The Great Frankenbike DIY Competition

sketchley

Veronese68 wrote:

What happened to all the other frankenbikes? Anybody been fettling away through the winter?

Still in need of a frameset and wheelset.....

clarkey cat

Sketchley - I can sort you out with a wheelset.


Once I have spare weekend I will be getting on with my frankenbike. My fixie will be the donor bike and then I can buy a new fixie.

sketchley

clarkey cat wrote:

Sketchley - I can sort you out with a wheelset.


Once I have spare weekend I will be getting on with my frankenbike. My fixie will be the donor bike and then I can buy a new fixie.

Thanks, what type road or MTB? Kind of thinking i'd like a Frankenmountainbike.....

clarkey cat

700c touring wheels. Campag. Need tru-ing.

veronese68

I've got some 700c, bolt on, barely used wheels with MTB rear hub width. Cheap shite that you'd probably bend in 5 minutes. Yours if you want to come and grab them. They'd do for setting it up at least.

pangolin

Does this count? Built up after Christmas:

veronese68

Was it on a new frame? I'd have thought that would break the £200 barrier. I quite fancy one of them.

Greg T

pangolin wrote:

Oh Good Christ Man . . . .

Whatever have you done?



Is that some kind of homage to the stuffed elk head?

itboffin

I fitted a new chain as the last one pretty much rusted off, doubled the bso value in the process.

veronese68

Had to dig this thread out as I have just finished my son's road bike. He already has the frankenbike MTB so this has been named Count Bikeula.

It's a 25" steel frame something with 9 speed Tiagra on downtube shifters. I'm going to ride it to work tomorrow to give it a proper shakedown. Rode it round the block this evening and all seems well. Can't use the smallest cog as the chain just rubs the bottom of the seatstay. I've set the limit screw so as to block it off for now. A smaller sprocket may just clear it, I'll have to check.
Boy is happy as a happy boy can be. Considering he's now a teenager that's a remarkable feat.
Slightly clearer picture now.
Thank you Roger.

SimonAH

Oh well, I'll post this then;



Total cost £7:10 of which £3:50 was a seatpost shim.

veronese68

You spent rather less than I. New cables, paint and a used pair of wheels put my spend up to nearly £30.

Gussio

Veronese68 wrote:

Had to dig this thread out as I have just finished my son's road bike. He already has the frankenbike MTB so this has been named Count Bikeula.

It's a 25" steel frame something with 9 speed Tiagra on downtube shifters. I'm going to ride it to work tomorrow to give it a proper shakedown. Rode it round the block this evening and all seems well. Can't use the smallest cog as the chain just rubs the bottom of the seatstay. I've set the limit screw so as to block it off for now. A smaller sprocket may just clear it, I'll have to check.
Boy is happy as a happy boy can be. Considering he's now a teenager that's a remarkable feat.
Slightly clearer picture now.
Thank you Roger.

That is really nice - well done! Did you apply paint from a rattlecan, or do you have a compressor? I've got two old frames to deal with, but unsure how best to paint them....

Chrome forks are a nice touch 8)

Gussio

Also.....what is considered to be the best way of removing a stuck alu seatpost from a steel frame:

a) Drill a hole in the thing, insert metal rod and twist

b) Saw the thing out

c) Heat the frame with a blow torch

d) Dissolve using some sort of dangerous alkali

Ideally, the selected option will not involve me losing a digit or an eye.....

veronese68

Thank you. It's a rattle can paint job. Finish isn't that great close up, but he did virtually all of the preperation himself and got bored of rubbing down. I'm a bit worried about how resilient the finish will be so I'm going to stick a few bits of frame protection tape over the bits that are likely to get damaged when locked to a sheffield stand.
Powder coating is probably the best finish for resilience.
Rode it to work yesterday for a shakedown and it rides really well. Bit twitchy, but I might try a longer stem. Amazing how little I change gears with downtube shifters.
Regarding the stuck seatpost I read somewhere on here that due to different rates of expansion it's better to chill the ali than heat the steel. Post in a vice and twist the frame.

SimonAH

Bit of heat from a hot-air gun.
Penetrating oil (Castrol Flick is the best IMO)
Very wide bladed screwdriver to apply a little 'open' to the seat post slot.
More oil
Let sit overnight
Drill post and insert bar.
More heat
Twist post free.

An 'arris of a job if it's really in there. The problem is that metal oxide takes up more space than metal, and snuggling aluminium up to steel in a nice electrolytic bath of salty water makes it sing the galvanic corrosion song with gusto and feeling.

Next time apply at least a smear of grease!

Santa cruzing

If any one is going frankenbike building for this winter i've got some stuff to clear out for beer money -

gt legato alloy frame & fork 52cm s-t and t-t, h/set, seatpost and v brakes
also a couple of stems, flat bars and drop bars, friction/thumb bar shifters, v-levers

will sort out further deatils and pics if anyone is interested

veronese68

Santa cruzing wrote:

If any one is going frankenbike building for this winter i've got some stuff to clear out for beer money -

gt legato alloy frame & fork 52cm s-t and t-t, h/set, seatpost and v brakes
also a couple of stems, flat bars and drop bars, friction/thumb bar shifters, v-levers

will sort out further deatils and pics if anyone is interested

Might be interested. Having built up the two in this thread my son wants to build more bikes. let me know more and where you are. Happy to deliver liquid refreshment or tokens for same in exchange if viable.

Santa cruzing

Here is a pic of the GT some time last year when it was fully built:



paint is a bit worn now, cable rub etc. will have a sort out of the shed over the weekend and see what bits I can dig out - Located near Tonbridge in Kent.

veronese68

Looks good, I'm out of action for a while now (as per my tumble thread) so if you need the space don't wait for me.

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

Bit of heat from a hot-air gun.
Penetrating oil (Castrol Flick is the best IMO)
Very wide bladed screwdriver to apply a little 'open' to the seat post slot.
More oil
Let sit overnight
Drill post and insert bar.
More heat
Twist post free.

An 'arris of a job if it's really in there. The problem is that metal oxide takes up more space than metal, and snuggling aluminium up to steel in a nice electrolytic bath of salty water makes it sing the galvanic corrosion song with gusto and feeling.

Next time apply at least a smear of grease!

Go easy on the twisting: seat tubes aren't designed to take torsional loads, so if you really set about it, and the post is well seized, you'll just bend the frame. IIRC Sheldon's only guaranteed method was to chop the seatpost down to an inch or so above the top of the seat tube, then slide a hacksaw blade (padsaw if you've got one or wrap the bit of the blade you are holding with something) down inside the post and carefully cut a vertical slot. Then grab one side of the top of the tube with some sturdy pliers and twist. What's left of the post should roll up, pulling away from the seat tube.

SimonAH

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

Bit of heat from a hot-air gun.
Penetrating oil (Castrol Flick is the best IMO)
Very wide bladed screwdriver to apply a little 'open' to the seat post slot.
More oil
Let sit overnight
Drill post and insert bar.
More heat
Twist post free.

An 'arris of a job if it's really in there. The problem is that metal oxide takes up more space than metal, and snuggling aluminium up to steel in a nice electrolytic bath of salty water makes it sing the galvanic corrosion song with gusto and feeling.

Next time apply at least a smear of grease!

Go easy on the twisting: seat tubes aren't designed to take torsional loads, so if you really set about it, and the post is well seized, you'll just bend the frame. IIRC Sheldon's only guaranteed method was to chop the seatpost down to an inch or so above the top of the seat tube, then slide a hacksaw blade (padsaw if you've got one or wrap the bit of the blade you are holding with something) down inside the post and carefully cut a vertical slot. Then grab one side of the top of the tube with some sturdy pliers and twist. What's left of the post should roll up, pulling away from the seat tube.

Neat solution that.

itboffin

I modified my halfords BSO into something even more ugly and amazingly worse to ride, I fear it is so ugly that a lense does not yet exist capable of taking a picture.

Handles like a twitchy barge looks like the love child of a BSO MTB audax :shock: SS natch!

veronese68

itboffin wrote:

I modified my halfords BSO into something even more ugly and amazingly worse to ride, I fear it is so ugly that a lense does not yet exist capable of taking a picture.

Handles like a twitchy barge looks like the love child of a BSO MTB audax :shock: SS natch!

POIDH
You know thems the rules, no excuses.

Paul E

itboffin wrote:

I modified my halfords BSO into something even more ugly and amazingly worse to ride, I fear it is so ugly that a lense does not yet exist capable of taking a picture.

Handles like a twitchy barge looks like the love child of a BSO MTB audax :shock: SS natch!

You can't all that and deny us all the image of said beast

itboffin

Its happy resting out of harms way in Paddington station.

Boy Lard

I managed to buy an old Marin Nail Trail for £10. It's too big for me, but was tempted to try and turn it into some kind of single speed, too cool for school monstrosity. I have some spare mtb wheels, but they are disc specific with no rim braking surface and the frame doesn't have disc brake mounts. If I used them I'd have to put some kind of cassette on it anyway. I do have a bag full of old SLX and Deore rear mechs.

Mmmm...it's pretty Frankenbike as it is tbh.



Any suggestions welcome. It is a pretty yellow

veronese68

That's a bargain for £10. I really like mine and wouldn't sell it for £100. I keep mine as a hack bike and snowy commuter.