Help me build a Frankenbike
- Thread starter Wayneburg
- Start date
sparky
Active Member
Well... I'd highly suggest first saving up a bit more money, say, closer to $600. While you're doing that... look around town at yard sales, look in the classifieds, check eBay & craigslist for local bikes (you don't want to ship a bike, and you'd best check it out first). Classifieds will prolly be the easiest way to find a quality "lightly-used" bicycle.
Just don't buy a Chinese bike from WalMart, and don't buy a cheap Chinese engine kit. Both of them will end up costing you more money in the long run than getting a kit from GEBE or Staton, *and* you'll get a lot more headaches with the chengine kits when you have broken mounts or the aluminum block cracks, etc. There's nothing good about them, besides being cheap. And that's not even that good once the whole kit breaks and you can't get warranty support from the person you bought it from.
The cheapest way I know of getting something quiet & lightweight with no drag... is the 20" bike from Five Flags I bought, and that's still $500 shipped. The handle bar's stem is pretty tall, so you shouldn't have a problem with being comfortable (my friend who's 6'1" doesn't have a problem). It must be loads more comfortable than a road bike that requires you to lean over and has no suspension. No headaches in getting the thing to work... you just unfold it, fill it up with mixed gas, and let 'er rip. You'll definitely need to keep up with maintenance like everybody else here has to do, tho. Make sure you add loc-tite to most all bolts, make sure the gearbox has gear oil in it, and you shouldn't have to worry about too much after that. Only thing I've done really is replace the tires, seat, grips, & throttle... which I've mostly done for personal reasons.
But again, the gas tank leaking from the threads was an issue for me since I've had to fold the bike up numerous times and put it in somebody else's car. If you're not planning on doing that (doesn't sound like you are)... then it really shouldn't be a problem.
If you don't want to spend $500, then spend $600ish on a good kit, and tack it onto ANY bicycle you find while saving up.
Just don't buy a Chinese bike from WalMart, and don't buy a cheap Chinese engine kit. Both of them will end up costing you more money in the long run than getting a kit from GEBE or Staton, *and* you'll get a lot more headaches with the chengine kits when you have broken mounts or the aluminum block cracks, etc. There's nothing good about them, besides being cheap. And that's not even that good once the whole kit breaks and you can't get warranty support from the person you bought it from.
The cheapest way I know of getting something quiet & lightweight with no drag... is the 20" bike from Five Flags I bought, and that's still $500 shipped. The handle bar's stem is pretty tall, so you shouldn't have a problem with being comfortable (my friend who's 6'1" doesn't have a problem). It must be loads more comfortable than a road bike that requires you to lean over and has no suspension. No headaches in getting the thing to work... you just unfold it, fill it up with mixed gas, and let 'er rip. You'll definitely need to keep up with maintenance like everybody else here has to do, tho. Make sure you add loc-tite to most all bolts, make sure the gearbox has gear oil in it, and you shouldn't have to worry about too much after that. Only thing I've done really is replace the tires, seat, grips, & throttle... which I've mostly done for personal reasons.
But again, the gas tank leaking from the threads was an issue for me since I've had to fold the bike up numerous times and put it in somebody else's car. If you're not planning on doing that (doesn't sound like you are)... then it really shouldn't be a problem.
If you don't want to spend $500, then spend $600ish on a good kit, and tack it onto ANY bicycle you find while saving up.
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