This bike started as a weathered and abandoned beater, bought by my buddy for $20. When I found out my daughter wanted a "new" bike for commuting, I bought it from him to bring back to life. I asked my daughter for a color suggestion, but kept the build a secret until Christmas. So here's what I started with:



It's a late 1990's Specialized Crossroads Ultra; aluminum frame, 3x7 drivetrain, mid-level components. It doesn't look too bad from the photo. But it had been left outside for a few years. The bottom bracket was nearly rusted solid, as were the pedals. The chain was so badly rusted, I had to cut it off to be able to roll the bike backwards when maneuvering it around. The tires, seat and grips were rotten.

Nevertheless, I really liked the lines of the frame. And I just knew it could be brought back. So, after disassembly, I stripped the frame of all the decals, and feathered the paint around the scratches. The worst areas were kickstand clamp damage at the bottom of the frame, and some heavy corrosion around the rack attachment points. After a thorough scuff-sand and wash, the frame was ready for paint:





My daughter was asked about color, she specified "blurple", or blue-purple. I found a color that looked about right, used on 2004 Subarus, called Pacific Blue. After dropping off the frame at the body shop, I worked on restoring the components. The crankset was salvageable, but I wanted a lighter, better one that had replaceable chainrings. I stopped by a local used bike dealer, thinking I might find something I could use, but came up empty. I did, however, find a much nicer adjustable stem than what came on the bike. I bought a tired, but useable Shimano Deore triple on Ebay:



The brakes, Dia Compe V-brakes, were corroded, but polished up pretty well. The derailleurs, Shimano Nexave, were similarly corroded, but cleaned up, for the most part. It was during this part of the restoration that I discovered Evapo-rust at Harbor Freight. Good stuff for getting rusted steel parts looking pretty good. I was worried about the Nexave shifters. They were completely inoperative when I got the bike. And I was unfamiliar with their workings. But after opening them up and lubricating them, they functioned perfectly.

After getting the frame back from paint, I tried to capture the color. But pictured don't do it justice:





About this time, more "new" parts arrived, courtesy Ebay: new, white, take-off Maddux R3.0 wheels (I removed the decals), Nashbar tires, new Clark MTB grips, Jagwire cables with neon green housings, zinc-plated chain, white bottle cage, white semi-comfort seat of unknown lineage, Kool Stop brake pads, and a Shimano bottom bracket.

My original plan was to polish the Blackburn rack, but I gave up when I realized I'd never get all of the nooks and crannies to look good. fortuitously, I discovered a local powder coating place that did small jobs and was familiar with aluminum bike parts. I had them do the rack and handlebar in white. I got really lucky, as they had a big batch of white being done that week, shortening the usual two-week turnaround to two days.

So, here is the finished product:









More pics to come....

Here are a few more pics of the finished bike. Notice that on the crankset, I stripped the original black anodize from the big chainring, and painted it white. The middle ring got polished to match the chromed inner ring. After a thoroughly polishing the arms and de-rusting the crank bolts, I think it turned out pretty nice:







The used stem and original shock seat post polished up nicely, as well:





I was going for a hipster, single-speed look. I like the blurple-white combination, with touches of polished aluminum here and there. The bright green cable housings add a splash of color to crank the edginess up a notch. If my daughter transfers to Colorado next year, that 22x32 granny will come in handy. I think it turned out pretty well. My daughter absolutely loves it, which is really all that matters.

If I'd had an unlimited budget, I would have replaced the derailleurs and pedals. They work, and cleaned up pretty well. But I couldn't eradicate all traces of rust and abuse from them. Also, I'd have preferred white hubs and spokes. But again, with a limited budget and limited time, I didn't have that option. In retrospect, my original budget for this bike was unrealistic. I blew that when I decided to replace the crankset and wheels. I spent enough to buy this bike new. But, the result is a one-of-a-kind bike that my daughter really loves. And it sure was fun to build. Thanks for looking.

A great make-over and save. The devil is in the details, and there are a lot of custom touches to the bike, and that makes it worthwhile. It would have cost $400 for a late model Giant Cypress to come close to to this bike. The curved frame gives it a less generic hybrid look, more stylish cruiser theme.

At first glance, the Specialized crank looked just like one I am using on my winter project. It's a very well-made crank by Sugino. But mine has removable aluminum chainrings.
I'm surprised Specialized took a set of decent crankarms and swaged a permanent set of steel rings on. ?!?

I've just finished my first winter project. I'll have pics posted soon. You will be able to see the similarities of my crank.

That is really nice and a great present to boot. Congratulations on the outstanding job.

Great looking bike, super job on the rebuild.

Great job and great present! I am going to embark on the same for my daughter only for a college graduation present. She knows about it and we are working on it digitally together, 3000 miles apart. Good write up too.

Agreed. $400 would have bought a new, or nearly new equivalent. I justify having spent more than that by reasoning that it is a one-off custom bike that is exactly the color she wanted. If I'd had six months to search for deals, or a stash of used parts, I could have done better on the cost. You know the saying: There's fast, cheap and good; you get to pick two.

I was a little surprised at the original swaged crankset, as well, given this bike cost nearly $500 in the late 1990's. But, I've always loved the small-pattern, 5-arm MTB cranksets from that time period. So it gave me an excuse to put one on this bike.

Great work! Will be an excellent commuter.

That's a really nice looking bike and I'll bet your daughter thinks you're cool.