cheap hack bike project

[jig-sore]

cheap hack bike project (now my commuter !!)

saw a cheap road bike advertised in the paper this week and decided to go have a look.
turned out to be an optima corsa (a what ????), a nothing special road bike, reasonable wheels and tyres, a half decent alloy frame and the strangest shifters i've ever seen on a road bike. turns out they still sell them on line for about £270. not sure it's worth that but worth £50 ...

got rid of the stickers and the tyres went on my road bike...

stuck the wheels on my commuter bike and the stuff that was left (along with some stuff from the loft) went together to make a rather usable hack bike...

the strange shifters leave a nice clean look to the handle bars and almost look a bit cool.

just need to give it a good clean, a bit of a service, new cables and it's perfect for leaving in the garden, nipping into town on, and not having to worry about. just what i wanted as the other two bikes both have clip-less pedals, computers etc.

maybe give it a cool paint job in the summer ???.

 

[TheDoctor]

There's one of those in the bike shed at work. It's been there for some time.
That bike looks rather good with the flat bars.
I'm not at all sure about those shifters though...

 

[jig-sore]

im going to be running only one gear at the front (turned the outer one into a chain guard) so it will be a 7 speed. that will only leave the one shifter on. i may try to find a smaller one later.

really getting into the idea of having it as basic and light as possible now.

it's fully stripped for cleaning at the moment but i'll get it back together this weekend.

 

[jig-sore]

finished the project bike

i tried to go for spec that would leave the bike as light and basic as possible. the original stem went back on and, as said before, i ground the teeth off the large front cog to make a chain guard...

which meant i could loose one of the shifters to give the bike an even cleaner look...

first test rides showed the bike to have major chain skip, and after measuring the chain it proved to be seriously worn. A quick trip to the spares box in the loft provided a spare chain and a 6 speed freewheel. this does work with the 7 speed shifter and will do until i can find a new 7 speed freewheel...

so there it is, a cheap, light, leave anywhere bike, without clip-less pedals or computer that i can use for short trips to help save my wallet from the shocking petrol prces

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

How did you get the stickers off so cleanly ??

 

[palinurus]

i ground the teeth off the large front cog to make a chain guard...

Neat!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

How did you get the stickers off so cleanly ??

Looking good!!

He did well with the stickers, I took them off my latest fettling project - frame goes for sandblasting and powder coat next week!

 

[jig-sore]

the stickers were the old vinyl type, not the "under the lacquer" type. they just peeled off and i removed any sticky with WD40, it's very good for this.

actually just last weekend i transferred all the stuff off my hybrid and im now using this bike as my commuter.

i'll have to get a new photo up

 

[jig-sore]

OK, here's the photos. this bike has now become my commuter. fitted rack and mudguards and changed handle bars complete with my homemade light bracket and horn. also fitted a brand new triple crank.

just need to go one size up on the tyres.

took me a week to get it comfortable but going fine now