bonnie & jason

Finished the bike

By jason, November 6, 2008 on 8:58 pm | In biking | 1 Comment

These were the final hurdles I had to overcome to finish the bike:

1. I got an old seat post to work by using cut up pieces of a tennis ball canister for shims. (free!)
2. I abandoned the modern brake that I had bought and used an old style side pull brake instead. As a result, I had to move the brake to the right side so the cable routing was cleaner. ($8)
3. I had to readjust the headset and bottom bracket after a short test ride.
4. I had to get another rear wheel since I couldn’t get the free one with the bent axle to work ($20). I re-spaced that wheel so the chainline was straighter (more a nice to do than a must do.) That wheel also had a couple spokes break so I had to replace those as well. ($1)
5. I got some short stack bolts so I could just use the small chain ring. ($5)
6. A quick wipe down and wax and she’s good as new!

All told, I spent about $100 in parts but $40 of that was the brake that I didn’t end up using. I’ll probably keep it around for another project. I also spent $20 for the bike stand and maybe another $20 in special bike tools but I won’t count those against this project.

It was pretty fun to do actually. I’m going to start looking for another project bike to rehab. This time, I’ll get something that already has parts that might just require a little maintenance and minor upgrading.

Here are the pictures from start to finish.