Old Commuter Bike turned 1x1 Singlespeed, a story with pics
jonnyboy77
Posts: 547
Long story with pictures ... Project Frankenbike turned SS
I bought a Trek 7500 (a 1999 bike I think) second hand when my 6 month old Gary Fisher was stolen - this all happened in 2007 and the Trek took over as my sole bike, for commuting leisure riding etc.
Last year I wanted to get back into mountain biking so I bought a Kona Cindercone and it took on primary duties of commuting and leisure riding/mountain biking, with a few months off when I broke my collar bone
Now I'm back on the bike and riding every day I decided I wanted to do something with the Trek, I toyed with a few ideas ... and nicknamed the process 'Project Frankenbike'
The bike as I bought it back in 2007. It was bought from a Craigslist ad in Chicago (I was living there at the time), $100 later I was riding it home.
Later in 2007 I decided I didn't really like the quill stem (it was very creaky!) or the swoopy handlebars, so I swapped them out along with the threaded forks. The Trek steel forks, Bontrager stem and aluminium bar suited my riding position more and improved the look of the bike (IMO). With the new front end I was a lot more confident and was often found riding through the morning Chicago traffic - something my coworkers all thought was a bit crazy ...
I moved back to the UK at the end of 2008 and shipped the Trek back along with my other worldly goods. It took on the much quieter commute and riding around the Richmond area of SW London.
The Trek served me well, but last year it was essentially mothballed when I bought Kona. It sat quietly in the shed for a while until this summer when I got the urge to tinker ... I wondered if the frame would handle 26" MTB wheels/tyres ...
The front was a tight fit, and being a V brake only fork was an issue, I did however like the look it created, reminded me of a Rat Rod for some reason! But if I wanted this to work, I needed brakes. So I tried it with an On One carbon fork which had disc mounts
The issue now was lack of disc mounts at the rear triangle. Something I tried to rectify with an A2Z Disc Mount Adapter ... sadly it wasn't compatible with the Trek's rear triangle/dropouts. I liked the look of the Trek but wasn't quite ready to spend money with a frame builder on adding disc mounts.
I stopped working on the bike for a month or so while I considered my options
One day at work a friend of mine offered me a quick spin round the car park on their singlespeed bike (a Specialized Langster). I was smitten. My immediate temptation was to go out and buy the same bike that day ... however the prospect of a messy divorce stopped me from making any rash decisions. The next best option seemed logical - convert the Trek!
After a few impulse buys from eBay and forum classifieds I picked up a FireEye SS conversion from CRC and a chain tensioner from Superstar. The result, after some rebuilding and grazed knuckles is this ...
It's not finished, and I know it's not very pretty ... but I'm attached to the bike and thoroughly enjoyed the process - so much so I opted to share it on here (sorry for that!)
My choice of components are a bit random, and while it works (I rode it around the block last night), I am probably going to have to make some tweaks here and there.
- Used Shimano FC-M440 Cranks
- Used Blackspire 38T Chainring
- Red Anodised Chainring Bolts from Evans (it's all they had and I was being impatient!)
- FireEye 12T Single Speed conversion (with red anodised spacers to match the bolts ..)
- Original Chain butchered to 'fit' the SS conversion (needs a clean & lube at the very least)
- Black OE cage pedals from the Kona (swapped for WahWah pedals when I bought it)
- WTB Kona Seat from the Cindercone (I replaced it with a Charge Spoon when I bought the bike)
Still to do:
- Fit the rear brakes and replace the RH brake lever that I broke when removing it ...
- Fit grips to the bar
- review the chainring, chain and rear sprocket configuration. 38x12 is a little odd feeling at the moment. Not helped by my manual chain re-sizing and dirty chain
I'd also welcome any feedback or comments, preferably of a constructive nature - be kind
and if you got this far ... thanks for reading!
- Jon
I bought a Trek 7500 (a 1999 bike I think) second hand when my 6 month old Gary Fisher was stolen - this all happened in 2007 and the Trek took over as my sole bike, for commuting leisure riding etc.
Last year I wanted to get back into mountain biking so I bought a Kona Cindercone and it took on primary duties of commuting and leisure riding/mountain biking, with a few months off when I broke my collar bone
Now I'm back on the bike and riding every day I decided I wanted to do something with the Trek, I toyed with a few ideas ... and nicknamed the process 'Project Frankenbike'
The bike as I bought it back in 2007. It was bought from a Craigslist ad in Chicago (I was living there at the time), $100 later I was riding it home.
Later in 2007 I decided I didn't really like the quill stem (it was very creaky!) or the swoopy handlebars, so I swapped them out along with the threaded forks. The Trek steel forks, Bontrager stem and aluminium bar suited my riding position more and improved the look of the bike (IMO). With the new front end I was a lot more confident and was often found riding through the morning Chicago traffic - something my coworkers all thought was a bit crazy ...
I moved back to the UK at the end of 2008 and shipped the Trek back along with my other worldly goods. It took on the much quieter commute and riding around the Richmond area of SW London.
The Trek served me well, but last year it was essentially mothballed when I bought Kona. It sat quietly in the shed for a while until this summer when I got the urge to tinker ... I wondered if the frame would handle 26" MTB wheels/tyres ...
The front was a tight fit, and being a V brake only fork was an issue, I did however like the look it created, reminded me of a Rat Rod for some reason! But if I wanted this to work, I needed brakes. So I tried it with an On One carbon fork which had disc mounts
The issue now was lack of disc mounts at the rear triangle. Something I tried to rectify with an A2Z Disc Mount Adapter ... sadly it wasn't compatible with the Trek's rear triangle/dropouts. I liked the look of the Trek but wasn't quite ready to spend money with a frame builder on adding disc mounts.
I stopped working on the bike for a month or so while I considered my options
One day at work a friend of mine offered me a quick spin round the car park on their singlespeed bike (a Specialized Langster). I was smitten. My immediate temptation was to go out and buy the same bike that day ... however the prospect of a messy divorce stopped me from making any rash decisions. The next best option seemed logical - convert the Trek!
After a few impulse buys from eBay and forum classifieds I picked up a FireEye SS conversion from CRC and a chain tensioner from Superstar. The result, after some rebuilding and grazed knuckles is this ...
It's not finished, and I know it's not very pretty ... but I'm attached to the bike and thoroughly enjoyed the process - so much so I opted to share it on here (sorry for that!)
My choice of components are a bit random, and while it works (I rode it around the block last night), I am probably going to have to make some tweaks here and there.
- Used Shimano FC-M440 Cranks
- Used Blackspire 38T Chainring
- Red Anodised Chainring Bolts from Evans (it's all they had and I was being impatient!)
- FireEye 12T Single Speed conversion (with red anodised spacers to match the bolts ..)
- Original Chain butchered to 'fit' the SS conversion (needs a clean & lube at the very least)
- Black OE cage pedals from the Kona (swapped for WahWah pedals when I bought it)
- WTB Kona Seat from the Cindercone (I replaced it with a Charge Spoon when I bought the bike)
Still to do:
- Fit the rear brakes and replace the RH brake lever that I broke when removing it ...
- Fit grips to the bar
- review the chainring, chain and rear sprocket configuration. 38x12 is a little odd feeling at the moment. Not helped by my manual chain re-sizing and dirty chain
I'd also welcome any feedback or comments, preferably of a constructive nature - be kind
and if you got this far ... thanks for reading!
- Jon
Commuting between Twickenham <---> Barbican on my trusty Ridgeback Hybrid - url=http://strava.com/athletes/125938/badge]strava[/url
0
Comments
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Has a nice 'functional' look to it, I like......
The red anodised parts with the red Trek etc logo's on the frame is I think what makes it.
Not my cup of tea, but if I did build an SS I would hope it would look at least 1/2 as good as this.
Have very similar resin/steel caged pedals on my retro GF Piranha.
SimonCurrently 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.0 -
I hope you are going to fit a rear brake and some bar ends.
I hope that is not really your saddle angle?"Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
nicklouse wrote:I hope you are going to fit a rear brake and some bar ends.
I hope that is not really your saddle angle?
Yes to the brakes, no bar ends but grips with ends yes. The saddle is not adjusted, just thrown on!
- JonCommuting between Twickenham <---> Barbican on my trusty Ridgeback Hybrid - url=http://strava.com/athletes/125938/badge]strava[/url0 -
opps I meant bar plugs
but i think you knew what i meant. "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0
