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Show us your Frankenbikes

Old 09-12-10, 11:23 AM
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Show us your Frankenbikes

Many of us have C&V bikes kept close to stock. However, given the propensity for tinkering that exists among the membership, I'm sure many of you have C&V bikes that have been used as experimental platforms and tricked out in a variety of interesting and disturbing ways.

Sort of the semi adult version of Legos.

This thread is inspired, in part, by the Vintage Cyclocross thread and, in part, by the fact that I have a 1993 Trek 2300 frame coming in that could be a very good Frankenbike platform.

So let's see them -- bizzare commuters, cyclocross, flashy tri bikes, etc.
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Old 09-12-10, 12:05 PM
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Well, that pretty much describes my entire collection where very few are even close to how they rolled out of the factory. But in the spirit of the thread, sounds like you have in mind my Specialized HardRock. It lives under a tarp in my backyard, now has mismatched thumb shifters (rather than the bar ends in the pic), is setup to haul my one-wheel trailer for lots of haulage, but generally just grocery store runs with grocery panniers strapped to the rear rack. I run Schwalbe Marathons three seasons and studded Schwalbe tires in the winter. I do think I have the original wheelset on there.



Neal
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Old 09-12-10, 03:31 PM
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The 51 Schwinn, again.

The 72 Phillips with '28 Raleigh wheels and '40 Shelby fenders;



And of course the Super Course with parts from at least 12 other bikes.


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Old 09-12-10, 03:33 PM
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Oh, wait, there's Berty Bott's every flavor bike, an Allegro with parts from at least 12 different countries;

And the homebrew triple on the Raleigh;
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Old 09-12-10, 04:19 PM
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Schwinn Voyageur SP, set up as a fire road, desert bike in AZ:

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Old 09-12-10, 05:22 PM
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I posted mine in the other Franken-bike thread a few months ago.
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Old 09-12-10, 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
I posted mine in the other Franken-bike thread a few months ago.
I'm posting mine again. Go ahead and post yours!

Univega Viva Touring and wheels and brakes, with Miyata 710 running gear, matte black-painted Pletscher rack, Fizek saddle.


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Old 09-12-10, 06:31 PM
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This is what I spent my sunday building. I wanted to build something to live outside and not worry about locking it. At the moment the Wald baskets and the Mavic brake adaptor are the most valuable things about it. The headset is notchy, the seatpost guts are stripped, 700 wheels are flat spotted and the rear tire barely seats. And the baskets don't fit. A classic ****box. Of course once I finished it, I find out the chainstays are too short and my heels hit the baskets. I get to spend all day tomorrow stripping it back down.





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Old 09-12-10, 06:36 PM
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I think my Specialized cyclocross conversion qualifies as a franken-bike.
Frame and wheels are early 90's hybrid. Bars are from an Apollo, bar end sifters are from the 70's. The 105 aero levers are from the late 80's. Tires are used Ritchey cross tires, tubes are patched and repatched from my Sherpa 30 touring bike. Chain and BB are new low end Shimano offerings. The seat post is from a Raliegh Grand Prix and the saddle from the 08' Rocky Sherpa. The front brake cable stop is from a 77' Sekine. The cage is from a new Specialized Allez. Pedals are also from the Sherpa.
What a gathering of bits.

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Old 09-12-10, 06:55 PM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
Well, that pretty much describes my entire collection where very few are even close to how they rolled out of the factory. But in the spirit of the thread, sounds like you have in mind my Specialized HardRock. It lives under a tarp in my backyard, now has mismatched thumb shifters (rather than the bar ends in the pic), is setup to haul my one-wheel trailer for lots of haulage, but generally just grocery store runs with grocery panniers strapped to the rear rack. I run Schwalbe Marathons three seasons and studded Schwalbe tires in the winter. I do think I have the original wheelset on there.



Neal
Looks familiar:



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Old 09-12-10, 07:06 PM
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Just an 82' Schwinn World with a set of Stronglight cranks, VO track wheelset and brakes by Dia Compe.....the rest is obvious!

 
Old 09-12-10, 07:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Homebrew01
I posted mine in the other Franken-bike thread a few months ago.
We humor Bob with his threads, just play along.
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Old 09-12-10, 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Old Fat Guy
Schwinn Voyageur SP, set up as a fire road, desert bike in AZ:

Hi OFG,

I just picked up a Schwinn Voyager today made from Columbus.

It was a little small for me, but seemed to have a very nice ride.

I'm building it out as a light tourer/commuter for a co-worker.

She's pretty excited about the whole thing.

Yours looks like it means business!
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Old 09-12-10, 07:31 PM
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here's my frankenbike: 1988 cannondale rigid mtb, with upright handlebars, child seat, front rack with wald basket, fenders, bell, computer (!), mismatched city tires, mismatched front and rear brakes, and rusty chain from leaving the bike outside. for two years this was the bike i used to haul my daughter to preschool, and for grocery store runs:



and my wife's urban truck, a 1992 specialized rockhopper comp, almost identical to neal lerner's specialized mtb:


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Old 09-12-10, 07:33 PM
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Excuse the crappy night shots...



'74ish UO-8. Cinelli handlebars, Belleri stem, Campy brake levers, Shimano dual-pull calipers (bought new - super long reach), steel suicide hubbed wheels from a Kabuki Super Speed, Schwinn Approved 48t crank, Co-Op cotterless BB, stock BB cups, stock seat post. Soon to get Alex/Formula wheels ebayed from a Schwinn Madison (waiting to buy tubes till the weekend). PB Hybrid fenders. Campy pedals and toe clips.



'89 Fuji Palisade. new Weinmann rear 27" wheel, Araya front (donor unknown). Shimano UN-54 BB, 175mm triple from a Nishiki Colorado, new Shimano Tourney derailers, SunTour shifters (6-7 spd index, friction. Run it in friction, because the indexing is off from the Shimano stuff). No-name dual pull calipers, Zefal fenders, Riv flaps.

Both work great, and the Palisade is my go-to bike. It just works. Perfectly. For mile after mile. Actually, if I can't get the fender thing sorted out with the Modulus, that will be the bike I take to the Chicago C&V ride in a couple weeks (with the toe-clip pedals from the Peugeot, probably).
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Old 09-12-10, 07:45 PM
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All good. Now where are those C&V Franken Tri Bikes?
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Old 09-12-10, 07:57 PM
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Originally Posted by ricohman
I think my Specialized cyclocross conversion qualifies as a franken-bike.
Frame and wheels are early 90's hybrid. Bars are from an Apollo, bar end sifters are from the 70's. The 105 aero levers are from the late 80's. Tires are used Ritchey cross tires, tubes are patched and repatched from my Sherpa 30 touring bike. Chain and BB are new low end Shimano offerings. The seat post is from a Raliegh Grand Prix and the saddle from the 08' Rocky Sherpa. The front brake cable stop is from a 77' Sekine. The cage is from a new Specialized Allez.
What a gathering of bits.
This was my first attempt to re-purpose a Crossroads, a mishmash of 105 components, a pair of old 27" wheels, bar ends, and the wrong saddle for the job. The end result? A train wreck visually, but not a bad ride after I swapped out the saddle:



Originally Posted by hvac59
Just an 82' Schwinn World with a set of Stronglight cranks, VO track wheelset and brakes by Dia Compe.....the rest is obvious!

Nice build hvac59! Does your Workmate bench have a solid wood top?
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Old 09-12-10, 08:34 PM
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Parts of this thing have been posted up over the last few weeks, anyways a full layout for this thread.

The "Alien Workshop" 82 or 83 Schwinn World Tourist. It used to have the FFS, but no longer. I meant to make it a 10 speed but the BB spindle is too short with the current double up front and the FD's I have available to make it work, so it is set up as a 5 speed currently.



Recently posted but here again. The original front badge was mangled so I put this sticker on the head tube.


Yes it really is a Schwinn. The leather along the side was torn through the rivets, nothing the extra tough black duct tape couldn't fix.


The coup 'de graus. No RD cable stop, I think the original ran a long length of housing or something. 23skiddo sent me a clamp on stay, but it was too small, so I revisited my temporary kludge. I cut down a barrel adjuster from an old side pull brake assembly. Filed one side flat and attached it with a hose clamp. Wrapped it with some green electrical tape and gave it a shot of the metallic green spray bomb the the frame/fork received.



This thing rides smooth as buttah, my goto kickaround cruzer for now.
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Old 09-12-10, 10:05 PM
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I don't really consider my bike to be a "frankenbike," which I've always thought of as something you build up from the parts of dead bikes you have laying around....

But then it didn't really sound like the OP was looking for that. More of a re-purposed bikes thread if you ask me. I was actually going to start a similar thread because I wanted to show off my Pro Tour in its most recent incarnation.





The idea behind the build is that I needed a do-everything bike. I just moved out to the islands about a month and a half ago and could practically only bring one bike—hopefully the Ironman will be coming back with me when I visit the mainland in October for a wedding. It goes without saying that if I could only afford to bring one bike with me, there was no way I was shipping a car—my girlfriend and I have been car-free since we got here. Yes, it is awesome not owning a car.

Basically, I wanted a bike that could haul as many groceries/whatever as we might possibly need, but would remain a fun, almost-sporty steed when I just want to ride. This ruled out xtracycles or other more typical utility bikes.
I have to say, I think it's pretty spot on. I don't want to talk about how much it weighs—at a certain point with this kind of build, you've added so much stuff that weight ceases to concern you. First it was the lights and generator, then the rear rack, then the fenders, then the porteur rack..... Not to mention the burly-as-**** chain I usually haul around on the rear (not pictured). Still, as long as I'm not trying to drop roadies, it goes fast enough. For now. (I miss my Ironman!)

Getting to the "Franken" part of the post...
A surprising lot of what's on the bike is stock. When I got it, the seatpost had been switched to the black one on there now and the previous owner had also installed a six-speed freewheel (so technically its a Pro Tour 18). The platform pedals and the Tubus rear rack I got in a trade here. Same with the BB dynamo and lights. The handlebars are the Dimension moustache knockoffs, "Double Bend Urban Bars." The panniers are Civia-branded Ortlieb backrollers—I think they look much nicer and are identical in construction to the regular Ortliebs. The front rack is also Civia—their Market Rack. And the wonderful saddle is a Velo Orange.

What I think is kind of funny is how similar this turned out to my girlfriend's bike, which she bought specifically with car-free in mind: Trek Belleville.


I guess we're one of those couples now.
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Old 09-12-10, 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted by jtgotsjets
I don't really consider my bike to be a "frankenbike," which I've always thought of as something you build up from the parts of dead bikes you have laying around....

But then it didn't really sound like the OP was looking for that. More of a re-purposed bikes thread if you ask me. I was actually going to start a similar thread because I wanted to show off my Pro Tour in its most recent incarnation.

.
+1 Yes, not necessarily junk, but innovation and, maybe, flash.
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Old 09-12-10, 10:25 PM
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BTW, where is that Miami Vice Tri Bike. And, Robbie, I know you are good for some contributions.
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Old 09-13-10, 05:18 AM
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Dunno the provenance of the frame. It had been repainted and was being used as a training bike. It did have a Tange sticker on it and it was light and rust-free so I snapped it up for $AUD75 and have never regretted it,
The rest is 7400 series Dura-Ace and AX with Velocity Synergy rims,All parts were either new or NOS except the Crane R/D.
I'll keep this until I die.
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Old 09-13-10, 07:51 AM
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I build mine more to ride than for originality. Although, I do keep the original components I change out.

Nishiki Marina 12



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Old 09-13-10, 09:01 AM
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beautiful pic! I almost thought it was taken in Pa along I80.

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Old 09-13-10, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Bianchigirll
beautiful pic! I almost thought it was taken in Pa along I80.
If you crop out the mountains it sure does

I show it off constantly, but here's my tricked out Varsity. Hardly a day goes by that it doesn't get taken out for an errand of some sort.

before:

After:


JJPistols has a mad max lookin' Varsity that inspired me to do this...the tires are 26 x 2.25. Clearance is tight

The saddle and crankset are original, the Wald baskets came with it (I krylon'd them white)
The Wheels were an exercise in trying something new...The rear is a 7 speed shimano nexus freehub w/Roller Brake (drum Brake), the Front is a Sturmey Archer XFDD hub - with a Drum Brake and a Dynamo. Rims are Sun Rhyno Lite, straight gauge spokes.
Since the rear hub was providing 7 shimano spaced cogs I figured It was a ripe opportunity to try out index shifting(my first indexed bike), So I went with a set of Shimano 105 7-Speed shifters, and a pair of inline cable adjusters. The shifters were meant to be screwed to braze-on shifter mounts, but I needed a clamp, so I disassembled a set of shimano DT Ratchet shifters and scavenged the clamp-band and shifter mounts for the new shifters.

I knew I wanted an upright seating position and thought that Downtube shifters would be too big a reach when the bike was fully loaded with groceries so I put the shifters on the top tube, using the top tube brake cable stop as a stop to keep the clamped shifters from moving around.


Look closely and you'll see the clamp-bands aren't sitting directly on the tube. Schwinn EF frames have a smaller outside diameter than standard, so you need a little spacer to fit standard parts on these frames. PastorBob showed me the way on these...there's small sections of brass bushing being used as spacers between the frame and nearly all the clamp-on parts.

Finally the handlebars and stem were an unexpected PITA. I wanted to use the original Schwinn Stem, but the handlebars I'd chosen had too tight a bend to fit through the clamp. The only way was to use a stem with a removable faceplate. Unfortunately I couldn't locate a suitable stem with the necessary .833" size for the Varsity Steerer. By sheer force of googling I came up with a threaded-to-threadless adapter for .833" steerers. That combined with a cheapo threadless stem gave me the removable faceplate as well as a nice rise to the bars.



Its kludge, followed by unintended application, mixed with a little bit of "This probably shouldn't work"....but it all works perfectly and its now completed its second summer of service with nothing more than a little wheel truing back in May.

still to come...squeezing in some fenders.
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