A before/after in progress:

The bike gods are smiling on you...

It does kind of feel that way, especially considering my net investment after selling the Rally bits that were on it. I really didn't intend to be in acquisition mode, and the frame is a smidge on the small side for me, but the green is so pretty...I'm going to have to ride it some more before I decide its fate.

Here's a recent project... 1965 Moulton "F" frame in oyster pearl gray with a 4 speed Sturmey. It was basically just a clean-up. First picture is from the cl ad. (I'm terrible with remembering to take "before" pics.)

This is my 1992 U.S.A. made, lugged double butted True Temper OX II with triple butted Tange "Big Fork" that I picked up for $10.00. There were good reasons the bike was only $10.00, it was missing some parts (front wheel, seatpost, and seat) and it was so filthy that I had to take a fingernail to scrape grime away to know what I had. I knew it would be a project but the price was certainly right! The inspiration for this build came from Michael Doleman's "Tringle" (custom Surly Cross Check found at his site https://mdoleman.blogspot.com/2011/05/tringle.html), after hunting through my part bins I had all the parts needed to build up a 3x1 drop bar bike. Many of the parts like the PAUL Melvin, White Industries 20T freewheel, Surly(hubs)/Salsa(hoops) singlespeed wheelset, XT v-brakes, and Shimano M-730 XT crank (I installed a set of 48/38/28 Sugino chainrings) came from my old singlespeed. The Modolo handlebar and brake levers were spares from an Italian road bike that went away a few years back. The Dura Ace triple bar end shifter was left over from the from the 1x9 96'er I built last year, I figured I'd never find a use for that shifter!

I know v-brakes are not very classic nor vintage, some C&V purists are not going to forgive me for running v-brakes, however I was striving for 100% recycled components on this build. When I found the unopened World Class V-Dapter from the 90's, I knew my brake issues were resolved. I don't have any nice canti brake sets left. I ran a drop bar and would need compatible drop bar levers but the idea of spending $25.00 on some new Tektro road to v-brake levers really bugged me since I only spent 10 bucks on the bike! I broke down and spent $9.72 at my LBS today for new housing and cables... c'mon man I can splurge on something!

Anyway, I have a couple things to finish up but I think I'm really going to dig this 3 speed for bombin' the neighborhood and some trails/fire roads, hopefully I'll have some spare time to log some miles this week. I'm an old roadie and I refuse to reuse bar tape, gotta spend another $10.00 picking up some Cinelli cork wrap and I'll be set... $30.00 invested... repurposing a bunch of spare parts... and keeping a quality bike rollin'! Pretty damn good weekend!!!

-D-

(The first photo is after a thorough cleaning, I blew it by cleaning it up before I snapped a photo to illustrate the neglect)

Why did you replace the fork? IMO, the rake on the original fork is much nicer than the replacement: it has an elegant curve all the way down to the dropout, while the replacement has a long straight section leading into the dropout.

looks like the same fork to me...?

The original was bent. I still have the original, and I may eventually have it straightened out professionally, but I managed to find a chrome fork for less than it would have cost to powdercoat the original.

Here's another one...

(the first photo is from the Craigslist ad, hence the lousy image on the floor)



As I was working on my Trek 950, I started noticing that I had the spare parts needed for a single speed conversion. So, when the Trek was done I grabbed this one and went to town tearing it down, cleaned up the frame and fork, and built up a pretty decent single speed. The bike is a 1989 Performance Tangent, the top-of-the-line available that year with double butted Tange CrMo tubing and XT 6 speed components. Now, the Tangent is ultra simple and ready to roll with basically nothing to break or go wrong. I think it came out well and I dig the fact that it is built with almost 100% recycled components from the part bins. To be perfectly honest, there are a couple pieces of new housing left over from the Trek, a new brake cable, the Dia Compe canti brakes are take offs (they were mounted on a bike and pulled off for a disc conversion, a customer's call, not mine). The CNC anodized Odyssey Pro Saddles are new too, I bought them for the gray Dia Compe canti brakes that were swapped out. Oh, the Surly 18T cog has one ride on it, my nephew changed his mind on gearing, he got my 16T Surly cog and I got stuck with this one (it's nice to finally have a use for it). The bike should work really well for a grab and go bike with no stress about locking and leaving it. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.

-D-

(As I bought it) BeforeAfter

aidanpringle
Your silver bike looked pretty rough. Did you paint it yourself? I like the orange and the bike looks very nice.
Ed

Thanks and yes I did paint it myself.

+1 I couldn't agree more, aidenpringle your orange beauty is a champ! Orange is an underused color (IMO), my Timbuk2 messenger bag is orange and gray and at least once a week someone tosses me some praise about the bag. That came out great! Maybe the next bike I paint will be orange also... yours looks great and the unique color really sets it off!

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with it.

Just wanted to get it into respectable condition as original missing parts were well out of my ball park financially. Sold it about 2 years ago.

Here are some before and after pictures of my 1985 Fuso that I bought last fall. I was able to get decals from the builder (Dave Moulton). I tried to get it as close as I could to the original colors. It is all Shimano 600 tricolor except the DA headset. I upgrade it from 7 speed to 8 speed and replaced the downtube shifters with brifters. I just finished it about a half hour ago. It is done except for the computer I am going to add tomorrow.

Before:




After:

Wow, a couple really fine posts!

19843 Peugeot P18T, a Goodwill Rescue mission Mixte:


After new moustache bars, saddle, tires, tubes, cables/housing, and a complete overhaul

Before: purchased for $30.00....barely rideable but frame was true




After: Taken apart, sanded down, prime, painted and new parts

Agreed ! ! !

rjhammett's Fuso is great! I'm a big fan of modern components on older bikes, I went with 8 speed Dura Ace on my '89 Schwinn 974... I love it!

Velognome's single speed is exquisite! That is easily in my top 5 for best restoration or conversion, everything is just right... whatta' beauty!!!

Really well done, thank you for sharing!

-D-

Hello all,

My wife asked if I could build her a bike for the Farmer's Market, something of a grocery getter that was stripped down and simplified but had ample carrying capacity. My wife has been riding her Simonetti with full Campy and carrying one of my Timbk2 bags to pick up fresh produce but leaving the Simo locked up even for a short spell stresses her out. This last trip to pick up some fruits and veggies my lil' angel (7 years old) rode her '60's Schwinn Stingray, pee-wee carried home a bag of apples in a small woven basket mounted on her handlebars. That got my wife thinking and soon I was hunting Craigslist for something of quality that would make a good single speed conversion, hopefully at a good price. I happened onto an ad for a 1988 Schwinn High Sierra for $35.00 and the seller wasn't too far from my home. The bike needed work but a 4130 frame with some fillet brazing is hard to beat at that price. Being a big fan of that era Schwinn Cimarrons (I own 4 of them), I knew this would make for a solid single speed. After getting home another Craigslist search yielded an ad looking to trade a large metal basket and a rear rack for a modern bend drop bar, a quick call and swap, and I was on my way. Yesterday, I started stripping the bike down, gave it a good cleaning and polish, and repacked the headset and bottom bracket. Thankfully my spare part bins (eight milk crates) are full and recently organized, this made for a quick rebuild. I decided to save the Suntour Roller Cam brakes for something else down the line, instead I had a complete Dia-Compe brake set with a canti front brake and horseshoe rear. A simple fork swap and the build was almost complete. I need to swing by my LBS today for brake cables and housing but the bike will be ready for Tuesday's Farmer's Market and my wife is loving it! Since I'm in good "bike" standing presently... I think I'll have a peek and see if there are any Cimarrons for sale locally!

(Here are the "before" and "after" shots)

Miyata OneHundred for 15Dollars



Daily 3-speed beater for 65 Dollars


Yepp it has lights and all that crap for...the Police...

^^^^nice job.

also for not getting run over by cars