tergal

Saw this on eBay

https://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....#ht_500wt_1293

63 road frame, figure if i can get it for under 70 bucks i can have a play with it and start to learn .

Should be a good way to start learning, any thoughts ?

TrojanHorse

What are you trying to learn? How to clean a dirty frame?

You're pretty tall if I recall, right? 6'6" or more?

The last time I bought a complete bike from a shop was 1992. I seem to tend to leap frog - ride a bike for a few years, upgrade the components, find a used frame, move everything over, lather, rinse, repeat. My wife is not appreciative, I think I need to sell some stuff.

sstorkel

I have to admit: I was wondering the same thing. Without any components, it's going to be impossible to learn to ride it and very expensive to learn to work on it...

I'd want to know what type of bottom bracket it requires and also the spread between the rear dropouts before buying. If the spread between the dropouts isn't 130mm, and given the 'vintage' moniker it probably isn't, I'd pass. Finding parts to fit narrower frames can be difficult or time-consuming.

Wolfwerx

As for rear spacing, steel can easily be moved out. The issue of the BB is valid. You don't want a funky BB that is going to give you headaches.

A Cro-Mo frame that isn't obviously beat to hell can be a good project. Depending on how much you want to put into it (or the size of your parts bin), it can be built up for a reasonable amount. I learned a lot on my first total build-up, though I did probably end up spending more than the sum of the parts are worth. I knew that going in, though. Maybe you have a good bike co-op nearby for a source of used parts. If you want to do it with new stuff on the cheap, there's nothing wrong with Sora and Tiagra components. Just wait until your favorite retailer discontinues something, or has a sale, and buy things a piece at a time.


Be careful buying old bikes, though. It could turn you retro-grouchy. It happened to me!

TrojanHorse

I had a steel frame with 7 speed spacing and just wedged my 9 speed wheel in there. No problems. That's not the recommended route, but I figured 2mm on each side was barely noticeable. I wouldn't do that with Al or Carbon of course. The BB threading was standard English so a new BB was no trouble at all.

I also have an older Ti frame with a freaking non-standard BB. At some point you're stuck shopping for vintage Phil Woods products and you can't benefit from some of the major enhancements in cranks / BBs and that's annoying. The crank area was a little noodly to me, which caused my most recent upgrade.

The steerer on that frame is 1 inch threaded too, from the looks of it, which again leaves you int he cold for a new fork. The geometry looks a little bizarre too with a really slack seat tube angle. Large frames always look a little off to me but your weight will be really focused over the rear wheel on that bike.

But on the good side, you can usually find a "build kit" for a bike which will give you every thing you need to stick on that frame and get it rideable. I don't know what's available down there but here you can shop for "groups" or "build kits" pretty readily.

tony_merlino

I've got a few "challenging" projects going, and I have to say that, while it can be frustrating to deal with some of the issues, it's also a lot of fun and keeps me out of trouble. I was going to say that it keeps me off the streets, but I don't know if that's a good thing for a cyclist...

sstorkel

It's also pretty easy to break the frame or cock the rear tire at an angle so the frame never rides straight. Don't ask me how I know this...

tergal

hi , sorry fell sleep shortly after i posted this ( very long day ) .

my partner has set a limit to 70 dollars for the frame, so if i can get it for under than i can play around with some parts that are laying around my oldy's house.

What i hope to learn is just a bit more about bikes, . I get bored easy so it will give me a project to play with in my spare time.

As for Build kits, There is some around but also just last week i saw someone selling a bike for close nothing because the frame was cracked . The running gear looked fine ... Typical it was one of those times when you don't have the cash .


When all is said and done, If i don't like it i have access to a wielder and a gas axe....... i will cut it up and make a go-cart for my younger brothers.

Should also point out i love old things, they can be a lot of work but they come up nicely in the end

paisan

If you're as tall as Trojan Horse says(6'6") it's really not that big of a frame. Sure the seat tube measures 63cm, but he has the top tube listed at only 59cm. That frame is sized more like a 60cm with a really tall seat tube.

tergal

oh well , some bugger just out bided me,

TrojanHorse

Some bum just outbid me on new cranks!

What a day.

tergal

thats it go burn down his house..... or kick him in the shins depends on your level of energy