Is this bike worth building? Schwinn Avenue
 

Long story short. Got 2 ($200 each) of these (matching his and hers) from Walmart about 6 years ago. They've collected dust for the most part ever since due to wife not riding and me riding road bike all the time. Recently I've been tossing around the idea of building it up as a jack of all traits bike. Now that we live closer to family we take a lot of family visiting trips to myrtle beach and stay about a block from the beach. I'm thinking of adding some panniers for front and back for the ability to haul groceries and beer. I also plan on adding a rod holder or 2 to ride to the fishing spots.

I've changed the positioning on the bike from the pictures and actually set it up to comfort and it rides really nice. I've hauled the kids with it great, even a lawn mower(see below). I'm thinking this bike will work great for what I want. Hopefully be able to use it at home more to and save on some gas. I figure if I try it out and like it I may end up upgrading some of the parts down the road. It currently has Shimano parts now but I'm pretty sure there the low end. I will never upgrade to high end parts but I can see going some where middle of the road parts.

Your input and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5334/1...4772f596_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8890/1...e8672632_z.jpg

That should make a great commuter. I would probably do away with the suspension fork or if you can, lock them out. No need for suspension unless you are riding offroad. If the components work well, no need to upgrade, so slap a rear rack on it and enjoy!

Looks good! What Johnny said above.

I'd put a rack on the back. But I don't like to put heavy stuff in panniers for fear of wearing them out before their time. So for beer, I'd think along the lines of folding baskets instead of panniers, or even a basket up front for the stuff you don't want stressing the seams of panniers. Either that or just get cheap panniers and figure on replacing as needed.

Thanks guys for the input. I feel a little better about putting some money into a cheaper bike now. Probably should have done this along time ago but oh well.

I'm not sure if the front fork locks or not, I'll have to check but I'm guessing it doesn't. I may not need the front suspension but I'll probably just keep it until it wears out or I get every thing else set up the way I want it first. The components work very well and won't be replacing those until they are wore out either. I'm curious how long they will last in the beach area type atmosphere. I'm guessing a while because it will only be in that type environment a couple months a year at most.

I was wondering about the heavier stuff to. I was thinking maybe a milk crate to the rear rack and just drop in the beer. Hauling the mower pictured above was easy. But that's also my kid hauler trailer folded down with a board on top to put the mower. I'm thinking of making a smaller trailer for hauling heavier stuff. Maybe like a 2x3 trailer. I know 1 case of beer or gallon of milk isn't to bad. But if I make a full grocery run that's going to get heavy quick. I also don't plan on getting top of the line gear either. Some where middle of the road to almost middle of the road. Call this a test bike if you will. If it all works out and I get to move to the beach one day like I hope, I'll be building an everyday bike because I will have no need for a car, at least that is my dream.

Just fix stuff when it breaks. ride them until them.. not a Low spoke count fan , but they have no resale value, so just ride as Is and Buy new Cheap wheels later.

Milk crate depends on leg length if you can swing over it or not to get on bike. Beer and milk (liquids) are heavy and create a high center of gravity which would just have to be tried to see how bike handles.

I used Wald folders for several years without problems. Had to put a front basket on to get weight on front wheel to make steering feel comfortable with grocery full grocery load:

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...-Loaded017.jpg

Backpack is for eggs and bananas.

gregjones, i like those baskets, they look like they would be easier to haul bigger stuff that panniers would be.

I'm toying with the idea of looking for a second trailer on craigslist like the one pictured above. I use it mostly for the kiddos but if I can get a second I can dedicate it to hauling gear/groceries, maybe even modify it to take one kid if they wan't to tag along