I don't plan on owning a beater bike since most of the local bikes are the wrong size, and style. Plus, by the time I get the beater bike to my minimum commuting standards, I might as well have bought a new bike with all the time, money, and energy spent on the beater.

This bike is gorgeous, Steely.

+1 That's my take too.
I absolutely refuse to ride a low quality bike. They are horrible to keep maintained, and have bad ride characteristics (to my preferences).
The bike posted by the OP is my kind of beater - it starts with a quality frame and goes from there to become a nice riding frankenbike. I like that. And for $375 he's created a perfectly functional bike for less than the cost of a few nice components.

thanks. i tend to agree.

she's 15 years old and just an old cro-mo mid-level '90s mountain bike (nothing all that special in the grand scheme of things), but for some reason i'm obsessed about keeping her looking good as she ages. my much newer titanium road bike is the one i should be obsessing over, but the fact is that i obsess over all 3 of my bikes. it's just not in the cards for me to ride a crappy-looking beater bike because if i ever got my hands on one, i'd immediately start tinkering with it to bring out its inner bike beauty. i just can't let a bike to be all run-down and ugly.

This is true and might even disprove my title claim. I have a '77 Gitane that I resurrected as a fixie. It's got new wheels (Mavic CXP22/Formula). The stem and seatpost are also new, but since odd sizes were required they're cheap Kalloy pieces. I originally built it with a new Origin-8 crank, but I've since upgraded to an old (though still not as old as the bike) Shimano 600 crank. On the other hand, I have left what remains of the original paint and supplemented it with mismatched touch-up as necessary. I guess this bike is fairly recognizeable as a beater, and there's really not much I could upgrade. Switching from 27" to 700c wheels has even forced me to keep the original center-pull Dia Compe brakes.



BTW, I guess I should apologize at this point for having essentially duplicated the 20-year old clunker thread. All that's missing is Sixty-Fiver's seemingly endless stream of beautiful old bikes.

Wow - the bikes in your pics look they just came off an assembly line. I buy my bikes new, ride them till they self destruct, and then start replacing parts till enough fails that its seems more economical to buy new. I personally like finding their core limitations. Dont get me wrong, I use grease and such where and when appropriate.

But my 4 bikes never looked as good as yours in the pics. Even on the day that I purchased them. Course they never see wash or wax unless its something spitting up from the pavement onto the bike.

I know what you mean steely, even though my M-50 is no where near my size im not letting the frame go, im once again re-purposing it, this time it's gonna be a 26" BMX. I dont know if im gonna be able to bring my self to start cutting off all the tabs.

Incorrect.

Agreed. There are tons of basically bombproof bikes out there that would be worthy "beaters" or even full-time commuters depending on your standards and needs.

Also I chuckle at the Target Schwinn Prelude lurking behind that sweet Varsity. =)

Folding bike is my beater, Older front hub was steel on those bikes , a 20 spoke radial. 349/16'' wheels
steel hubshell insures there will be no spokes pulling thru cracking the flanges..

Its the only one in town , too.

Those are some saweeeeet chainstays.

Nice Varsity.
If it were mine I'd throw a 3 speed or 5 speed IGH on it, but I just can't leave "good enough" alone.

Going to buy a beater is what we all tell ourselves. If it were true, we would get the "Walmart " bike. We then go out and find something that has potential but is "down on its luck". We then fix it up to the point of dropping more money then we first thought possible.

At last ! another bike we have rescued and then we start the whole thing all over again.

* A light hearted attempt to explain the phenomena. I'm guilty as well, worse, I get attached to the beater.

3ss

don'tcha mean seatstays?

My fast beater is stealthy;

I added a Trek 400D Elance to the stable a year ago. The bike is a 63mm sized 1987 Trek 400D Elance. It's a mid-level "sport/touring" model.

My thanks to bibliobob for sending me the CL posting.

In 2009 I converted my CX bike from a double crankset to a triple. After the conversion, I ended up with an extra Ultegra 10 speed FD, RD, 11-25 cassette, a new 105 chain, along with a Sram 46 & 38t Cyclocross Crankset & BB. I also had a Mavic Open Pro W/ 36 spoke Dura Ace hub rear wheel I purchased on eBay last year.

I only needed to get a front wheel and shifters to upgrade the Trek 400D Elance to a modern 2x10 drivetrain. I found new Dura Ace 10 speed bar-end shifters from Nashbar for $50 and purchased a 32 spoke 105 hub for $15. I had the bike shop source a matching 32 spoke Open Pro rim & spokes. I have about $750 in the bike at this point. Not cheap, but the result is excellent, IMO.

The bike is 22 lbs with the Brooks seat. This is a slighter lighter weight than the Soma. Mechanically, the bike gets an A+. The frame is responsive, stable and fun to ride. Much smoother riding than a modern Aluminum bike. The drivetrain is quick shifting and the gear set with 46 & 38t chainrings and a 11-25 10 speed cassette has a tight range. I can travel at any speed from 10 to 33 mph and always maintain my target cadence of 85 to 100 rpm.







With fenders and a VO bag;

I bought this Raleigh off of Kijiji (similar to Craiglist) for 40 bucks:



I swapped the handlebar, seat, and tires and added a rack & kickstand:



The original plan was to turn it into a dedicated winter bike with studded tires, IGH, and drum brakes. Figuring in for parts, stuff I could do, and stuff I would have to let a shop do, I could easily have gotten into the $600-$700 range. Once I figured that out I started saving my pennies for a new bike with all the features I wanted.

So instead I bought some slicks and fenders, added a bell and some lights, upgraded the rack, and started using it as a back-up commuter:



The cassette was really worn, so I decided to upgrade the wheels to a decent aluminum set, and replaced the worn BB and crankset. I now use it as my fair-weather recreational family hauler. I put the fenders on my daughter's bike (since her bike will see rain) and added a double-leg kickstand, some quality brake pads, and the seat for my son:



I could sink a bunch more money into it, but seeing as how it started life as a Big Box Store bike, I don't think it's worth it. One day I will either buy a bike like the OP's and upgrade it in a like fashion, or buy a nice new frameset from Soma or Surly and build that up as my family hauler. At that time the Raleigh will be relegated to the parts bin, or donated to someone who needs some basic, reliable transportation.

It really is a sickness isn't it?

My most recent "Beater" 1984 Trek 420 picked up for $39 off CL.

The cool is the Stock Mallard Helicomatic wheels were replaced with Polished CR 18's on 105 hubs. I think it might be a 8 speed hub although it has a 7 speed cassette on it.

Parts laying around here:
8 speed 105 SC group thats about to get pulled off the $300 beater R300 Cdale (its getting replaced with Ultegra drivetrain and Campy Proton wheels. I think this group will land on my wifes Terry with the 3x8 RSX brifters and the 105 Tripple. So that still leaves a 105 long cage and the 105SC 2 sets of 105 cranks (but I do like that halfstep with granny gear it has on it).
Hmm I have some 7 Speed Shimano Bar ends but I really what to put the Dirt drops on my Mountain bike and would need the 7x3 bar ends for that.
I have a nearly complete Campy Avanti groupo here as well.
Decisions, decisions. Course if I had half a clue I could just flip it as is and put a quick $130 in my pocket LOL.

When I started commuting in Chicago my 1st bike was a beater. Got it from someone I helped move. The calipers were seized, saddle was ripped, tires flat, couple of spokes missing, etc. So, I did what I could(duct tape on the saddle) and ended up stopping it w/my foot jammed between the seattube and the tire...wore a groove in my sneaker. Took to a 2nd hand sporting goods store that was advertising bike tune-ups for 19.95. The owner said he'd do it for 50.00, but I'd have a bike that rode like it was brand new. And it DID!

I ended up buying alot of gear from him over the next few years. It was a crappy, noname, pac-rim rb, but I loved it. Gave it to a friend who rode the crap out of it and gave it to someone else...wonder if that bike is still around?

I'm trying hard to leave this one alone. Hhhmmnn...maybe a rear rack and bar ends..that's it.

Is this a Reynolds 531 frame? It looks like it has lugs. Could be worth $250+.

It is lugged but in 84 it was a Double butted Tange Mangalloy. the 520 was 501, the 620 was 531 cs and the 720 was 531 ST.

Nice bike regardless.

I rescued my beater from a dumpster. It's a rusted 1988 Trek 400 and I haven't repainted it. The majority of the parts on it are scavenged from a salvaged 1991 Schwinn PDG Series-5 (Japanamount). I spent less than $100 getting it to rideable condition as a fixie and it's going to be my primary commuter ride for a while. I've taken it on a century ride. It's a true beater, and I love it like it was my fancy brevet bike.

Around here I think peeps would be more incline to steal a "beater" because of the simple fact that they can roll into one of the local pawn shops, grab a fast $10 and never worry about it again. It's the $1.5k+ bikes they don't touch for fear of death. The biking community is tight here, and there isn't a big enough population to hide a theft like that. Add in the grand theft option for anything of real value and the average punk won't touch anything that looks nice.