Snapped this pic on yesterday's commute home:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7460/9...b0209c9e7d.jpg

this is my daily commuter, i think late 80's early 90's Miele.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22...psa5d06e05.jpg

you're tall.

surprised someone noticed how tall the bike is, i was quite surprised and happy when i bought the bike from a guy on the local classifieds. I am 6' 5.5" :thumb:

It is kind of hard to miss!

More to the point, you're flexible. At 6'3, I have a bad enough back that I don't think I'm going to ever be using downtube shifters.

The story is told by how much higher the toptube line is than the top of the tires. Also the length of the headtube.

It's great you found a frame to fit you; many tall dudes like yourself would have settled for (or been steered towards!) a smaller frame such that they need a mile of seat tube, and the stem pointed way up instead of mostly forward, like you have it.

Definitely not as nice as some of the bikes I see in this thread, but here's mine. Also serves as my trail bike. Built it up from parts I found on broken bikes in my garage and some Nashbar/Pricepoint stuff. Running up to 4000 happy miles in the last 2 years!

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ps2f520c4c.jpg

I love to see a good Frankenbike! Although the consistency of the black color scheme almost makes it look like you're trying to fit in. You should rattle can your forks safety orange, or put some blue duct tape on the seat or something, to show off how unique and special you are!

As fantastically tacky as that would be, the idea is to make it look as low key as possible (while still being a decent bike) for when I park it in bike-theft-happy Milwaukee. I know, I kinda failed anyways, but it hasn't rolled away on me yet :) . I was, however, considering getting some custom decals that say "FRANKENBIKE TRAVESTY" to slap on there so I can be that jackhole :lol:

LOL -- custom decals sounds pretty cool to me. Are there companies that do that cheaply? Like you send a pdf and $10 and they basically just click "Print..." for a special printer they bought, and mail it to you?

I have a friend that recently made a frankenbike out of parts he had laying around, turned out pretty cool. He made a SS 69er, with a 26" back wheel, and either a rigid 29" fork, or a suspension-corrected 26" fork, to hold a 29" front wheel. Can't remember how he had the brakes set up in the end (disk+rim? rear rim only? front disk only?), but it was pretty slick.

I was thinking of doing it through these guys: http://doityourselflettering.com/bike-lettering.htm . A tad pricey for the bigger stuff, but it came out to be like 35 bucks to do the decals for both sides of the bike. I think there are places out there that do CNC vinyl cutting as well, who would be able to do what ya suggested with the sending them a design to cut for you.

That's pretty sweet. I think it's a great experience to build your own bike, makes it have that little bit more sentimental and is a great way to learn a lot of bike repair concepts. Before I built my mtb, I knew how to put on a tire and that was about it. Now I can do pretty much everything from servicing my hubs to tuning derailleurs, excluding installing a star nut, and that's just cause I couldn't figure out a way to ghetto rig a tool out of crap I had laying around :lol: All those skills really come in handy when you do something foolish like fall in a river, too. I imagine I would have had to pay upwards of $100 for a shop to pull apart and dry/regrease everything last time I did it, but thanks to my experience building frankenbike all I had to spend was a few hours of my time

How about this? Lettering decals at $5 for 1.5"x10", $6 for 2"x12"?

What, you don't have a hammer? I totally agree with you on B[uild]YO though. Here's what I put together... Loved every minute, learned a ton! I would never buy a whole stock bike again!

Lol no, I didn't have a piece of PVC pipe that would fit into the steerer that I could use to drive it in. Considered putting it in with a ratchet extension, but didn't want to accidentally damage and cock it slightly in the steerer tube. Local shop put it in for free anyways :)

Those decals are awesomely priced. I think I might just have to order some now!

That's a pretty sweet ride, looks like you definitely stepped it up over the stock CrossCheck. I especially love the shifters!

I don't think I'd buy a new bike from an LBS, but I can't find any way to beat bikesdirect prices component-wise. I tried and tried to piece together a comparably equipped bike before I broke down and bought my Liberty 3, but my cheapest build would have cost about $150 more while taking a component quality hit in some areas. Considering what I paid for it, I have a whole ton of room to upgrade things like wheels and brakes before I even come close to what a comparably equipped ride woulda cost me at the LBS.

Can't argue with free. But stem cap bolt is fairly long, you can screw it into the starnut and hold it straight (perhaps with needlenose pliers just under the head) while you tap it in, and or tap it sideways if it gets too crooked.

Used is I what worked for me. I was able to build up my CC from a donor bike while I waited. Plus I get to enjoy an additional two breakdowns and rebuilds. I've heard others say buy BD, take all the components, and sell the frame. I might consider that in the future, as I think I've decided my dream N+1 is a Volagi Viaje, and I'd want to go 105 or Ultegra to keep the weight around the nominal 20lbs. With the CC I know I can't make it light, so I was not too picky.

Very true, hadn't thought of using the bolt to tap it in.


If you're building up a bike like that and want new components, I think that's absolutely the way to go. As for me, the way I see it the frame on the Liberty 3 is likely made in the same Chinese factory as my buddy's very similarly equipped Trek 1.5 so I might as well stick with it. I don't think I'm bike-cultured enough to appreciate something like the Volagi Viaje (which I had no idea existed until I just looked it up) at this point. All the better, it'll keep me from spending my paychecks on bikes I don't technically need but want really bad. I don't think I could handle another hobby like that, as I've already got several :lol:

I just switched to this drop bar setup on my family/backup bike. This was originally a 2003 Trek 7200 comfort bike, but as I've gotten more into biking over the years I've made changes to it. I ride it 1x8, and the brakes are v-brakes, using cane creek v-brake drop levers.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332850

Here it is in its most common role: towing the train!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332851

1966 Moulton F... finally have the bike commuterized and am also looking forward to taking the bike on some weekend tours.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...oncommute1.JPG

Lots of cargo carrying space, the tool kit fits nicely under the rear beam.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...oncommute2.JPG

Halogen main light is wired to the dynahub, the 2 watt LED works as a supplemental light and daytime strobe.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...oncommute3.JPG

Carradice carries rain gear, pump, patch kit, spare, and gloves and still has room to spare... straps for the u-lock are recycled leather toe straps.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...oncommute4.JPG

I had one of these bikes I really liked the chrome fork and the white pearl paint job. It was a size too small for me so it moved on. I am glad you found something that fit you.

Miele made some very nice bicycles... had one roll through the shop the other day it was equipped with a Campagnolo Chorus groupo and was one of their top end models.

The sponsor of my team just posted these up...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/colossi...7634932800387/

That's a handy combination of racks.

That is a handsome bike.

Thought I'd post an updated photo of my commuter since it looks so different now compared to two months ago.

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/peR2seMl.jpg

After:
http://i.imgur.com/KufzDUhl.jpg

now with 2 bottle cages (both new) and a new spoke, cuz i broke one last week on my way home

http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws...0a9f4ded_7.jpg