Show us your Bitsa

[Drago]

Many of us will have one. You know what it's like - you upgrade your handlebars, chuck the old one in a box. Then the seat. Then the wheels on another bike. Then the brakes. And before you know it you suddenly have enough bits to build another bike.

Well, here mine...

And old 1996 Saracen 4130 Tufftrax frame which I had powder coated. Front wheel with Shimano dynamo hub and front rack from my old Thorn. Front cantis from my Box O'S***e, bars and stem from a Giant MTB, 7 speed Deore thumbies from a late eighties Muddy Fox, crankset from a Carrera Kraken, seat post from a Carrera, Charge Scoop that was on an old frame I bought years ago, Acera rear mech from same bought frame, rear wheel from one of my old Alpinestars. Rare Sturmey Acher drum brake levers from a bike I'd bought to do up as a tracker. Rear cantis are excellent Suntour self servo jobs from my Box, lord knows where they came from, rear carrier from my old commuter MTB in the 00's, mudgards were about the only major things I'd bought. Cables chain and cheapo - but rather decent - VanDoorn tyres bought as cheaply as possible from ebay and the likes. Ketter rear box I'd bought cheap for a ebike build I was doing for Mrs B but never actually started. Cheeky 531 All Terrain decal from my drawer full of bike stickers I've accumulated for restos, and led dynamo lights from a shopper frame I hauled out of a ditch.

Its heavy, it's slow, but its beautifully comfortable and ideal for aimless bimbling.

So, show us your Bitsa's.

 

[DSK]

I'm expecting to see some very interesting bikes appear in this thread....

 

[Drago]

I'm expecting to see some very interesting bikes appear in this thread....

So am I my friend, but so far everyone seems a bit shy.

 

[raleighnut]

Most of my bikes are 'bitsas', 4 were acquired as bare frames and another couple as discarded wrecks although TBH I normally fit new components when building them. I do however fit new components to bikes I've built up already with the removed components being fitted to other bikes in my collection.

The last one I did is my Raleigh 'City'

The bike had sat in someone's garden for years before I bought it for a tenner from a scrap 'totter'. The chrome wheels were 'toast and the Mudguards and Chainguard were pretty dire however I wanted a 3 speed and luckily the rear hub was salvageable, so the hub, brake levers and gear shift lever are original,otherwise

• Front wheel is the old Dynohub from Maz's Dawes when I converted it to an e-Bike with a new 700c rim
• Rear wheel is a matching 700c rim laced onto the original SA 3 speed, both done by John at Bob Warner Cycles with plain gauge Stainless spokes and Brass Nipples
• Front brake is a Weinmann Type 500 from the shed and the rear is a Weinmann Alpha I bought yonks ago for spares
• Crank is a new Stronglight fitted to a good old square taper shaft from the shed running in the old Raleigh threaded cups from the cottered original crank and the pedals are Wellgo that have been on several bikes.
• The handlebars were changed to Aluminium Ergotec 'Toulouse' and the grips are faux stitched leather.
• The rear rack is a NOS one that mounts on the rear brake bridge plate with 2 bolts (like a Raleigh 20 or Dawes Kingpin

Oh and the Stem was changed to a longer Aluminium one from the short Steel original

EDIT - The Saddle has also been changed to a Brooks B67s purchased from @velovoice formerly of this parish

 

[DiddlyDodds]

Made this up from an Old Falcon frame , Cannondale seat , Mavic open Pro Wheels , and slapped some Scott Stickers on , made it up for a rather tall mate who needed a bike

 

[si_c]

Made this up from an Old Falcon frame , Cannondale seat , Mavic open Pro Wheels , and slapped some Scott Stickers on , made it up for a rather tall mate who needed a bike
View attachment 529053

Looks like she could use a shorter stem...

 

[Milkfloat]

Not a complete Bitsa, but the frame is an aluminium flat bar that Edinburgh Bikes were letting go, mated with a steel Holdworth fork. Mini V brake on the rear, Sturmey Archer crankset. It is let down by matching Deda seatpost, stem and bars and some matching V-SPrint wheels with Miche hubs.

 

[Chris S]

This is a bike I bought from Sprockets in Digbeth about 10 years ago. The frame is definitely a Raleigh but the mudguards looked like they came from a Halford's commuter. It's got a riser stem from an MTB and I think the brake levers must have come from it as well. The crankset is definitely modern and the cotter pin spindle has been replaced with a square taper one.

I rode the bike for about a year but it was far too small for me so I got a scrap bike of ebay and transferred most of the bits to it's frame. They were also eventually replaced. About the only things now left from the original bike are the saddle and stem.

 

[raleighnut]

View attachment 529121

This is a bike I bought from Sprockets in Digbeth about 10 years ago. The frame is definitely a Raleigh but the mudguards looked like they came from a Halford's commuter. It's got a riser stem from an MTB and I think the brake levers must have come from it as well. The crankset is definitely modern and the cotter pin spindle has been replaced with a square taper one.

I rode the bike for about a year but it was far too small for me so I got a scrap bike of ebay and transferred most of the bits to it's frame. They were also eventually replaced. About the only things now left from the original bike are the saddle and stem.

View attachment 529122

At least you stuck with a Raleigh frame.

 

[cyberknight]

I just need a frame to build another bike , but i built my rat commuting bike out of bits

 

[DCBassman]

My Scott roadie counts as a bitsa, only the frame, wheels and stem are original now!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Three bitsa's from years ago, all brought as frames and built up by me, the Dawes frame was brought from a clubmate who worked for dawes, the Pollard frame was brought from Pollards shop on the Binley road Coventry and the Raleigh frame was brought from John Atkins Cycles in Far Gosford St. The Pollard is gas pipe and the others are 531.

 

[figbat]

Any excuse to pull this out again:

1997 Trek 830 Mountain Track XC frame in chromoly steel. Retained the BB and seatpost.
Unknown steel fork donated by a friend.
Replaced the threaded headset for a 1 1/8” threadless one I had lying about.
Bars, shifters, RD, cassette, chain, saddle, TRP Spyres and rotors, wheels, tyres all eBay/Facebook/forum buys.
Crank, chainwheel, chain guide, cables and frame disc brake adaptor bought new.

 

[Exlaser2]

Three bitsa's from years ago, all brought as frames and built up by me, the Dawes frame was brought from a clubmate who worked for dawes, the Pollard frame was brought from Pollards shop on the Binley road Coventry and the Raleigh frame was brought from John Atkins Cycles in Far Gosford St. The Pollard is gas pipe and the others are 531.

View attachment 529572

View attachment 529573

View attachment 529575

Just out of interest, where was the Pollard shop on the Binley road?
Nice bikes by the way, do like a bit of old school steel .

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Just out of interest, where was the Pollard shop on the Binley road?
Nice bikes by the way, do like a bit of old school steel .

It was across the road from Church Lane, near the old GEC, nice and convenient, I could walk round in my dinner break. A fella called Alf ran it, I was told he was a useful racer till he had an accident with a car.