Binky

And my favourite: The TREK 830

From a garage sale for $15 (Canadian)

That's about $11 US

Needed & got tires, reflectors, and a rear rack for about $40 total for add-on parts.

I love this Trek bike. If I had to ride something 500 miles it would be this one.

I'm fixing up a Giant Innova to keep as a back-up just in case...

robow

Neat thread, it's interesting to see everyone's creativity as bound by the defined frugality.

And btw, "Shipwreck" would absolutely kick booty in this challenge if he would so desire to enter.

shipwreck

It just looked a bit as though it was going to degenerate quickly into another distracting accordion player heavy insult thread. There are some nice solid looking bikes so far though. Love that 830 trek of Binkys.

The Centurion/Diamondback frame has been back burnered, just decided to keep it as a "spare frame".

I may still throw in, but it wont actually be that impressive because I did that "as found on craigslist" thing with a pretty nice Jamis Aurora. Originally bought it for the brifters and wheels, but it turns out the 59cm frame fits really well. Doing a full teardown and re greasing. Got to get used the those newfangled brifters and super wide modern handlebar. Planning on a weekend Christmas tour, so I may have a completed entry well before spring! Looks like I will have about 200 dollars into it, so this will actually be one of my more expensive bikes Now that the student loans are gone I am trying to get used to actually being ablt to spend money on stuff I want

mstateglfr 

Insert emoji with bulging eyes here.

zze86

The more the merrier! And the tone has been mostly positive so jump in! And a winter tour would be impressive!

zze86

Yeah I knew it'd get some eyebrows raised

saddlesores

why? weren't that the accepted way of internally routing brake
cables for aero brake levers?

worried about snapping? steel bars! or like aren't there roadie
bars that come pre-drilled?

zze86

I have no idea, lol. I thought the aero brake cables were just wrapped into the groves of the handle bars. From when I was researching how to wrap the bar end shift cables this method seemed the most controversial but I liked the solution better than wrapping all the way to the stem or just half-way. :shrug:

These are aluminum bars so the metal is more likely to fail over time. I don't know if there are road bars that come pre-dilled for internal routing, that is a good question.

saddlesores

there's your problem...."inferior" aluminum!

NITTO Cr-Mo B123 Steel 380 NJS Handlebar, Drilled holes, 25.4, *g* | eBay

Cinelli Handlebar Tempo Time Trial Bullhorn Blue Anodized 44cm Vintage bike NOS | eBay

zze86

that may be the case.

Those nitto bars, do you happen to know whether the holes by the stem are drilled in the front or rear?

Those Cinelli bars are more than the cost of my build currently!

Cougrrcj

I just added up all of the 'improvements' I made to my $140 '84 Univega Gran Tourismo that I bought two years ago -- another $400! Tires, fenders, rack, panniers, seat/trunk/handlebar bags, shifters, cables, saddle, seatpost, saddle, bar tape, lights,... Could I have gone on a weekend tour as bought? Probably, but I wanted it done 'My Way!'

BUT, is that $350 'limit' of this exercise really 'half of a new touring bike'? Does a new touring bike have fenders, bags, lights??? Nope. Some don't even have rack(s).

Happy Feet

One has to set a nominal guideline somewhere but I agree about the add ons.

Its just a fun contest. People will be able to appreciate inventiveness and not just focus on the cost I think. Keeping the limit low also makes it an affordable lark.

mstateglfr 

Ive seen a couple pictures of bars with holes drilled. Compared to thousands wothout holes drilled.
Im just not sure what the benefit to routing housing thru the handlebars is. Seems like it only weakens the bars and doesnt add anything.

CliffordK

When I made the leap to aero cables (fairly recently), I was worried about cable routing.

However, I route my cables near the top of the bars, creating a flat spot in the taping which I find to be fairly comfortable (which is good for a touring topic).

Mr. Jim

I plan on jumping in on this. Currently looking for an old mtb frame for the build up

fietsbob

Mine was paid for 20+ years ago ..

Happy Feet

The thread seems a little too quiet so I thought I'd add some progress photos...

My first entry is a 1960's era department store one speed sold by the Woodwards Company. I've roughly dated it to 1961 or less via the Resilion coaster brake hub,
the company having stopped manufacturing bicycle parts by that date. Cost at the Flea Market: $42.




My inspiration is to try to create a vintage/steampunk-esk touring bike along the lines of that used by Frank Lenz (though I doubt I will rock those forks).
My tour plan is to ride it from the original capital of British Columbia (Fort Langley) to the current capital (Victoria) on the Victoria Day long weekend.
Victoria Day is a holiday in which Canadians celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria, a monarch no one really remembers but we will take the day off just the same, thank you very much!

I am calling it my Capital to Capital Tour and am growing a handlebar moustache especially for the event.



It has some nice old features like funky rims, oiler ports for the BB/front/rear hubs and chain tensioners and I've picked up some additional parts but...
It looks too new to start with so the first step was to strip the bike of components and then set to work further stripping it down to bare metal for a frame up rebuild.
This involved Paint stripper, 320 grit sand paper and a lot of elbow grease.



I kept a few parts of the old paint like the lugs and the model name. I also kept one part of the seat stay finish as a colour guide for re distressing the metal.





The first step is a Vinegar and Salt treatment to create a rust effect. After that it's succeeding treatments with bleach and hydrogen peroxide.





To be continued...

jefnvk

Something you'll never hear the owner of a new touring bike say!

Working on sourcing parts for mine right now, BTW! Need to get the new bike room cleaned up and finished so I have a place to work on it!

bikemig 

This is my "new" touring bike. It's a 1979 Trek 510 that I picked up for $150. It will be a challenge to get this fixed up for touring for a total of $350. The parts are in great shape. I plan to mainly use the existing parts but I will want to make a few changes. I'm looking forward to doing a tour this summer on my velo touring cheapie. Although this bike is positively expensive compared to some of the great finds listed on this thread,

Happy Feet

I have an unheated garage as a bike room but it is below zero and snow around here so I have been relegated to the laundry room



Nice Trek!

bikemig 

Thanks! Yeah this was a really good find. It's a full ishiwata 022 frame set. It was hand brazed using low temp silver alloy for the main frame, with a different brazing rod for the fork and rear triangle. It's amazing how good all the Treks were in the very early years. This was the least expensive Trek that year since the other models were made of more expensive Reynolds or Columbus tubing but it's still a hand built bike made from top end seamless chrome moly tubing. It's also, I think, probably their earliest touring oriented model. The 720 came out in 1982 which was Trek's first full on touring bike. Plus all the early Treks had fabulous quality paint jobs that really hold up well over time. This bike is no exception.

bradtx

$290 all in and it's been on a couple of day tours. 1996 high mileage T700 bought to test some cable guides and testing the durability of side stand crushed chain stays...I guess. The damage was covered by the side stand, which looked as bad as the rest of the bike. It's the perfect beater bike for me.

While I estimated part's bin prices, I forgot about the rim tape I needed (The duct tape actually worked, however.) so throw in another ten bucks or so.

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Brad

Will Wheeler

I guess I'm in! I have actually had this steel frame for a while now. Bought it from a fiend last year (7 dollars or something like that, for having fun with. It was born MTB, then it transitioned to a cruiser and now hopefully a sporty touring bike with drop bars. As you all can see, there's a lot to do here. Both wheels are single walled and the rear one is dished the heck out of to make a sensible chainline with a screw-on 22t freewheel cog. I don't trust this wheel anymore so I have ordered a new one with a double walled rim. I have another double walled rim I'm going to put in front. Sat down yesterday and ordered a lot of parts. I doubt I will stay under 200 USD on this conversion.
Anyway, I'm sure it's going to be a real ugly duck. Just imagine this frame with a drop bar
Color suggestions are welcome.

mstateglfr 

what are side stand crushed chainstays? and if thats your beater bike, you are doing well!

bradtx

A side stand was clamped onto the chain stays behind the BB shell and crushed the tubing pretty badly. It looks way better in a photograph than in person.

Brad