£500 rebuild old frame or bite bullet and by new bike?

wolfsbane2k

I've never fixed up my 2007 26" xc hardtail mtb after the collision last year, and realised I'm not happy to only have one bike and no car to commute to work in case of a mechanical. I spent the insurance money on a new road bike instead.
So I'm starting at the abyss of n+1 again, or a complete rebuild from the bottom up for my mtb, which WAS my baby for 4 years of solid fun around the new forest.

This has come about after being roadie less tomorrow after a 6 month inspection from local bloke highlighted something that's covered under warranty but needs to go back to original shop for strip down inspection/fix, so ive just bought a set of SLX m675 brakes and am holding them in my hand ready to fit, and then thought 'stop'...

So, mtb is basically frame, stem, pedals, handlebars, tyres and seat post and a 9 spd new cassette & chain.
Cranks are bent, bb is screwed, derailleur bent, both hubs even having just been serviced need replacing, fork is so heavy, overkill and has no lockout.

Looking at second hand as far as possible, I still come to
Deore level transmission groupset : £199
Brakeset -£60 to £80
Saddle :£20-30
Rigid forks : £70 (surly instigator 1.0)
Wheels : new hubs and rebuild fees : £100
BB facing £15
Headset :£20
Fork & Headset inst. £30

I love the idea of rebuilding the bike myself, because I'll actually learn how to do 99% of tasks, but just can't justify spending that much cash on parts.

Spending it is bonkers, isn't it, and just pushing good money after bad?

Yes, I'll have a newish bike, but with a lot of work on it.

Any recommendations greatly appreciated. And if you say 'no, your not mad', you'll make my day as I love the frame, but ive not tried many to be fair..

Ta.

wolfsbane2k

I could always buy a planet x London flat bar instead...

paulintheforest

What about something like buying the London Road as a proper spare you know will be reliable then trying to get the parts you need slowly over time? Then you aren't in a rush and can wait for things to come up at the right price.

I nearly bought a London Road frame twice this year but kept talking myself out of it as I worked out it would cost a few hundred even with cannibalising my winter bike to end up with something exactly like the Whyte Charing Cross I already have, but to build a proper commuting spare I might be able to justify it.

wolfsbane2k

Ive considered a London road as well this year, but keep thinking a steel frame commuter is a better long term plan, so been saving up for that with the aspiration of then returning the MTB to its routes as my kids get older.

Well, I've fitted the brakes so those are non returnable, but without them I couldn't have got to work tomorrow so it was really needed, and even if I do buy a new frame and transpose stuff over, they are still working, transferable brakes.

I just can't believe how cheap some equivalent level bikes go for in sales, knowing you can't get the component for anywhere near that cheap.

The Rookie

Mosso forks instead of the Surly will save a chunk and really nice for commuting.

I reckon you could undercut the groupset price by looking around, also good used parts off ebay will save a chunk.

Consider going 1x to save money, you'll know the gearing you need on the commute and it could be a big weight and cost saving.

I'm just reframing mine using a PX London Road frame, but before that was running Mosso forks and 1x9 gearing which gave me a bike base weight of 9Kg dead using a cheap (and not that light) Carrera Gryphon frame.

My reframe cost has been sub £200, £150 for the frameset and headset plus the crankset/BB on the old bike needed replacing anyway so that's added about an extra £40.

wolfsbane2k

The Rookie wrote:

Mosso forks instead of the Surly will save a chunk and really nice for commuting.

I reckon you could undercut the groupset price by looking around, also good used parts off ebay will save a chunk.

Consider going 1x to save money, you'll know the gearing you need on the commute and it could be a big weight and cost saving.

I'm just reframing mine using a PX London Road frame, but before that was running Mosso forks and 1x9 gearing which gave me a bike base weight of 9Kg dead using a cheap (and not that light) Carrera Gryphon frame.

My reframe cost has been sub £200, £150 for the frameset and headset plus the crankset/BB on the old bike needed replacing anyway so that's added about an extra £40.

Thanks for the recommendation on mosso, i'll go look.

I've been torn on the groupset - rode it in this morning and monitored the gearing closely - I have a ~ 2 mile long 3% increasing to 6% hill to climb half way along. A 1 x 11 might just work, but that'll force groupset and wheels to be replaced together ( actually, so will moving to a 10spd... hmm)

The Rookie

Only you will know the gearing you use, you can use a 40T expander with an 11-34 nine speed (Not all expanders work with 9, most do) and removing a higher gear in the cassette.

That said my MTB is running 1x10 using a 9 speed rear mech and a ten speed ROAD flat bar shifter (I didn't want to pay out to replace my lovely XTR rear mech!) Tiagra or Ultegra are available (Ultegra SL-R780 can be had for about £40).

thistle_

Do you want it to be a nice bike or just a commuter hack bike? Could you make it into a singlespeed?

I got a second hand deore XT crank (£20), new BB (£15), 1 chainring (free as it was off another bike), 1 sprocket from a cassette (free), a load of cassette spacers (free), second hand hydraulic brakes (£20), chain tensioner (£20) you get the idea.

I've upgraded to better parts over time once I decided I wanted to keep it singlespeed.

You should be able to do most of the work that you want to do yourself quite easily and it will be quite satisfying, but you'd need to buy the right tools which will add cost. It will also take some time to do all the work yourself and I'm not sure how long you have before your other bike needs to be sent off. Buying a brand new bike might be the quicker option if you're pushed for time.

wolfsbane2k

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

Do you want it to be a nice bike or just a commuter hack bike? Could you make it into a singlespeed?

I got a second hand deore XT crank (£20), new BB (£15), 1 chainring (free as it was off another bike), 1 sprocket from a cassette (free), a load of cassette spacers (free), second hand hydraulic brakes (£20), chain tensioner (£20) you get the idea.

I've upgraded to better parts over time once I decided I wanted to keep it singlespeed.

You should be able to do most of the work that you want to do yourself quite easily and it will be quite satisfying, but you'd need to buy the right tools which will add cost. It will also take some time to do all the work yourself and I'm not sure how long you have before your other bike needs to be sent off. Buying a brand new bike might be the quicker option if you're pushed for time.

I'm thinking it needs to be a commuter hack, ready for winter tyres.
I have considered single speed, but am way off the mark with the ability to keep that rolling up a 6% climb and not spinning out at most of the rest of the ride.
Minimum I need I think is a 1x10.
I would love to return it to its glory but there is no point, so happy with second hand bits. It would force me to learn about wheel building etc as so much of it is shot, but with young kids any free time is spent sleeping, and even then that's not enough asleep!

wolfsbane2k

Since I fitted the M675 brake set, the bike is now "safe" to ride, but definitely "dying", but given how screwed it is, a few more miles on it isnt' going to hurt the frame at all, just wear the already screwed components more.

So only going to buy a new rack and new tyres for it, the rest can wait until I find the parts to do it up properly.