parts/materials to make this. Fun project.

In the end, I kept the Headset, BB, RD, frame, fork and wheels. Some VO in there, but a lot of cheaper older parts. Had the Schwinn decals custom made by bikenames.com Also, ground off the teeth on the large ring so that it would act as a guard.


She loves it.

Before:





After:

raverson

Very nice work.

southpawboston

very nice transformation!!! are those the VO belleville bars? how do you/your wife like them? and are those the $11 VO city brake levers?

great choice of color, and great job on the chainring/guard!

Grand Bois

Seller's photo. I let him keep the wheels, saddle and brakes.

jeremyb

Yep those are the belleville----she thinks they are too narrow---I'm not so sure about that. And yes also to the $11 VO brake levers.

Some more details on my blog here: https://veloresto.blogspot.com/search...inn%20Crossfit

Sixty Fiver

Just... wow.

Sixty Fiver

A little work in progress that is far from being finished...

Sixty Fiver

A little progress...