Project/Bulding a Bike

[lemondash]

I have a hybrid bike that i use on a day to day basis and am totally happy with it and due to buy a road racer bike in the next few days. But i would like to get a old frame and build a bike from start to finsh, have heard lots of people doing it. Can anybody give me any adivce in getting parts, seen few racer frames on ebay at the moment to get me started, my uncle has a old railiegh frame in his garage that i reckon i could have. Also any websites where people can put up there start and finish photos.

any help would be great.

Lee

 

[lemondash]

oops. sorry if i have put this in the wrong post.

 

[Arch]

It's the best way to learn how a bike works, that's for sure.

With parts, it'll depend a lot on your budget - you can buy new, or you can strip old bikes. If the latter, look round your area for a source of second habd bits - does your local tip allow you to rescue/buy bikes? Do you have a local bike recycling project? It would be a good idea to think about what you want the bike for - just as a project, or to be significantly different from your other bikes? You can probably build something from all sorts of odds and ends, or you can really plan it with an aim in mind - ending up with a really good touring bike perhaps...

 

[lemondash]

cheers thanks for asking. don't reallyhave a budget if parts do need paying for second hand or new then thats cool. But really want to try and re cycle as much as poss thou. Thats not me being tight either just spend bit of dosh on my trek 1.7.

Kind of what it to be a project but also my second bike for going to the shop or just around town, so i don't have to take my trek with me.

 

[accountantpete]

Building a new road bike is relatively straightforward if you have the right tools and know what you are doing!.

1.Get a suitably sized frame preferably with 130mm clearance between the rear forks inorder to take the modern 8/9/10spd cassettes.

2.Preferably get a frame with the forks attached or research what steering system the frame supports - this gets quite complicated so try and get the forks attached.

3.Next problem area is the bottom bracket - you will see lots of frames with them still attached - they often need a special tool (£10+) to undo and frequently the new bracket will need a different tool (£10+) to tighten up. Beware though - even with the right tool they can be very very difficult to remove!

4. You may also see the cranks still attached to the b/b - you need a crank extractor to get them off (£10+) - the cranks and the new bottom bracket must be compatible.

5.After the steering and bottom bracket it is pretty much plain sailing.Most stuff just needs various allen keys to tighten/undo.

I think the best bet would be to get a cheap complete bike and then start taking things apart and learning that way.