lennie_briscoe

Hi everyone,



Let me just prefix this post by warning of it’s vagueness, so if you are someone bothered by vagaries then you may want to look away now. I’ve been passionate about bikes/cycling for quite a while now but it’s only lately that I’ve been really keen to start learning about the mechanics/maintenance side of things. My interest goes beyond just learning enough to avoid going to bike shops for basic maintenance jobs though, I’d like to learn enough that I can avoid relying on someone else for bike stuff altogether. So I was thinking of ways to go about this; I could of course just wait for things to wrong with my current bike and just learn to fix bits as they come up but I’m too keen/impatient for this and it also means I might never get to learn about the real nuts and bolts stuff. I also didn’t want to start taking apart my perfectly good bike for no reason so I thought I’d, very slowly, try and either build or rebuild a bike.



I have no illusion about the difficulty of such a task, and I’m not naïve to the amount of work, learning and dedication involved, but I was encouraged after some research to find out that it’s seemingly not the impossible task it can appear to be from a newbie perspective. I wouldn’t be looking to build anything of any complexity, just a real simple bike, it just seemed like a good way to learn as there’s a goal (having a working bike at the end) and will also involve removing/cleaning/fixing/fitting every part of the thing.



I’m not here looking for specific instructions on particular processes, there’s a world of very detailed instructional videos online for that kind of thing, I more just wanted to gauge opinion on what route to go down, and what types (if any) of project to avoid for someone in my position. I guess for that you’ll need a little more info on what kind of thing I’m looking to do so here we go…..



I really like riding uprights, I have a cruiser at the moment, and would like to end up with an upright bike, but as I already have a cruiser I was thinking more of making an upright out of a regular road/city/MB frame. So I’d start out by finding a cheap frame, either on it’s own or as part of a cheap used bike, and then sourcing parts to build it with. Not fussed about whether those parts are bought on their own either new or used, or if they are from a donor bike. So as I said I’m just looking for and general guidance on what kind of project might be a good starting point and what might be too much trouble at this stage.



I like the idea of using a vintage frame, so stuff like; is converting a single speed to a geared way too much hassle? Are there any ways of making that process easier? e.g finding a donor bike with the same wheel size and using all the components from that instead of adapting existing parts? Would it be better to avoid conversions at this juncture and just work on an already geared frame? What are the pressure points of a bike build/rebuild? To what degree are bike parts/systems either interchangeable or not?



It's just an open space for any kind of info that anyone thinks is pertinent for someone considering this type of project, things to look out for or avoid etc, anything you wish you’d known before building or converting a bike.



Assuming anyone’s bothered to read this far, thanks in advance for any info!

_ForceD_

I think it's a good idea. A project like this shows you how parts of the bike are designed and assembled, and show you how they work. Down the road (time-wise not distance-wise), you have a better idea of what the various "noises," "clicks," and "creaks" eminating from your bike are, and how to repair them. Maybe a friend or neighbor has an old, unused bike in their garage they're looking to get rid or, or would otherwise part with for cheap $$$. Or, you could purchase an inexpensive bike from craigslist, for example. You can find step-by-step disassembly/assembly directions on various websites like Sheldonbrown.com or parktool.com. Take your time. It will likely require the purchase of some special tools. But it can be fun. Good luck.

Dan

Retro Grouch 

Just do it!

Our first tandem bicycle was a Schwinn Twinn coaster brake bike that had been left out in the weather. I converted it to a useable 15 speed bike for about $75 or $80 dollars out of pocket cost which, at the time, was a major commitment for us. My wife wasn't a confident bike rider at that time so it allowed us to ride together. We had a lot of kids and not much money so we didn't have many recreation opportunities. That bike was a game changer for us. We rode that bike quite a lot for seven or eight years and did several epic fifty mile rides on it. At the overnight stop of a very hilly local hundred mile ride, Susan Notreangelo of RAAM fame sought us out to give us a word of encouragement. That was pretty neat.

You are likely to discover a lot of niggling problems and mis matches along the way as you attempt to make parts that weren't meant to work together talk to one another. For me, that was just part of the fun. There's always an answer, you just have to find it. I consider some of my low cost parts finds to have been miracles. If it's meant to be for you, I'm betting it will happen for you just as it did for me.

Clyde1820

^ This.

Did my own build, for the first time, decades ago. I've since done a dozen or so component swaps and minor installs.

As you point out, a lot can be learned by taking each part in turn, going slowly, starting with tuning, disassembly, reassembly, then at some point replacement/upgrade. Learning how each component functions, what its quirks are, etc.

Can certainly be a more-expensive way to go, given the "bundled" pricing that new bikes generally have. But then, you can also get what you want ... eventually.


========

Am currently doing a full rebuild on a '90s vintage rigid MTB frame.

The frame's designed as a 3x8spd, with most of the desired braze-ons. But it's strong, light, has great geometry for me, and fits well. And so, it's a great place to start.

Am re-doing the entire drive train from its factory-delivered setup; new headset, fork, stem and bars (to change to a nearly-upright riding position); and a new wheelset, as the old one's tired. Shop's doing the install of the crankset and BB. A wheel builder is doing the custom wheelset. And I'm selecting all the parts putting everything together on the bike. Had to pick up a handful of tools. Doing it slowly and methodically, as I re-learn about the various parts (given I haven't done this in years) and how they behave, it'll take a few months. Should have it done before October, if everything works out.

It won't be quite as light as the factory-delivered weight, once all's said and done. But it'll be a nearly-upright riding position, very low gearing, high-grade parts, and a bomb-proof wheel setup. Am hoping the shifting will be top-notch reliable and smooth, too, though it'll be the first 11sp I have had.

Took awhile to evaluate my needs, and to find the "right" frame. Took the time to consider the alternatives for the entire drive train swap. Selected a quality shop to do the wheel build; plus, I don't have the wheel tools, and haven't ever done a wheelset myself, so didn't want to push my luck. Gradually acquired the parts I wanted and various tools I'd been missing,

lennie_briscoe , given your basic frame goals aren't all that different from my own (on my current build, above), you might well consider an '80s-'90s steel rigid MTB frame. They can be very strong, with more-relaxed geometry, though many will tend to have much longer top tubes than other designs in the same basic size. If in good shape, they can clean up well. Can start with either a full bike or just a frame. Assuming the frame's hub spacing is 100mm/135mm, you ought to have a reasonably good selection of contemporary parts for getting the drive train you want. It's not all that difficult. Just takes time to acquire the basic tools you might be missing, to review the part's correct installation, to get the tuning right. Lots of resources online to assist, including numerous how-to videos that people have posted on Youtube and elsewhere. A good project that can be a lot of fun, a little frustrating now and then, but immensely satisfying once it all comes together.

jlmonte

Spit balling, why not start by flipping a cheap kids single speed. Could be as easy as repacking bearings and trueing wheels. Sell and keep buying up? Experience wrenching is a good first step to prepare you for the big build.

In general, to make things simple, define your requirements, design it, then build it.

Narrow what type of bike you want, and what features you need. This drives a design. You might want to copy a design you like; choosing handle bar type, brakes type, wheel size etc. You will learn terminology; top tube, headset, chain line, dropouts, braze-on, bottom bracket, bearing race & cups...

Integrating parts is much about research, based on your design. You’ll need to specify your parts with detail sizing. You want to limit adapters to interface parts.

Lastly, shopping can easily lead to surplus parts. This is the start of the hobby side of cycling. Some parts you can sell, or reuse, and use on friends bikes.

good luck

.

The_Joe

This is a great idea to get you prepped for any bike maintenance you may need to do on your own.

If I may offer a bit of advice from experience:
All bikes are not made equal. While the processes are similar, parts won't always match up. As far as learning the maintenance goes you've got various different kinds of brakes and shifters, different cranks/bottom brackets, manufacturer incompatibilities, etc. But I don't mean for that to scare you off. Moreso I mean to say that it can be interesting.

Next bit of advice, if you're going vintage/used and replacing parts:
All bikes are not created equal! Old French bikes used French parts (nobody told me that when I started working on my first Peugeot). Motobecane used French and Swiss parts for a while. Ross had a proprietary stem diameter. With the benefit of the internet and the nice folks on this forum you can probably find any of the parts you'd ever need without too much effort.

As was stated a post or two ahead of mine, you might do well getting a cheap used bike and simply overhauling it and reselling it. It would get you used to re-packing bearings, truitng wheels, etc. The bike market is hot right now so brush up on average values of things before you pull the trigger. Just because some old bikes are worth a good amount doesn't mean all old bikes are.

Good luck and have fun!

Phil_gretz

TL : DR …

Even your mother doesn't love you enough to read that long post.

Just do it. Make your mistakes. Waste meaninglessly small amounts of money. Begin by buying the tools that you need for each job as you go. Do it again. Strictly determine to discard and sell the bikes that don't thrill you. Begin building your own wheels to create rides that come closer to the thrill. Repeat the process for 40 years, and you'll reach your goal. Good luck.

branko_76 

Look for a style of bike you like that has been neglected. $50.00 would be a fair price of admission.

Take it COMPLETELY apart, down to the last tiny ball bearing...

CLEAN and POLISH every nook and cranny

REASSEMBLE it using ALL of the original components (replace only those that are beyond repair)

RIDE it

SELL it

BUY ANOTHER

REPEAT THE PROCESS

ofajen

I got into this in fifth grade or so (circa 1973) when my older sister gave me a JC Penney 26” 10-speed she didn’t like. I checked out all the books on bike repair and maintenance in our school library and read them thoroughly, then took that bike apart to the smallest bit and really got to know it.

The bike tech of forty-five years ago was not that tough for a fifth grader. Probably it’s a bit more complex if you want to tackle full-suspension, brifters, indexed 1x12, internal cable routing, hydraulic disc brakes, tubeless tires, etc., etc.

I’m thinking that getting a fixable used bike and really getting to know it is a good way to start.

Otto

bikemig 

I wouldn't overthink this. Find a good used bike that fits your needs and is attractively priced and rebuild it.

fietsbob

You have tools to buy to put it together , maybe buy a book ? Lennard Zinn's are good,
so are Howard Zinn's , but Lennard wrote illustrated ones on bike mechanics..

Viich

Bikes are pretty simple. Just do it. Either buy a tool set up front, or buy special tools as you need them if you already have automotive tools.

RiceAWay

1. You'll need basic bike maintenance tools such as a cable cutter, chain breaker, pedal wrench, cassette chain lock and the pertinent cassette lockring tool for your bike or bikes. If you are really serious you can also buy a workstand. All of these things are available from Park Tool and most of their stuff is of good quality. For instance, the cable cutter can cut straight across the cables which most of the competition cannot properly do without crushing the outer cable. 2. There are a million and one special tools which you will find you need as time goes on. Look Pedals require a plastic tool to undo the axles so that you can clean the bearings when it becomes necessary. When you buy a new pair of pedals they must provide the wrench since I have a couple and can't remember how i got them. 3. All of the tools you use to work on bicycles are Metric. And these days mostly Allen head screws so you have to have a complete set of 2 to 10 mm Allen head (https://www.harborfreight.com/Metric...3102b30611ff33) Having the most common Allan head sockets and a torque wrench of the proper size for the 6-8 newton meters torque for carbon fiber which you are bound to come into contact with is a must. This is NOT particularly tight and it is very easy to overtighten and stress carbon fiber.

The actual repair knowledge on a bike isn't very hard to learn but things like correctly adjusting derailleurs can be trying the first couple of times. Bleeding hydraulic disks requires some special tools but it is surprisingly easy otherwise. Plus there are now videos by Shimano and Campagnolo which are extremely helpful if you are attentive.

If you are speaking more of the older touring and other steel frameset bikes repair and adjustments are just as trying but errors are more forgiving. You can learn as you go such as if you mount a rear rack the support rods must be vertical if you intend to carry any weight on them such as pannier. Otherwise they will bend on the first hard bump. And oddly enough most racks do not have vertical supports. There are a million and one things you have to learn but you can only do so by trying unless you can get a bike shop to give you lessons.

RiceAWay

The only thing I would add is "lubricate with a good grease obtainable from Shimano. Car grease is cheaper but a lot heavier grade and provides more frictional drag.

BoraxKid

If you want an upright bike, stay away from road frames. Road bikes are generally designed for a rider to be in a bent over position, so the top tube to seat tube ratio will be different than mountain bikes, cruisers, and city bikes.

Converting a single speed to a geared bike could be difficult, depending on whether or not the frame allows for derailleurs to be mounted, and how hard it is to change the crankset. If you end up with a single speed that you want to convert, it might be easiest to add an internally geared hub. I had a 1970s Schwinn that I re-built at my local bike Co-Op. It came with a 3-speed Sturmey Archer hub that disassembled, cleaned, & rebuilt myself. It's a pretty simple system that is worth considering for the conversion you're talking about. You might also look at new internally geared hubs that have 7 or 8 speeds.

Before you start acquiring parts & things, I would recommend reading Sheldon Brown's old website. Most of the information was written at the turn of the century, but it seems to have been updated a few times.

Maelochs

I road up until I needed a car to get to work (lived in a snowy region with unplowed roads before studded tires were widely available.) A few years later, I moved and started picking up bikes on the roadside---bikes left out to be hauled as junk---and cobbling together working bikes so I could get to work.

At the time I got a good book, but I'd say nowadays the internet is a much better resource because bikes come in so many styles, there are so many generations of standards and styles, and no book I have ever found has everything .... YouTube is your friend, here.

Get your basic tools, set up a place to work, and just go do it. Most of it is so simple that you won't need a book, just pay attention when you take stuff apart and put it back together the same way.

Whether or not you can find enough bikes to feed your needs depends on where you live. Yard sales might help. You might check out college campus bulletin boards around semester's end, or just look around the dumpsters for the stuff people decided not to haul home. Once you start buying parts, the cost gets above value in a hurry unless you are building a really nice bike.

Have a blast.

JohnDThompson 

I still like Howard's "People's History of the United States." Too bad he's not around to update it.

Ironfish653

Well, since you want to build an ‘upright’ townie / path -bike; you’ve at least got some idea of where you want to end up.

When you’re doing this kind of a mod/build, try to look for a bike that’s about 80% of what you want to end up with; try to find one that’s as complete as possible. Getting the big parts like wheels, bars, and driveline is pretty easy, it’s the little stuff like seat posts, headsets, cable jewelry and other small parts that can nickel and dime a build to a standstill.

An MTB from the 7/8/9 speed era would be a good start, there are a lot of them around, they’re sturdy, versatile, and many of them were pretty well spec’ed. It would just be a matter of adding the tires, stem and handlebars to suit.

If something faster is what you’re after, then look for a Japanese road bike from the late 70’s -early 80’s, as they used what became the Standards for bikes through the 90’s, so no messing around with obsolete French or Italian-standard stuff.

I built this out of a complete, but neglected ‘76 Bridgestone roadster, a bolt-by-bolt rebuild. Counting the usual consumables like tires, cables, this was about $150 of parts, with some judicious raiding of the take-off bin at the co-op.
Since it was a decent bike to begin with, things like the headset, BB, and wheels, I was able to clean, rebuild and reuse, which only cost me time and elbow grease.

lennie_briscoe

_ForceD_ Retro Grouch Clyde1820 jlmonte
The_Joe Phil_gretz branko_76 ofajen bikemig fietsbob Viich RiceAWay BoraxKid Maelochs JohnDThompson Ironfish653

Hi everyone. Firstly, just a huge thanks to you all for taking the time to chip in. I genuinely do appreciate it. I'm only a couple of posts in, but I'm already digging the community on here.

It would seem that my personality type is in good company on this forum. When I'm passionate about something I find myself wanting to know as much as I can about it, and more than that, I want to UNDERSTAND it. So my approach is going to be very slow and methodical as you all suggest. I'm just going to try and find an old bike that I like, and is as complete as possible, take it right apart and then start cleaning and re-building one piece at a time, buying the tools and any parts I need as I go. I can't wait to get started.

Forgive me for being slightly tangential here, but on the subject of tools; I'm of course aware of Park and how good their tools are, but I'm also aware of how expensive they are. Looking at the more budget brands the reviews seem to mixed so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for middle ground tool makers? I don't want to have to spend huge amounts, but I want something that works well and is going to last a good while.

lennie_briscoe

Thanks for this. This was the advice I didn't know I needed if that makes sense.

lennie_briscoe

Forgive my ignorance, but what years would that era cover?

Maelochs

Rigid MTBs from the mid-80s onward are good, and the later, the better, until maybe the turn of the century when suspension dominated everything and nobody made real rigid, simple MTBs any more (I would say.)

I'd say not much earlier than 1985 (make sure you get modern rear dropout spacing, 130-135 mm for road/MTB) and you are good to go.

Ironfish653

7/8/9-speed spans roughly from the early 1990s to the late 2000’s, when the ‘flagship’ groups like 105 and XT progressed from 7 to 9 speeds. Bikes from this era have ‘modern’ features like full indexed shifting, threadless headsets and the like, but are old enough that they can be found for not much money.

There’s a lot of cross-compatibility in 7//8/9-so as far as wheels, and drivetrains; basically as long as the number of cogs is the same as the number of ‘speeds’ on the shifter.