Build Thread - Project "Proper Job"
Discussion
I thought you guys would be interested in the build of my new off road toy, so here goes!
I currently have just the one bike - a 2009 Pinnacle Peak 1.0 which has to fulfill the roles of both weekday road commuter and weekend XC/all mountain trailbasher:
As you can imagine, this jack of all trades isnt much good at any of them!
Now, last year a friend of mine bought a full-sus 2001 Giant XTC NRS DS1 (to give it its full name) in a partly shagged state for £200 quid (I believe they were £1200+ new) and rode it like he stole it until by this winter it was completely worn out. He has stripped the frame and put all the salvageable bits on his new One-One Inbred. The frame meanwhile languished with the threat of being weighed in hanging over it:
So, a germ of an idea began to form in my mind - why not build myself an off roader and turn the Pinnacle into a hybrid/commuter?
The frame was, to him, uneconomical to repair - all the metal bushes in the pivot linkages were so worn the rear frame has about 5mm of play in it!
New bushes are silly money - IF you can get hold of them, being such an old bike.
When I say worn out, I do mean worn out!
However, I have something he doesnt - a lot of acquaintances who machine parts for steam engines. I can get a full new set of s/steel bushes and their nylon collars machined for the cost of a couple of pints, and suddenly this frame began to look very promising again.
Some bartering later, a deal was struck. I got the frame, bottom bearing, raceface crankset, brand new outer and inner front chainrings, handlebars and a seatpost clamp for the princely sum of £50 - and he also threw in a set of MTB road tyres for the Pinnacle, and an SU HS2 carburettor with inlet adaptor for my Land Rover
With the bargain start to things, I decided to set myself a challenge - build this bike as cheaply as possible, with a target of £150 total spend.
First of all I had to work out a way to get the frame home given that his house is a fair way from mine and lot easier to bike to than walk to. Some lateral thinking, my biggest rucksack and several bungees later, I got a lot of odd looks on the way home on the existing bike!
Then, the stripdown began!
Removing the old chainrings, it soon became clear I'd need to add a middle ring to the new outer and inners I'd been given:
Before I can strip things down further, I need the crank puller ordered from eBay to arrive, so in the meantime I decided to do some parts buying instead.
A scruffy but sound Kore XCD wheelset with discs, gears and some generic Kenda tyres - £30 + £12 shipping:
A set of like-new Shimano M525 twin Piston Hydros with 160mm discs - £39 + £4 shipping:
Also bought but yet to turn up in the post so no pics:
SDG USA alloy 220mm seatpost and saddle - £10 + £3 shipping
Shimano middle chainring - £7 + £3 shipping
And here's a gratuitous pic of the other bits that came with the bike:
Now here's the kicker - I've been able to make a nice packet from selling some bits I dont need, so I will be deducting the profit from those from the total spend I am racking up on the bike:
Deore M525 Hubs - sold for £24
The Shimano rotors that came with the brakes - sold for £19
And that's where I am up to thus far with the build, but more words and pictures to come as progress is made. I'm currently waiting on a reply from a mate to do the bush machining.
So the total so far:
Spent:
Bike and other bits - £50
Wheels - £42
Brakes - £43
Seat and stem - £13
Chainring - £10
Crank Puller - £3
Accrued:
Hubs profit - £14
Discs profit - £19
Estimated value of the SU HS2 - £40
Running net spend: £88, leaving me £62.
Parts still to get:
Headset
Chain
Shifters - 3x8speed rapidfire
Rear Mech - 8speed
Bar grips
Pedals
Stem
For front forks, I will be using the monstrous 150mm Bomber Sl's currently on the Pinnacle:
As part of the road bike conversion, it will be refitted with a set of 80mm Bomber Atom Z2's from a mate to take the sting out of potholes. I cant bear to revert it to the Suntour XCT pogo-sticks it had on it beforehand!
So, do you think I can do it on budget?
Matt
PS. Why "Project Proper Job"? I hear you ask. Well.. I'm an engineer and DIY spanner-er, and I used to watch Scrapheap Challenge avidly - guess who my favourite team were? Like them, I am also living in the west country, and this bike is going to be the mother of all bodge jobs. So, the catchphrase makes a very suitable name!
I currently have just the one bike - a 2009 Pinnacle Peak 1.0 which has to fulfill the roles of both weekday road commuter and weekend XC/all mountain trailbasher:
As you can imagine, this jack of all trades isnt much good at any of them!
Now, last year a friend of mine bought a full-sus 2001 Giant XTC NRS DS1 (to give it its full name) in a partly shagged state for £200 quid (I believe they were £1200+ new) and rode it like he stole it until by this winter it was completely worn out. He has stripped the frame and put all the salvageable bits on his new One-One Inbred. The frame meanwhile languished with the threat of being weighed in hanging over it:
So, a germ of an idea began to form in my mind - why not build myself an off roader and turn the Pinnacle into a hybrid/commuter?
The frame was, to him, uneconomical to repair - all the metal bushes in the pivot linkages were so worn the rear frame has about 5mm of play in it!
New bushes are silly money - IF you can get hold of them, being such an old bike.When I say worn out, I do mean worn out!
However, I have something he doesnt - a lot of acquaintances who machine parts for steam engines. I can get a full new set of s/steel bushes and their nylon collars machined for the cost of a couple of pints, and suddenly this frame began to look very promising again.
Some bartering later, a deal was struck. I got the frame, bottom bearing, raceface crankset, brand new outer and inner front chainrings, handlebars and a seatpost clamp for the princely sum of £50 - and he also threw in a set of MTB road tyres for the Pinnacle, and an SU HS2 carburettor with inlet adaptor for my Land Rover
With the bargain start to things, I decided to set myself a challenge - build this bike as cheaply as possible, with a target of £150 total spend.
First of all I had to work out a way to get the frame home given that his house is a fair way from mine and lot easier to bike to than walk to. Some lateral thinking, my biggest rucksack and several bungees later, I got a lot of odd looks on the way home on the existing bike!
Then, the stripdown began!
Removing the old chainrings, it soon became clear I'd need to add a middle ring to the new outer and inners I'd been given:
Before I can strip things down further, I need the crank puller ordered from eBay to arrive, so in the meantime I decided to do some parts buying instead.
A scruffy but sound Kore XCD wheelset with discs, gears and some generic Kenda tyres - £30 + £12 shipping:
A set of like-new Shimano M525 twin Piston Hydros with 160mm discs - £39 + £4 shipping:
Also bought but yet to turn up in the post so no pics:
SDG USA alloy 220mm seatpost and saddle - £10 + £3 shipping
Shimano middle chainring - £7 + £3 shipping
And here's a gratuitous pic of the other bits that came with the bike:
Now here's the kicker - I've been able to make a nice packet from selling some bits I dont need, so I will be deducting the profit from those from the total spend I am racking up on the bike:
Deore M525 Hubs - sold for £24
The Shimano rotors that came with the brakes - sold for £19
And that's where I am up to thus far with the build, but more words and pictures to come as progress is made. I'm currently waiting on a reply from a mate to do the bush machining.
So the total so far:
Spent:
Bike and other bits - £50
Wheels - £42
Brakes - £43
Seat and stem - £13
Chainring - £10
Crank Puller - £3
Accrued:
Hubs profit - £14
Discs profit - £19
Estimated value of the SU HS2 - £40
Running net spend: £88, leaving me £62.
Parts still to get:
Headset
Chain
Shifters - 3x8speed rapidfire
Rear Mech - 8speed
Bar grips
Pedals
Stem
For front forks, I will be using the monstrous 150mm Bomber Sl's currently on the Pinnacle:
As part of the road bike conversion, it will be refitted with a set of 80mm Bomber Atom Z2's from a mate to take the sting out of potholes. I cant bear to revert it to the Suntour XCT pogo-sticks it had on it beforehand!
So, do you think I can do it on budget?
Matt
PS. Why "Project Proper Job"? I hear you ask. Well.. I'm an engineer and DIY spanner-er, and I used to watch Scrapheap Challenge avidly - guess who my favourite team were? Like them, I am also living in the west country, and this bike is going to be the mother of all bodge jobs. So, the catchphrase makes a very suitable name!
Edited by mat777 on Tuesday 22 January 00:12
American iv said:
Does changing the fork length not alter the geometry of the bike badly?
Well it does certainly alter things somewhat, but after running the 150mm forks on the Pinnacle (designed for 80mm) for 2 years I havent had any adverse effects and am well used to how it handles. The Giant is the same size frame and also designed for 80mm, so with the 150's on it should ride pretty much the same but with the added bonus of full-sus comfort. I'm basically going to set it up with the same width bars and length of stem etc so I can keep the geometer I am accustomed to for off roading. Obviously I will have to get used to going back to small forks on the Pinnacle but as I will only be commuting on that instead of flinging myself down mountains, the handling familiarity wont be as important.d8mok said:
ive got some bits for sale on bikeradar that might help in a budget build. I cant link as im firewalled but if you look in classfieds under same username as here.
Thanks, I will take a look 
Or888t said:
I'm shocked that you've been using some 150mm bombers on a 80mm "designed" frame without knackering/ breaking the headtube!
Good luck!
Well I did get a number of similar comments when I first put them on the Pinnacle but after 2 years of serious abuse (including jumping down 5ft flights of stairs once or twice) there's still no sign of cracking on the headtube welds. Having said that, it's built like a tank and weighs a ton, whereas the Giant is slightly more dainty (but still has some decent reinforcing plates round the headtube) so I will have to keep an eye on things!Good luck!
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