Old barn find I breathed new life in because gravel bikes are too expensive so fuck it I'll make my own.

Just waiting for the last parts since i lost some plastic thingamabobs I need for the STIs.

Sometimes I think I should keep my bike shop like surgically clean so I don't lose the small, crucially important plastic bits in the mess of parts and old boxes but alas, if your personal shop doesn't look like you could outfit a frame with parts you find on the ground, is it even a shop?

  • CrimsonDynamo [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    It never occured to me that we can talk about bikes here without bougie assholes being like "If you don't spend $10,000, that's not a bike"

    One time I asked a bike forum for suggestions for some inexpensive disc brakes for my Shimano frame. Nothing but dunks. Its all I could afford at the time, and that's still true. It's a decent 29er for what I paid, and it has spots to attach after market stuff. I even found a free $150 salsa rim sitting by a garbage can in a rich neighborhood, so I put it on. I'm not above a frankenbike, and nobody should talk down to anyone just because they can't afford a $1,000 Specialized.

  • Rojo27 [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    A part of me wishes I had enough space to mess around with bikes. But alas, I don't. I do have a folding bike that I bought new around the summer of 2020.

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      I used to just wrench on gym mats in my old flat, 1-2 bicycles never really took up too much storage for me to worry about and it protected the floor, easy to lay out but also easy to stow away, maybe that's something for you if you wanna tinker with your bike? A folding bike is still a bike in the end and much of tinkering with bikes doesn't require you to turn your living room into a workshop, imo

  • Sphere [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Just got an electric bike recently, been really enjoying it so far, although I managed to bend the back rim a bit somehow :/ planning to take it to a bike shop to have the wheel trued sometime this week, and maybe get fenders installed too.

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      If you have old tyres or tubes keep them around to extend your fenders with flaps because there is a global conspiracy going on to make bike fenders not long enough. Just strap some on there with some zip ties, doesn't look great, does the job great

  • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've been thinking about doing one of those e-bike conversion kit thingies on an old classic dutch-style bike that's been sitting for a while. Got that common three gear internal shifting thingy going on, so I'm wondering whether that's possible (it probably is, right?) and whether it's a good idea (it probably isn't, right?)

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Possible? Yes, just gotta be a front hub motor probably.

      Good idea? Sure, why not.

      I genuinely like E-Bikes a lot, they're very, very good vehicles.

      • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I've had the luck of borrowing an old pedelec from a friend for a few rides recently, it's honestly just great fun to get around on, real zippy out of the hole and a lot less exhausting overall (there be hills)

        I'm worrying a front hub might be a bit questionable on the structural integrity side of things, that fork is real thin-looking and probably not made for being pulled on? On the other hand, I might just risk it and see how it shakes out...

        • fart [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          there's also mid-drive kits. Or find an old copenhagen wheel

          • regul [any]
            ·
            2 years ago

            I've heard mid-drive is the way to go.

  • supergremlin [they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    I'm not gonna post a picture of my frankenbike for doxxing reasons but I found a bunch of discarded bikes at the dump (friend works there and let me take them) and I cobbled together a hideous looking but reliable bike.

    It's got a road frame, mountain fork, hybrid tires, riser bars, none of the derailleurs were any good so I just shortened the chain to make it effectively single speed, v brake in the back and disc brake in the front, mirrors and lights for added safety, and a cargo rack.

    Basically every part of it is from a different bike so it's a technicolor monstrosity also.

    But it's mine!

  • poppy_apocalypse [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've been looking for a vintage BMX bike to fix up with my nephew. Like a real wreck we can bring back to life. Tried yard sales and swap meets but no luck so far. Any advice on where I can find one?

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Craigslist or your local equivalent. Allthough from my experience "specialty" bikes like this are very much dependent on the local market, if you don't have a BMX Scene, there's not gonna be any used ones about basically.

    • fart [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      idk what your requirements are but newer bmx bikes are so so much better and might even cost about the same because they're not "collectible"

  • Parent [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'm in the market for a bike. Not for commuting just for riding around town. My area is mostly flat except for a few overpasses. What do you recommend?

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Hybrid / Trekking Bike is your jack of all trades here I think.

      For an honest commuter internal gearing is good, if you ever want to branch out into touring cassette beats it. it's really up for preference. Suspension forks may add some comfort, but add weight a lot, especially at a getting around bike. Not so much problem if it's flat, honestly, and probably easier to acquire.

      But honestly, depending on your distance, literally anything that fits you and isn't broken will be fine

  • dogs_unleashed [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    i got a new back rim toward the end of the season last year, and I never brought it back to the guy to 'true it' after some riding like he said.

    went for my first ride of 2022 this past weekend and it seemed fine :shrug-outta-hecks:

    • JimBobsUncle [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      It's probably okay. Spokes settled after a couple rides and tensions may differ slightly. Good builds don't move much. True isnt so much important as balanced. Even spoke tension is a strong wheel. Pluck your spokes originating from the same side hub flange and they should have a similar tone. Like a guitar string.

        • JimBobsUncle [none/use name]
          ·
          2 years ago

          So your spokes are connected to the rim, which connect to the hub. Every spoke on the rim goes to every other side of the hub, traditionally called drive and non-drive (the side with gears and side without gears). So the first spoke after the valve might go to the drive, the next spoke goes to the non-drive, next spoke to the drive, so on and so forth. The spokes that come out of the same side of the hub should have the same tone as one another. So all the spokes on the drive side of the hub should sound the same, and all the spokes coming out of the non-drive side should sound the same.

  • Grownbravy [they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    I need to (not want to and want to) convert a bike of mine to a city bike, but i have stupid requirements for aesthetic reasons.

    Why doesnt anyone make a bike with modern dropouts for a road bike, but a 1" threaded steerer?

    • 7bicycles [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      I do not understand what you're trying to do, please enlighten me

      • Grownbravy [they/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        someone posted a bike check on a lot of japanese bikes at a shop and they all looked really nice, also the narrowness of vintage styled frames look really nice, and i dont like the overbuilt look of modern bikes.

        Basically, i want a bike like the whole Mountain Bikeification of road bikes didn't happen at all, and i'll just strip parts off this one cheap bike i have

        • 7bicycles [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          It sounds to me like what you want is a 90s roadbike frame to modernize to STIs?

          • Grownbravy [they/them]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Yeah, but i wonder if someone makes a frame new, with the more modern dropout instead of those long ones

            • 7bicycles [he/him]
              hexagon
              ·
              2 years ago

              You mean with a possbility to hang a derailleur? I'm sorry but I honestly don't understand what you mean by more modern dropouts instead of the long ones vis-a-vis roadbikes, the distnace between the dropouts has been 130mm in the rear since a while now

              • Grownbravy [they/them]
                ·
                2 years ago

                i dont know the technical, modern, nor correct terms for these things, I just know they call them dropouts, on a track bike, they're called fork ends, and vintage bikes have dropouts that let you adjust the wheel back and forth, but modern ones are set where they are and the derailleur hangs on the frame, but i dont remember if that's always been the case

                • 7bicycles [he/him]
                  hexagon
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  Gotcha and...sort of I guess. Most world-traveling bikes still offer both, but at a premium, premium price.

                  Otherwise I think ya gotta look for old frames. Or jury rig some stuff together, I can't remember where I saw it but I once saw someone working with emergency rear derailleur hangers on a long dropout frame to some effect

                • fart [he/him]
                  ·
                  2 years ago

                  some 90s road and touring bikes have vertical dropouts and threaded steerers. Soma grand randonneur is a newer option along with some high end stuff.

        • Ram_The_Manparts [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          You're probably thinking of the vid I posted, and if so, some of those bikes were built on Surly frames which you should probably be able to find on the used market.

  • john_browns_beard [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'm about to slap together a 1500 watt ebike kit, wish me luck y'all, hope the lack of bicycle infrastructure in my area doesn't lead to my untimely demise

  • principalkohoutek [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    i did the most bike maintenance in years today. i got a microfiber cloth and wiped winter's grit off my frame. i should probably clean the chain.

  • thisismyrealname [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    trued my wheels for the first time, wasn't really that hard. i'm sure they're still out by more than is strictly recommended, but i'm not gonna spend the money on a proper truing stand when the brake pads are right there so :shrug-outta-hecks:

  • Lord_ofThe_FLIES [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I've had my Tern Clutch for about a year now, still love it. I thought about adding stuff to it like mudguards and a luggage carrier but I kinda like it naked