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Building a bike from spare parts??

Old 08-30-10, 02:30 PM
  #1  
Shadow7874
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Building a bike from spare parts??

Im in college and love being able to ride my bike around since my car is 45 minutes away. Only problem is my bike got stolen a few days ago (was using a cable lock, not a good idea)
So for now im on a cheap collapsable mountain and i hate how it feels. I dont want to swatch to a road bike but i gotta get something a bit better. Id like a mountain bike with both front and rear suspension but i dont have a lot of disposable income at the moment (i have plenty to spend just dont want to spend it)

There are a few abandoned bikes around campus most of which are already missing parts but i know that i can get atleast a front fork (the suspension type) as well as all the parts on my current bike plus some small odds and ends i can scavenge. My question is what all will fit together? are most forks kinda generic or do only certain ones fit certain frames? With the bike i have now plus parts i can find would it be pretty easy to get a cheap but decent bike together that atleast has front suspension?

edit: two more things. How do you remove the fork? and what size frame should i be looking for? im a bout 5'9" 130 lbs and im used to riding a bike thats typically a bit small for my size.

Last edited by Shadow7874; 08-30-10 at 02:46 PM.
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Old 08-30-10, 03:03 PM
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shadow7874, Find a POS bike that nobody wants to steal.

In theory you can build a bike with scrounged parts, but one needs to be knowledgeable enough to select compatible parts.

Brad
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Old 08-30-10, 03:04 PM
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For forks you need to observe the steer tube diameter and the fork leg length. Don't go mixing a long legged, and therefore longer travel fork on a bike that was intended for fixed or short travel forks or vice versa. The steering geometry will be messed up if you do this.

From there you have two sizes to worry about, 1 inch and 1 1/8 inch. A few were made with 1 1/4 as well but thankfully that's fairly rare. From there you also have both threaded and threadless versions of the two mainstream steer tube sizes. The size and type affects the sort of headset you use.

There's also a couple of various styles of brakes that were used over the past couple of decades. Many of them will be cantilever style brakes where the posts are located such that you can use either cantilever or V brakes. But a few used some oddball style brakes and the posts are positioned such that you can only use that style of old brake caliper. So watch for that.

Depending on the age and number of speeds in the rear the spacing between the dropouts has a couple of various "standards". Visit Sheldon Brown's website for some writeups on these different sizes. In fact browse and read through his entire website to learn about all these different options. There's a sticky thread up top that is titled "sheldonbrown.com sortcuts" or something like that. Lots of great reading that'll help you out.

Other than this MOST of what you find will be compatible.
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Old 08-30-10, 03:06 PM
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Too much trouble, even if you have all the tools and skillz to assemble a bike from scratch. Go to a thrift store or garage-sale and buy a used bike for $10-20.
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Old 08-30-10, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by DannoXYZ
Too much trouble, even if you have all the tools and skillz to assemble a bike from scratch. Go to a thrift store or garage-sale and buy a used bike for $10-20.
+1 And I would personally avoid any suspension, as you stated you were going to ride it on the road. Suspensions on lower end/older MTBs tend to be junk, not worth it. Rigid frame MTBs can be found cheap around here.

Building one up from various parts often takes several bikes. I am going through that right now. I will use three or four bikes (not all complete) to make one decent MTB. Only makes sense when you get them really cheap.

My experience from college (OK, it was a long time ago) is that anything gets stolen: the nice bikes, the average bikes, and the crapper bikes.

I'll never forget we had our apartment car stolen. It was a real POS, the only way to start it was to push it half way down the block, usually took at least three or four of us to get it started. One night, it was stolen.

Last edited by wrk101; 08-30-10 at 03:38 PM.
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Old 08-30-10, 03:31 PM
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ugly 3 speeds are good choices , don't get anything trendy and current
as there is resale for stolen parts and bikes .

so unless your college is Hogwarts it will probably be pretty flat around there ,
and so a simple bike will do.
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Old 08-30-10, 03:59 PM
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I would avoid taking parts off a bike that may appear abandoned; it might actually belong to someone who will seek it out as the fall semester begins. Most of the comments here are right, why do you need full suspension for a campus beater? Find yourself an old Schwinn Varsity or Raleigh Grand Prix (or something of the sort) from a yard sale put $50 into and you'll have a perfect campus bike. Remember your campus cruiser is designed to get you to class, and also not get stolen. Don't ride anything flashy!
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Old 08-30-10, 04:30 PM
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What explanation would you offer to campus security if they happened to come upon you as you are removing parts from one of these seemingly abandoned bicycles?
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Old 08-31-10, 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by bradtx
shadow7874, Find a POS bike that nobody wants to steal.

In theory you can build a bike with scrounged parts, but one needs to be knowledgeable enough to select compatible parts.

Brad
Ya, and not that many parts are compatible. Or would only be compatible through major surgery. Bottom brackets and cranks for example.

I would suggest some hands-on help. Do you have a bike co-op at your school? They will have expertise and probably bins of old parts. I also would strongly recommend against scavenging from locked up bicycle skeletons. If it is still locked to something, it meant something to somebody, and they might come back. Of course, if you know the owner, and get their permission, then it is different, yes?

Other sources for cheap bikes - trash recycle centers, police impound auctions, Craigslist, Freecycle.

We used to compete to see who could make the best bike that was the least desirable in appearance. Flat black paint was common, as were well used cheap frames that were still significantly functional. Wheelsets and hubs might even be high-end, but again no flash. If you ride distance, your saddle is not compromiseable, so that required a quick release and went with you wherever you went.
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Old 08-31-10, 02:07 PM
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FIxing old bikes is fun and rewarding but takes longer and usually winds up costing more than simply buying a ridable beater at a garage sale.

Also, if there is an abandoned bike locked to a sign on campus, it was abandoned for a reason and would have been stolen long ago if it were worth anything. In short, free bikes are usually not worth the money.

Is it pretty flat where you live? If so, and you are of approx. average height, get an old Raleigh (or similar) 3 speed or 5 speed with upright style handlebars... noone will steal it (if you get a proper lock this time) and you will be 1000 times cooler and more stylish than you would be riding a POS Walmart full suspension bike. You are also guaranteed to meet more members of the opposite sex (or same sex if that's what you're into - I don't judge).

If it is not flat, find a used rigid (no suspension) name brand mountain bike or hybrid bike and get a damn good lock (spend $50 on the bike and $75 on the lock) and learn to remove the front wheel and lock it and the rear wheel and frame to something solid.
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Old 08-31-10, 03:14 PM
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The guy that took your bike was looking for spare parts to build a college commuter.
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Old 08-31-10, 03:26 PM
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Someone who does not know how to remove a fork, may not be a good candidate for building up a bike. Building a bike is best suited for someone with the time/skill/space/tools/aptitude/and desire to build a bike. It is usually much cheaper to just buy a used bike in ready to ride condition. Acquiring this stuff for one build is really cost and time prohibitive. Do ten or twenty and it starts making a lot of sense.
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