Aquakitty

To me the fun is in buying an old bike and fixing it up for the lowest possible price, for instance I have an absolutely hideous (think, florescent) Japanese chromo MTB/touring bike from the '80s I bought for $15 Canadian and put maybe $30 total into it with new cables etc.. the rest I rebuilt by hand (cleaning, rebuilding hubs etc). I also have a Pro-Flex from early '90s that is my pride and joy . Spent more on it, $45 for new rear elastomer, new tires etc. These were things to get the bike in working safe condition for riding. My only road bike is an '84 Apollo I bought for a whopping $25! (this does not count my recumbent fetish of course)

On these forums It *seems* these bikes would seem utterly worthless. At least that is the impression I get.. not that anyone is rude just it seems to be in another stratosphere like if I were to go to an antique car show. Seems like everyone on here is after mega high end overpriced stuff from Italy (generalization) and it's some kind of mad collection syndrome! I mean to me I would just spend the money on a brand new bike .

Now I am not saying this is bad at all, I get people like to collect, and old stuff will fetch whatever price someone wants to pay... if not the Antiques Roadshow wouldn't be very interesting!

Bottom line is, do forum users here enjoy looking at cheap builds? Anyone else do this sort of thing?

I guess i ask because i started thinking after reading some posts here maybe I have to get a better build before I post about anything i did, I feel embarrassed that I have fun building bikes that probably aren't of any value except to me!

Oscuro

Total cost was I think....$20 for the bike, $5 seat post, recycled Brooks from my Surly...
Oh, and I added a $5 rack to it as well.

So, total of $30.
Rode it for less than a month until some **** jay-walked from the otherside of the road while I was watching for car doors outside of a church.

Found out the frame, in addition to the sketchy rust on the top tube, had a massive dent in the top tube that had been carefully filled with Bond.

wrk101

I have less than $30 into my Lotus. Started with a $16 thrift store find. And less than $40 into my wife's Centurion mixte (started with a $20 frameset, plus a cheap donor bike). I am on a pretty strict bicycle budget, bikes have to pay for bikes, and no keeper bike can cost more than a new entry level bike at the LBS.

I have $125 into my latest keeper bike, a 1995 Fuji Roubaix, with Shimano 105 STI. I'll keep it and retire a lesser modern bike from the fleet.

divineAndbright

Some things the cheap bikes are good for- good to work on for experience for anyone new to learning, no "buyers remorse", no high expectations therefore no real let downs or disappointment with ride quality. Although I'm pretty anti cheap bike in general they do have their place in some ways, I guess it depends how cheap were talking, I do draw the line somewhere. I think there are some bikes out there that really shouldn't even be legal to sell, usually the frames are ok, its just the component quality thats so frustrating. Just cause a company can make brake calipers that "kinda work" for $15 cents or a freewheel that will last a max of 15 miles doesnt mean they should.

Oscuro

I totally agree with you regarding cheap new parts. But cheap, old used parts in another story. I mean, my $30 bike was a Nishiki Continental. Other than the bad top-tube, and the bubba's RD, a welded on Exage or something, it was a nice bike. I stripped off of it Suntour Power shifters, a V-GT FD, and some Dia-Comp levers and brakes. I also picked up a V-GT Luxe RD that i was going to throw on to it until I found out that the current one was welded on...I still need to get the tools to pull the cranks though. Can't go wrong with Sugino Super Maxy's really.

Eventually I'll find another frame to throw my Suntour drivetrain onto, and be happy. Just wish I had kept the sunshine hubs now.

wrk101

There is a big difference between a nicer old bike at a low/attractive price (perhaps one that has been neglected for many years), and an old cheap bike. Having grown up during the bike boom, a lot of the cheap bikes from that era are crap. I believe riders are better off with either a relatively modern rigid frame MTB or a hybrid over that crap. But if you are willing to spend some time looking, you can find a nicer old bike at a low price, perhaps one that needs some TLC. That can be a terrific move (if you do all of the work yourself, otherwise, you risk spending a lot of money on it to get it rehabbed). I pretty much find at least one bike a week in that category.

If someone asks about dumping quite a bit of money into an old crappy bike, I am going to recommend against it (unless it has some sentimental value). You are much better off putting your time and money into something decent. Then when you are done, you will have a really nice bike.

I love looking at thrifty builds, when the builder starts with a decent or better frame. There are enough decent frames out there, that there is no reason to start with crap IMHO.

cb400bill

Absolutetly there is a place on this forum for inexpensive bikes. Yes, many of us, me included, lust after a Colnago, Cinelli, etc. But, we also appreciate a well built bargain bike.

We've even had two Velo-Cheapo contests on who could build the coolest bike for less than $149. I was stunned to see what came out of that. Here is a link to the first contest and then a second link to the winner's bike.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=velocheapo

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=velocheapo

BigPolishJimmy

+1 on the velo cheapo threads, also most of what I post is cheap 'worthless' stuff, but it's fun and an inexpensive hobby that pays for itself most of the time. I'm building a bike right now from my parts pile, will have pics in a couple of days when it's finished. I should have taken a 'before' pic though

auchencrow

Actually, I think many of us are into very basic, low-cost builds – (half of my flips are just that) but as you can probably already tell from the pictures posted in this thread, most of us are primarily into road bikes (myself included).

Note also that “low cost” is not intimately associated with “low end”: Many of my best bikes were really sweet deals, purchased for prices too embarrassingly low to admit. - I tend to hold on to these bikes (in part because I don’t feel so compelled to recover my minimal investment), and flip the rest to pay for the consumables, and to give my customers an opportunity to buy a decent, functional road bike to introduce (or re-introduce) them to biking.

Following are a few examples of bikes I acquired for next to nothing (-and sold for not a whole lot more!).

David Newton

Aquakitty,
While the whole C&V isn't for you, with the majority of folks wavering toward 'high quality lugged steel' of the mid-late 20th century, this forum does have it's cheapo moments, and is very inviting and tolerant to most biking points of view.
I'm in the cheapo camp, but not by choice. To me, cheapo means learning to save your ammunition for the right target.

Stick around and see, you already know how to start a thread.

khatfull

I likey...a lotty

khatfull

Oh, and OP, you're certainly in the right place...don't think anything different. I recently got accused of being cheap and it didn't bother me in the slightest

wrk101

Yes, I really like the Roubaix. Somewhat interestingly, I answered a C/L ad last week for a 1984 Trek 560. I knew that was going to be a nice bike. The guy also had a "1980s Fuji" with really no details. So I went chasing the Trek. When I showed up, I was pleasantly surprised with the Fuji, all of a sudden, it was the bike I wanted. Obviously was not a 1980s Fuji, not that I have a problem with 1980s Fujis either. But I did not expect a 105 brifter bike at this price point. I grabbed the Trek too, but the Fuji was the find. The tires on the Fuji did not match, but the seller had a brand new in package matching tire. Sweet!

Since this picture, I have swapped out the crankset to a compact crank. Due to my lack of motor, and in combination with the hills around here, I really need easier gearing. I will be retiring my Giant Kronos to make some space for this one. Quite a step up.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

+1 Thats one of the big draws of C&V for me....I can ride top-of the line stuff from 30-40 years ago often times for less than new entry level stuff sells for. I'm riding a bike that sold for over $1200 in 1984 that I picked up last fall for about $100. Part of the fun for me is getting something that looks like hell and doesn't cost much and turning it into something to be proud of.

flammenwurfer

I can totally appreciate the cheap bikes. I think there are two kinds of cheap bikes though as far as C&V goes. Cheap, as in mid to low end bikes of their time, but are solidly built. And mid to high end nice bikes that you just happen to get for really cheap. The former are bikes that you generally have more opportunities to attain and rehab/build. Obviously everybody would prefer the latter, but you usually have to just luck into them. I haven't been doing this nearly as long as a lot of you, but I've still never experienced the really nice bike for super cheap.

Here are a couple of my cheap bikes that I've had.

Takara something that I only had $35 into total. Low-end but solid errand bike.


A low end Gitane Gran Sport Deluxe that I had a total of $20 into and sold for $95. Not to mention that I kept the kickstand and rear rack that came with it for other builds.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

seeing those leaves is making me wish for Autumn right now.

x136 

Centurion Accordo club!

Fasteryoufool

Currently in my/our stable, there are seven bikes, not ONE have I spent more than $50 on, at least originally. None of them are worth a ton of money, most are considered by most here to be crap bikes.

1. 1983~ish Univega Viva Sport - $20 thrift store find.
2. 1978~ish Schwinn Sprint step-thru - $10.00 thrift store find ($11.50 if you count the donor bike I bought with it)
3. Unknown year (early 90s?) Schwinn Mirada step-thru MTB - free from a neighbor
4. Mongoose small child's BMX bike - $30
5. Adams Trail-a-bike - $40 Craigslist find
6. 1984 Schwinn Sierra MTB - $40 thrift store find.
7. 1993 Bianchi Avenue - belongs to SIL, here for some TLC.

The only bikes there worth anything at all are the Bianchi and the Univega. Lots of folks here don't like the Japanese bikes, so to them the Univega sucks. Personally, I like all of them to some degree.

Aquakitty

Cool thanks for the replies. I read a lot here to know what kind of material to look for (like, no gas pipe high tensile steel) and I can tell the diff between low end and middle of the road. There's so much internet info out there now it takes no time at all to research an oldie.To me finding an old middle of the road for 15$ with nice components is a good deal. I love that cheapo contest.. we should get a forum for "el cheapo only" hehe. Theres something fun, like a game almost, about spending the lowest possible to get a decent old bike out of it.

I'm doomed!

wrk101

Actually, my Centurion mixte is a Lemans 12. Just a slight step up from the Accordo. It has an integral frame RD hanger, so it doesn't use a claw like the Accordo.

khatfull

Amen brother...I personally think that's the essence of all this for 95% of the posters here.

flammenwurfer

Definitely part of it. The other part, for me anyways, is I just prefer the aesthetics of the old stuff over the new.

khatfull

True....I've always been a cheapskate but only recently turned from the darkside of over-sized foil and plastic tubes

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

OOooH Burn! Listen to you hurling the troll bait


incase the smiley's aren't enough, I kid.

khatfull

I'm not a troll, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...