an upgraded Mongoose Hotshot of all things...
 

Just thought I'd share this build for fun... I picked this bike up last winter for $10, purely for grins and giggles. Wheelset, BB, headset and pretty much everything was toast. Honestly the frame was also starting to develop a bit of surface rust.

Stripped the frame down, primed and painted while it was way too cold to do so... Cheapest wheelset I could find on Amazon, resurrected freewheel from the parts bin that required a ton of 3 in 1 oil to get the pawls working... "Upgraded" Tourney RD for giggles, cartridge BB, 42T crankset, headset, seatpost... Saddle, bars, shifter, tires and brake set from the parts bin... Totally impractical build -- Like it costed more in the end than you could have bought it brand new. Funny enough though, it's become the go-to ride in the garage for the normal gravel grinding workouts. Everything is so painfully simple, like 1x friction and V-brakes; not scared to stop somewhere on the way back and run into a store... Just turned out to be a fun bike to ride and is pretty comfortable too...

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4c0bd07b4a.jpg

It looks fun! Are those 26" wheels with Panaracer Paselas? I think they're labeled 1.75" ... what do they actually inflate to on your wheels? Are they pretty true to size?

700x35, i actually run them max at 90psi. I'm still a bit of a clyde so I'll take the rough ride over punctures...

I do have quite a few 26's in the collection though, I should do some Panaracer shopping for them...

Wow -- those be some long chain stays! I thought for sure they looked like 26s, with the clearance between the tire and the seat tube. I have a couple of sets of the Paselas in 700x38...one a standard pair and the other with ProTite. Great tires, those Paselas.

I like !

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7caa59891.jpeg

I have 26" 1.50 Pasela's on one bike - and also have a set of 1.75 Pasela's I plan to install

Was a bit of a challenge to find the folding 1.75 at a decent price - and almost impossible to find the 1.50 folding (at any price)

The Fisher Aquila in the foreground has 1.50 Pasela's
( The Fisher Tassajara behind it has 2.15 Maxxis DTH )

I don't know why the picture posted up ahead of the quoted text - instead of below my text smh

Pasela 700c and Pasela 26ers are quite different; 26 is "upscaled" and the tread is thicker with taller tread. Its not the lightweight 700c rubber. The weight chart will show a chunky 26 tire, which is made worse because they run super narrow.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...083a7b6e73.png

Thanks for that chart! 42mm does seem pretty narrow for a tire marked as 1.75". I have a set of Michelin Country Rocks that are marked 26x1.75" and also 44-559...and their actual width is about 45-46ish... It'd be disappointing for the Paselas to be so narrow.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...88dc32b8b.jpeg

Maxxis DTH 26 x 2.15 is a good option if you are looking for a wide / good rolling / relatively lightweight 26" tire

weight can vary from around 530g (tan) to around 600g (dark tan) for the folding versions

Great looking build, man. The simplest and/or cheapest often make for the best rides, which is always baffling to me. Long wheelbases tend to make very well-mannered bikes. Anyway, as a fellow Clyde-by-default (being tall, 200-210 lbs), if you ever want to ease the rough ride, feel free to drop to 70 psi on those 35s, as they should be just fine at that pressure. I run some fancy 35mm tires (bought well used, because I'm not paying $90 a pop new!) at 50 psi front / 55 psi rear on an old Trek touring bike of mine. Rides like a dream, is surprisingly fast (like, easily as fast as my Very Serious small tire road bike), and handles crummy city streets with ease. Flats are not a concern, thankfully.

Enjoy the ride!