Building Commuter Bike

Bubblehead08
Bubblehead08 Posts: 17
edited March 2011 in Commuting general
I'm looking to build a commuter bike for myself for a 12.5mile, each way, commute 3 or 4 times a week. I want to spend as little as possible as I struggled to justify the road bike and the brand new mountain bike to the missus and she will not be happy at any serious outlay.

I do have an old shed of a mountain bike sat rusting in the shed and was considering stripping this and rebuilding it to a single front cog with a cassette on the rear but I would really prefer something with 700cc wheels which was still a solid piece of kit so I can launch it down stairs etc.

Anyone have ideas on a solid yet cheap frame or do you not think the wheelsize will make that much difference and I should just fix the shed?

Cheers

Comments

  • bobhitch
    bobhitch Posts: 87
    Whats wrong with the road bike ? I ride in 3 times a week ,40 mile round trip on my cervelo R3,and put work clothes in my camelback.
    Don't get me wrong ,I'm all for buying a new bike, but you might as well see how you get on with what you've already got .
    You never know , once your dearest sees how much money you're saving by not driiving another bike may happen :) .
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    We have a few budget builds in the house, My daughters commuter, all in, cost about £70, my wifes MTB (including brand new forks) cost similar, the trick is finding a good donor bike going cheap and using that for the majority of the finishing kit you then put into a frame that is suitable for commuting.

    As an example my daughters bike used wheels/cranks/BB/brakes/shifters etc from a very hefty Giant tourer all put into a much lighter CB frame and uses some rigid cro-mo forks.

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Berk Bonebonce
    Berk Bonebonce Posts: 1,245
    Old rigid MTB with slicks and full mudguards makes an excellent commuter. 26" rolls better than 700c.
  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    Ive commuted on 700c and 26". If you want the ability to ride down steps then go for 26". You cant do this on a lightweight road-race wheel and a heavy-duty touring wheel wont be much speedier than MTB.

    I would start out with an old but good frame rather than an old frame that was not very good when new.
  • Bubblehead08
    Bubblehead08 Posts: 17
    Thanks for the replies.

    Think I'll go with the idea of building one up from a mountain bike frame as I like the idea of the durability.

    I have previously used my road bike for this commute but it's a lot of punishment to inflict on it as the route isn't all roads.

    Thanks

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