The Saga of Plain Jane

[whitedog]

Thanks, augidog. I'd seen that link before. Still of two minds over fenders but now, at least, I have a reference for what to look for on quality.

Still have lots to do before that becomes a priority, however.

 

[whitedog]

Well, I don't know how well that these amazing pictures will turn out. Since my digital camera is now boxed up to be sent off for repair, these were taken using a webcam hooked up to a long usb extention cable.

The first shot is Plain Jane's current incarnation. Your standard, inexpensive, Wally World Mountain Bike.

Shots two and three are the inexpensive side pull rim brakes currently installed. These have gotta go. I'm not sure what to replace them with at the moment.

BTW, I ran into a guy having a garage sale at lunch today. He has the same bike fitted with a Robin/Subaru rack mount belt drive that he is trying to sell. I told him about this forum. He wants to go electric.

This is the first time that I tried to upload photos so I'm not sure that I have it quite right yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed which makes it hard to type.

 

[bamabikeguy]

Shots two and three are the inexpensive side pull rim brakes currently installed. These have gotta go. I'm not sure what to replace them with at the moment.

Those brakes are the disposable bic lighters of a MB. The primary reason I scrapped the brand myself were the brakes and the Shimano seems to be a lower grade compared to what the Suns use.

For all I know, the only thing "Shimano" at WallyWorld is the sticker.

BTW, I ran into a guy having a garage sale at lunch today. He has the same bike fitted with a Robin/Subaru rack mount belt drive that he is trying to sell. I told him about this forum. He wants to go electric.

Well, he sounds insane, and we've had our quota of R/S rants in rackem...

Ask him what he wants for it kit and kaboodle, Loco or a trike builder could get the engine, and I'll take the kit and mounts.

You can keep the bike for parts. You'll need em.

 

[whitedog]

Yep, Bama. Use'em and throw 'em away. I think I'll skip the use'em part. Still looking for something better to replace them with. (Couldn't find much worse, I guess.)

I haven't looked at rack mount systems or prices. He said he paid over $600 for the kit and that it's worked well but the wheel mounted pulley that the belt drives keeps getting out of true. I told him that the likely cause wasn't the pulley but the cheap wheel and that getting a decent wheel with heavy guage spokes (taking a page out of your book) would probably solve his problem. He wasn't interested. He had his head set on an electric of some sort and didn't want to hear anything different. With any luck, he'll look up this forum and either get his problem solved or sell his current setup to someone who will appreciate it.

 

[JosephGarcia]

those brakes were my only stopping force on my last motorbike. I had them in the front, I set them up with good pads and adjusted them so the lever activated them fully before it was 50% pulled in. They worked for awhile, but got a big performance loss after a month.

Buy new forks that are able to be installed with Disc brakes, also a new Wheel if you need to.

at least having a good braking system on the front is good. and if you still dont feel safe, get a set for the rear. this might be expensive though.

 

[bamabikeguy]

This thread is a potential object lesson

This is the first thread I rated with stars, (the affinity for big dogs, I suppose, since I raise Gr. Pyrenees, and the Avatar looks like one of my coyote chasing females).

If you are going to all the labor and expense to modify a $100 bike (and I started with 3 $99 Avalons in 2005 myself) maybe you could track the add-on items like Custom Tecumseh is doing on his trike.

That way a MBprospect can see how the costs compare to buying a mid-grade Schwinn or Sun, that has those brake/handlebar/shifter/saddle features as standard equipment.

Personally, I paid $20 for curved handlebars plus an hour labor, and $30 for a gel saddle, to get the Avalon more comfortable. And that was beforeall the broken spoke/cheap inner tube issues were addressed.

$100 Avalons and Mongooses are "starter" bikes, but since this thread may become a model for the concientous builder, the upgrades could be measured to spending about $225-300 for a pretty good bike from the get-go.

And since you've admitted this is a "test" bike, the final upgrade calculations will be of benefit to future builders of all the engine types.

 

[whitedog]

No problem Bama. I don't know if this will be a good example or a bad example. Who knows, maybe it will be a good bad example.

Regarding my avatar: You got the gender right but the breed wrong. I raise and show Samoyeds and the avatar is pulled from a photo of one of my old girls having a ball sledding. I've attached the whole pic to this message. At lead is U-CD Sno-Belle CD TT CGC HCTs. At wheel looking slightly confused is Ch. Yukon's Dreamtime Blizzard CGC TT. The Siberian Husky also at wheel is Sutaisa's Dawn Dancer who belonged to the guy riding the sled while I took the picture.

Back on topic to keep from turning our esteemed admins to steamed admins...I'll track back the costs I've got in the bike so far and start keeping a tab and posting it on any changes. First installment will probably be later today as soon as I start tracking old charge tickets back.

 

[srdavo]

Back on topic to keep from turning our esteemed admins to steamed admins...

NOW, thats funny!!!
witty recovery ...and back on topic.

whitedog, this thread is a good example of doing your homework. keep it up!!

 

[gone_fishin]

whitedog, this thread is a good example of doing your homework. keep it up!!

it sure is...and, btw, the original poster can carp all over his own thread if he wants, that doesn't bother me at all.

i think your "the real total cost" topic is gonna be a big help...we've tried to address this before but it didn't go anywhere. perhaps a real life example will be more informative

 

[whitedog]

Cost of starting cheap -- to date

OK, since there seems to be an interest, I've attached a printout of my expenses so far, what they were and where I got the parts. I've also included a breakdown for those expenses that are engine related and those that were bicycle related. I'll include false starts, ideas that didn't work and anything else that I do on this project.

A couple of disclaimers:

1. I'm listing the vendor where I got each item. This is not an endorsement. There are lots of other vendors out there who sell equivalent parts that may be better, less expensive, have better service or closer to you. I won't say I picked these guys out of a hat but, in many cases, I am buying off of the web and keeping my fingers crossed. BTW, Pixie is a local discount store that carries a decent assortment of common bicycle repair parts (e.g. tubes, tires, saddles, tire pumps etc.)

2. I'm not including tax or shipping expenses in this accounting. Depending on where you are in the country and which vendor you use, these are going to vary all over the lot so I'm just taking them out of the equation completely.

OK, so much for that. Here are some observations to date without taking wrench to bicycle frame at all.

Buying a frame that has inexpensive side pull brakes is turning out to be a mistake. They work fine for pedaling speeds but I just don't trust them as they sit for anything faster. Note that the operative words in that sentence are "I don't trust them." They may work fine and I may be wrong, but I'm building to my comfort level and if I'm not comfortable with its safety it's going to be another project that sits in the garage. Since the brakes on this bike are center mount side pull types, I'm pretty well restricted to buying the same type just of a higher quality. If one of you building mavens knows how to graft a better brake on to a common bicycle I'll be more than happy to listen and learn.

I'm attaching a PDF file with the current expenses. I'll update this as the project goes along.