Can I do it on budget?

[mat777]

My mountain biking buddy has a 2001 Giant XTC full sus he bought off ebay a few years ago, and he has bought a new frame and is going to swap all the components onto it. His reason for doing this is that all the metal bushes in the rear linkages are shot so the frame has half an inch of free play in it - and even if he could track down a new set the cost isnt worth it.

Now, he was going to scrap the frame on the grounds "it isnt trustworthy" but I am trying to persuade him to give it to me to rebuild. My reason for this is that I can get new bushes machined for free and would like a proper mountain bike: I currently have a 2008 Pinnacle hardtail that I also commute on, so it is set up as a 50/50 with regards to tyres etc and therefore quite limited even with the plethora of upgraded forks, brakes etc I have lavished on it. I would swap the off road bits from my pinnacle onto the giant, and make the pinnacle into a "hybrid" city mtb.

Now, he is very sceptical about my plans (and thus wary of giving the frame to me instead of trying to flog it for scrap value) because he reckons the devil is in the detail and that I would find all the other bits - bars +riser, seat and stem, drivetrain, rear wheel+ casette + disc (I already have a spare front wheel + disc), hydro calipers (bristol hills constantly kill cable ones), gear shifters etc very expensive. I told him I reckon I could do it for £100 all in, not including any accessories (such as mudguards).

Does anyone think this is possible? I dont mind spending a lot of time browsing pinkbike and ebay as I would be in no mad rush to complete the job. I also wonder which approach would be better - a) source all of the components bit by bit. this gives me a lot of control over parts but may be expensive. or b) buy a secondhand disc-equipped budget stter and transfer wheels, bars, gears etc over before separately buying the few bits that are too rubbishy to transfer to a bike that will get hard use. this getrs most of the bits cheaply but leaves me with a crap frame that budget bike buys wont be able to rebuild and pro bike riders wouldnt touch with a double-bagged stunt cock.


So, thoughts and opinions everyone?

[Mr Gear]

Buy the parts bit-by-bid on ebay when you spot a bargain. If you buy s stter you plan to rob components from, my guess is that at least half the parts will be shot too.

I think you can do it and create something rideable, but you won't have a great cohesive bike at the end of it, no matter how hard you try.

[geordieracer]

If you're patient it's easy, via eBay. My current bike (in the show us your bike thread) is built from my old bike admittedly, but a lot of the parts where sourced from eBay originally.

Similarly I've been buying bits for my 1980s road bike resto for that last year. So far I've spent 30 quid...

Patience is a virtue!!

[mat777]

Thanks for the advice.... I think I've already scored big here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281026459105?ssPageName=...

[shouldbworking]

mat777 said:

Thanks for the advice.... I think I've already scored big here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281026459105?ssPageName=...

Cracking, youve used nearly half your budget... except that you already had one of the parts. and the parts you're buying are a bit knackered.

You're going to end up with a far worse bike than if you spent the money on something second hand.

[mat777]

shouldbworking said:

mat777 said:

Thanks for the advice.... I think I've already scored big here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281026459105?ssPageName=...

Cracking, youve used nearly half your budget... except that you already had one of the parts. and the parts you're buying are a bit knackered.

You're going to end up with a far worse bike than if you spent the money on something second hand.

Do you think I could have got 2 wheels, tyres, discs etc cheaper than that? The £6 front wheel I already had needed a tube, rim tape and a tyre and even then was just a bargain budget wheel. Even so, I can flog that for what I paid for it. I also have a pair of spare mint Deore M525 hubs for sale for £30 (having been given them for a tenner by someone who didnt know what they were worth) so the £20 profit on those reduces the wheelset to £10 (assuming I can get someone to pick them up instead of posting them).
That leaves me £90, and after discussion with the friend again tonight he has said I can have frame, shifters, bars, stem, crankset and seatpost, with a spare carb for my landy and a pair of slick mtb tyres for road-ising my other bike, all for £60. I dont think I'm doing too badly so far! the fact that the wheels I have bought are slightly flatted doesnt bother me given the use they are going to get.

[shouldbworking]

mat777 said:

Do you think I could have got 2 wheels, tyres, discs etc cheaper than that? The £6 front wheel I already had needed a tube, rim tape and a tyre and even then was just a bargain budget wheel. Even so, I can flog that for what I paid for it. I also have a pair of spare mint Deore M525 hubs for sale for £30 (having been given them for a tenner by someone who didnt know what they were worth) so the £20 profit on those reduces the wheelset to £10 (assuming I can get someone to pick them up instead of posting them).
That leaves me £90, and after discussion with the friend again tonight he has said I can have frame, shifters, bars, stem, crankset and seatpost, with a spare carb for my landy and a pair of slick mtb tyres for road-ising my other bike, all for £60. I dont think I'm doing too badly so far! the fact that the wheels I have bought are slightly flatted doesnt bother me given the use they are going to get.

Well, that is a bit of a result then yes, although I'd contest that 'can i make enough profit out of £100 to build up this bike' is a different task to building it up with £100 full stop also you have generous friends!