Budget bike....

[pieface]

sorry, posted in error.

[DirtRagArt]

Our access guy, Philip Keyes, once said, "Life's too short to ride cheap bikes."

[DancingBear]

I love cheap bikes, they're the only kind that I can afford a lot of. Of my 5 bikes, only 1 cost more than $300 total (including all parts and repairs to date, which means that my Bullit cost more than all of my other bikes combined), but all of my homies agree that I have a sweet quiver. Spending a lot of money to build a great bike is too easy and the results are predictable and often mundane. Life is too short to be easy, predicable, or mundane.

Life is too short.

[DirtRagArt]

You know, try as I may, I still can't seem to sink a few hundred dollars into each of my bikes. I bought my Trek 970's frame for $80 and even with the test-products, I've got a couple hundred dollars invested in it. The same thing happened with Christine, my SS road bike—$400 does make quite a nice ride, though. My GT (mountain SS) was only worth $750 new, but that's still not quite "cheap" by most people's standards.

Tell me, Dancing Bear, how sweet is that Bullit?

[The Rose]

i love the challenge of building bikes within a budget. just recently built a surly instagator for a friend of mine. i had total freedom as to parts he had only one request " keep the price down " . this guys a heavy weight and a very distructive rider so finding parts able to withstand his riding style was quite a challenge. but with some help from brick bicycle in bricktown nj i was able to build a very respectable bike for about 700 bucks. what a good time i had pouring though catalogs trying to find the best price. i like the bike so much it was hard to give it up. It makes me feel good that the guy likes the bike so much and he'll be enjoying the ride for a long time to come. long live the budget bike.

[DirtRagArt]

Ah, another rider from Bricktown (now called Brick, one of my childhood homes)! Rose, do you know Tom Brown?

[The Rose]

why my best friend is none other than tom brown. you may remember mybike being stolen last year at pedros perhaps? cant wait for pedros this year we just built ol' tom a sweet new ride ( the afor mentined surly ) and we'll be testing it out on jiminy. And yes it is brick now but i still call it bricktown to be stubborn. if you ever visit the streets of brick again be sure to drop us a line we could head out to allaire for a ride and afterwards ease on down to the red lion for a drink or three.

[retromike]

The man I first turned a wrench for said " It's not what you ride its how you ride it." He should know. For awhile he was U.S. Olympic coach for track. He also won a bronze in the Pan Am games in the sixties.


"ride to arrive alive"

[i8urbrain]

Just kidding, although my wife laughs when I say that. I have run some down right cheap bikes, but when you have the cash at hand, a Phil Wood BB is right on the spot, especially when it matches your hubs.

[DancingBear]

Originally posted by DirtRagArt

Tell me, Dancing Bear, how sweet is that Bullit?

It's DAMN SWEET!

Well, I'm a very large mammal, I do believe that I'd cast a shadow on Big Mo, so the Bullit is really an XC/Trailbike for me. I've built it up with a single crown DJ1, 36hole Rhynolites, and Profile cranks. The ride is exceptional with the shock properly tuned. The frame is extremely stiff front and rear, which is pretty inspiring at speed in tight singletrack, and the geometry is adjustable so I have it set up with a 70d headtube angle. The ride is more like a sportscar than a monster truck. The damper does a good job of keeping the bob down, but it still feels smooth on small bumps and rumble strip type stuff. Big hits and drops are a no brainer, sometimes things seem too easy on the bullit. One of my favorite aspects of the suspension is the way it will firm up in the big ring or become very active in the middle ring. It allows me to stiffen the travel up when I want to, but I guess this could be a negative attribute on a big ring downhill run. We don't have many of those here in Florida. :(

My previous FS experience is with a Rocky Mountain Pipeline and a Special ed Enduro. In comparison, the RM (a sweetspot URT) felt sluggish (handling, pedaling, and suspension action) but matched the bullit in stiffness, while the Specialized felt snappy but would bob in the granny or whenever my pedal stroke got messy. Also, the specialized is very stiff in the front end, but flexy in the rear. I couldn't ever figure out if the rear end really was flexy, or if it just seemed like it because the front end was so stiff. Either way, I didn't like it. The bullit is a great all-around bike me, I don't know if that would still hold true for folks who are less-than-gorilla sized.

On a side note, we have some jumper/dropper types around here, and over time they have all switched to the bullit. It doesn't break, there's a size for everybody, and it's an extremely versatile platform.

Bling!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid56/pe619a104c838883fd888971107e37bb0/fc7856ce.jpg

[EBasil]

DB, I need some input from you about the Madwagon you built up recently:

--what was the BB size and spindle? Is it ashtabula or shimano?
--"any" 1" headset?
--what's the rear hub spacing?

[DancingBear]

I'm not quite sure what you mean with the bb/spindle question. The bb shell is American, what they use on BMX bikes and beach cruisers. I'm using Redline Monster cranks, which use a splined 19mm spindle. The rear hub spacing is 110, again just like a BMX bike. I know that there are some floating around with 123mm spacing for 3spd hubs. The headset is indeed 1", I'm using the extremely low quality model that came with it right now, but I'm building up a new madwagon with a sealed cartridge headset. Just in case this info is useful, the seat post is 1", and the top tube is a little over 24". Are you thinking about building up a cruiser?

[DirtRagArt]

Originally posted by The Rose
if you ever visit the streets of brick again be sure to drop us a line we could head out to allaire for a ride and afterwards ease on down to the red lion for a drink or three.

Thanks man, you know, I've thought about a visit from time to time... It's good to know I've got friends there if I do go!

[EBasil]

DB, yes, I'm going to build up a cruiser. I picked up a raw frame on ePay that has the 123mm rear spacing and brake posts, so I've got to start hunting around for some particular parts on the Bay.

In terms of the BB/spindle question, I was asking two things (the shell looked small in the photos, but you solved it) and the second is in regard to spindle length/width whatnot, as if I were to use a 3-piece crankset. In other words, is 113mm or 127mm etc... the usual width. Come to think of it, do BMX/cruiser BB's use the same square taper when going 3-piece?

[johnbryanpeters]

Originally posted by DirtRagArt
Our access guy, Philip Keyes, once said, "Life's too short to ride cheap bikes."
Nice thought if you have unrestricted means, but a little elitist, maybe?

J