sd5782 

Just like the title asks, which one can’t you leave alone? My first thought was a sport tourer since eyelets and middling geometry allow some experimentation. Then I guessed that many hybrids and mountain frames get repurposed too. I bet some bikes out there have seen quite a few permutations, especially as spare parts piles and free time accumulates.

Edit, I really meant to ask which bike has been reconfigured the most times?

MntnMan62

My wife and I bought bikes together early in our relationship/marriage. It had to be around 1999 or so because they were 2000 models. We bought his and hers Schwinn Mesa GSXs. Black for me and red for her. I started riding it in the 2,000 acre reservation (park) up the road. There are wide paths/trails that you can almost drive a car on and then there are some nice singletrack trails. I started on the wide paths. As I got better I started looking for ways to improve my ride. Stock it came with Rock Shox Jett forks with 2.5" of travel, Tektro brakes, Shimano Alivio shift levers, Shimano Acera front derailleur, Shimano Deore LX rear derailleur, Acera crankset, Shimano hubs, American Classic wheelset with IRC Mythos XC tires and miscellaneous Schwinn parts like seat, handlebars, seatpost, stem. Pedals had those cages on them.

The first thing I did was replace the fork with a Marzocchi Z4 Bomber coilover. That single change instantly transformed the bike into a real mountain bike. It was so much lighter and much more plush than the Rock Shox it replaced. It had 80mm of travel which changed the geometry of the bike a little. I instantly fell in love with it and that gave me the courage to venture onto the more challenging trails. Then over the next few years as money was available I added the following:

Shimano Deore LX crankset, front derailleur, cogset.
Sun Rhyno Lite wheelset with Shimano Deore LX hubs
Titec Flat Tracker handle bar and stem
Titec Seatpost
ODI Rogue Lock on grips
Diamondback bar ends
Time ATAC Alium clipless pedals

I was planning on replacing the Tektro brakes and levers with Avid but never got around to it. I may still do it though if I start riding it again. I'm also due for a new set of tires. The saddle is also starting to come apart and would put the same saddle I have on my road bike so my butt doesn't have to get used to a different seat. Specialized Phenom Expert. With all of that it still is a bike that can hold it's own. I had a blast riding that bike and was able to get to a point where I could ride over large fallen trees. I'm talking about trees that were two to three feet in diameter. Here's a stock picture of it I found online and what it looks like today.

juvela

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member non-fixie shall be able to write a few volumes here...

two recalled are Mrs. non-fixie's Benotto & her Meral...


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rosefarts

I've got a '98 or so Voodoo Wazoo cross bike.

First off, sandblasted then powder coated.

Campy Chorus crank set up 1x.

DT rims on Bitex hubs, tubeless tires.

11-42 cassette.

SLX mtb derailleur, Shadow Plus

Microshift mountain pull barend shifter.

Nearly 25 years old and other than Canti's and quick release, is pretty much the same as any new steel gravel bike.

nlerner

Oh, definitely my ‘71 Raleigh International, which went through the gugificazione process a few years back:

sd5782 

I guess I didn’t ask the question as clearly as I wanted. What bike have you reconfigured the most times?

Cougrrcj

Once I build a bike to my tastes, I don't change it. Maybe a freewheel change if I'm going to ride in hillier terrain, but other than that, nope.

My Fuji has been in its same configuration for over 43 years now. Well, it has been through four wheelsets, and two cranksets/chainrings, but those were wear-related.

About the only thing I did replace in deference to my advancing years was to put on a sort of a suspension seatpost to take the buzz out of the rural chip/seal roads where I ride... Not even really a suspension , but a 1" diameter 1" tall elastomer puck that squishes ever so slightly in the inside of a knee-joint. IIRC, I got it from Nashbar ~25 years ago... I've had to replace the puck a few times... I bought a 1'-long section of high-durometer rod, and I'm on the second replacement 1" section in 30 years. I think I'm set for life, LOL!




.

SurferRosa

'82 Miyata 912.

bikemig 

I don't usually change configurations that often on my bikes but I have on my 1988 Stumpjumper comp. I rode it a while pretty much how it came to me after overhauling it. Then I did a drop bar conversion and rode it that way a long time. Now I'm going back to a flat bar set up as a commuter.

MntnMan62

Reconfigure bikes multiple times? That can get sort of expensive, no?

due ruote 

1973 Raleigh Gran Sport. I bought it new; it’s been painted a few times, spent most years as a fixed gear and now is set up as 2 x 6 with none of the original parts.

non-fixie 

Ever since I got interested in vintage sports and racing bikes in 2009, I've been working on getting mrs non-fixie aboard and keeping her there. She does like to ride, but her attitude towards bikes is totally different from mine, and it has taken me a few years to begin to understand how her mind works when it comes to bikes and how she can be persuaded to try something that doesn't look right to her.

In 2011 I bought this early eighties Benotto 500 Lady, with very few miles on it.



I thought it was a nice bike. I cleaned and lubed it, replaced the brake levers and put on a taller stem and some new white bar tape:



She rode it for about 10 meters before deciding that the drop bars, the half-clips and that saddle weren't going to work. So I took it back into the shop and tried this:



The Brooks saddle went down well, but the downtube shifters and the low bars didn't make the grade. So back in I went, to come up with this: north road bars with thumb shifters.



She did like the riding position better, but not the thumb shifters. And I didn't like the way it looked. Too girly. The bike disappeared to the attic for a couple of years.

In 2014 she discovered how much fun vintage cycling events were, and wanted part of the action. Looking at the participants' bikes she realized that concessions would have to be made.

The Benotto came down from the attic and I gave her this version to try. I went back to the sports bars, replaced the thumbies with stem shifters, and made the drivetrain a little more hill-friendly:



This was something she could envision riding at L'Eroica, and she decided to go with it. First tests showed the gearing needed to be lowered further, so the version that finally went into battle wore a Stronglight 99 bis triple and a Deerhead RD. It became her main ride for many C&V events and vacation trips

At L'Eroica 2015:



Fast forward a few years and mrs non-fixie's interest in vintage bikes has got her a Méral, which I first built up in the same vein as her Benotto. This time with a compact double and downtube friction levers, as I'd found out she had no problem with those.

L'Eroica 2019:



In the meantime I've been getting her interested in giving drop bars another try, and this time with success. It took a few rebuilds with different stems, bars and brake levers, but she is now totally happy with it. I added fenders and a front bag while I was at it. Version 3, ready for our next cycling vacation:



Since this is now set up for touring she will need a new bike for L'Eroica next year .....

rosefarts

I did this in high school a lot.

Proflex 855. Then took off the front derailleur and added a Sachs 3x geared hub, then had it repainted black and put a Manitou 4 on it with Avid Tri Align brakes and Sachs New Success rear derailleur. I think it had a titanium bb of some sort and CODA cranks.

Trek 7000, went rigid, to Scott Unishock, to Mag 21. It eventually rocked kooka cranks. Got stolen for a few months and came back sans paint. I can't remember what happened after that. At some point, it had Magura brakes too.

I don't play Barbie so much these days but sure have a lot more bikes.

I actually sent the dude I sold the Proflex to a friend request the other day. Doesn't appear active but maybe? On the off chance he still has it, I'd love to buy it back 25 years later.

The Golden Boy 

My 1985 Trek 720:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...x-warning.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...rek-720-a.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...e-rebuild.html



That's just the threads I started about builds/rebuilds- bunches of different derailleurs and shifters have been on this bike.

Currently it's pretty much how it was at the re-re-rebuild time, except for different straddle yokes and White Industries pedals.

Murray Missile 

Probably this poor old thing which I finally sold a few weeks ago.

3speedslow

Changed the most times... 91 Schwinn High Plains


From this...

To so many different versions of this.

GhostSS

My Giant Cadex 980c. Was set up for flat time trialing with a 5 speed cassette. Now it's a bit more reasonable with a 7 speed with spokes mavics. Also changed my fizik volta r3 for a period correct perforated leather turbo saddle. Along swapped all shimano 105 components for 600 tricolor. Swapped my plastic water bottle cages for a carbon fiber one cuz I'm just cant help it. Lastly my lbs recently snapped my Cinetica stem, so I replaced it with a Box o' Crap mk4 Sakae Custom stem. Also changed out the mks urbans for Sakae sr sp-11 pedals for a slightly more "vintage" Japanese lyotard style pedal.

scarlson 

My Ron Cooper! I've been touring on it since I was 14.

Iteration 0. The bike started with 27" wheels and no fenders. It probably had a Blackburn or Pletscher rear rack. Cup-and-cone bearings all around. Downtube shifters clamped on. Cinelli cockpit. Campy brake levers. Rally and Record mechs.

Iteration 1. I started out touring on it, so we upgraded the derailleurs to the Superplate deer head rear, Suntour Mountech front, and Suntour barcons. Nitto cockpit, noodle + technomic, and Shimano brake levers. Got a Phil BB and TA Zephyr crank with that sweet 20t low gear. Put on SKS fenders. 7 speed freewheel and 700c wheels for bigger tires (32s were considered big). Used Blackburn racks and no braze-ons to speak of, rear end spaced 126. That lasted about a month before the Campy hub flange cracked. I probably would have broken an axle if the hub flange had lasted.

Iteration 1.5. So, we spread the frame by hand while it was sitting upside down on a picnic table somewhere in France. Bought a 130 spaced cassette rear wheel, the only 36 spoke thing the local bike shop had. So I guess not a whole iteration. This lasted about 6 months of loaded touring, during which I broke a rear rack, which we replaced with the same exact thing, but older. That one held up. The wheel disintegrated though. Spokes pulled through the wall of the Mavic MA3 rim in multiple places. We bought a new rim, and the exact same thing happened, even quicker. I also broke 10 or so drive-side spokes. I was carrying a lot of gear, including a set of boules de pétanque. Plastic, not the traditional steel, but still... Also a Nashbar front wheel bit the dust. Water collected inside the "sealed" bearings and couldn't get out because there were no weep holes in the dust caps. The hub made these little squeaking sounds like an Audubon bird call and when we took it apart it was full of red powder. Went home to lick wounds after 6 months on the road.

Iteration 2. So we spread it to 135 and stuffed T519 rimmed wheels in there, front and back. These held up. Put on a Deore XT rear to better handle the 11-34 cassette. But I broke each side of my Blackburn clamp-on low-rider. Fixed these with old spokes and rope. Made it through Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy though! I kinda gave up on touring after that. Girlfriend at the time didn't like camping whatsoever, so I felt I was a bit hamstrung.

Iteration 3. I took off the racks and fenders and put on a smaller cassette, in a vain attempt to keep up with my friends on entry-level alu bikes. But really, I couldn't get out and train enough, didn't have the patience or something. So I was slow regardless. Girlfriend dumped me for some rich dude and I wanted to go touring again.

Iteration 4. Got braze-ons done by some local framebuilder to properly mount front and rear Rivendell/Nitto racks to really support the load! Also a bottle dynamo braze-on, and mounted a Busch and Muller halogen light on the front. He broke the chainstays trying to indent them, so he replaced them too. He refused to do the rest of the job mounting cantilever brake posts after that. Some people... Anyway I put Paul Racers and VO snakeskin fenders on it. Put VO rando bars, Cane Creek SCR5 levers, and a Technomic Deluxe drilled for a cable stop. Replaced the Super Record headset with a Stronglight Delta. Built a rear wheel, with 48 spokes, White Industries hub, and a Mavic T261 rim. Compass Barlow Pass tires. Really nice finally!! Except the lighting left a bit to be desired, and the fenders weren't "deep dish" enough to keep the sand off of my legs and chain when I rode on gravel. Took it on a few weeklong tours and started getting into gravel riding.

Iteration 4.5. My halogen headlight fell off on a gravel road and I decided I could use a dynamo hub and proper LEDs. Hand-polished a Shimano 3N30 to mirror shine and laced it to an A319. Put an IQ Cyo on the front and ran wire through the frame and rear rack to a Toplight Line Plus on the rear rack. Put on Zeppelin fenders which are much better than the snakeskins. TIG welded my first decaleur from stainless tube for a Berthoud bag. Machined Spence Wolf-style booster plates for the Paul Racers. Now we're cookin! This is how it stands today. There is rust under the powder coat because the powder coater didn't do a good job, so it's going to have to come off at some point and I need to do a few more things...

Iteration 5 (hypothetical). I will braze on some mounts for the Paul Racers myself, along with some downward facing fender mounts to do-away with any brackets/darumas/etc. I will raise the seat stay bridge up a little so the rear fenderline is better and I safeguard against issues with variable tire size from Compass, since a 38 just barely squeaks in there. I will possibly get a different front rack setup, to be a bit lighter and allow the fork to flex, but I'm not so sure about this. Then I'll get it powder coated again, someplace that does a better job. I also may add some features so it can more easily be rinko'd for air travel (if they ever let us travel again). Trying hard to resist the urge to do a 650b conversion, but I do like the way it's set up right now. It's a grand routier, a heavy tourer extraordinaire, built to carry the load. Brazing up a trailer hitch to bolt onto the rear would probably be more appropriate than trying to lighten it up.

sd5782 

Lots of versions, but you didn’t try a drop bar conversion. Perhaps you might have kept it then.

gugie 

Super Course, Gran(d) Sport(s), Internationals are all chameleon bikes to me. I've modified a lot of them, but most only once. I had an International that went through a couple of iterations, so I guess it had some Lernerficazione done to it.

Murray Missile 

I was seriously considering that LOL but I already had this which has had almost as many versions itself.

canklecat

Ah, well, in that case, I can play.

I haven't reconfigured any bike much, but I've swapped components and wheels around a lot on my Ironman. It came with a Suntour GPX group which is perfectly fine when set up properly (tricky at first). But I've bought or been given a few Shimano 600 (older, and newer Tricolor front and rear derailleurs) and Dura Ace bits and pieces, and every few months I'll swap group sets and wheels around just to compare.

There are minor differences but not enough to persuade me to stick with the different components, so I always go back to the Suntour GPX. I kinda like the looks and the nostalgia of downtube shifters on that bike. The brifters, Dura Ace and 600 bits will go on a couple other frames -- an older Trek 5900, and newer Diamondback carbon fiber frame.

nlerner

I gotta dig up earlier pics on the ‘71 Intl as I did go through quite a few variations, including one with a Sturmey Archer rear hub.

BFisher

My Super Course is on version #3 . First was 2x5. B17 Narrow was just too narrow for me:


Second was 3x7 with aero levers, which worked really nicely, but wasn't doing it for me:


This is the way I like this bike - Sturmey Archer AW, 49x22 gears.

rhm

My Trek 720, bought new in the spring of 1983, frame and fork came to $325 or so... I have the receipt somewhere. I had it built up in a variety of ways between 1983 and 2003. There was a Suntour phase, a Campagnolo phase, and finally Shimano 105 9 speed with brifters. Then it sat as a frame for a while.
i eventually repainted it and built it up as an upright tourer with Shimano Nexus 8-speed hub, dynamo lights, fenders.... I then experimented with drop bars (there was no shifter for a 23.8mm handlebar)... and eventually give up on the IGH thing.
Then i had it powder coated, and built it up as the tourer that i intended it to be when i bought it. Since tben I've changed the cranks, changed the brakes three times... and so on.