I finally found a bike frame for my “going around town in normal shoes” bike. It’s a Haro Extreme, set up for a 3.5″ travel fork. Unlikely fodder for a relaxed-bicycling concept? Probably. But I’m a sucker for slighly messed up, no-kill-like-overkill frame designs. Curvy bit just before the seat tube? Yes please. Weird downtube-headtube junction gussets with little chevrons on them? Please may I have another.

I also managed to score a pair of utterly unused Specialized wheels sans cassette for $60, and a nifty-oversized-pulley Acera rear derailleur, Deore front derailleur, and a pair of mostly worthless but probably OK 8-speed flat bar brifters for $15 bucks. I also busted out some cash to replace the utterly demolished u-brake on the back with a new DiaCompe Hombre in silver. Tres sexy, plus I like BMX parts. No sense of balance, so I can’t really do freestyle, funky older MTBs with weird parts are my only hope of being able to buy weird stuff like this. The bike came with a really decent set of Shimano cantilevers on the front which I’ll probably reuse, as well as the seatpost, and probably the neat and sort of odd FSA Conix star-fangled-nut replacement, simply because it’s such a fantastically overkill solution.

The previous owner of this frame was of the “ride it until it crumbles” mindset about just about everything. The frame is knicked here and there and shows signs of rust just about everywhere. I don’t think I’m going to spend a whole lot of time doing the whole inside-the-stays and every which a where rust converter thing, as it’s just not that great of a frame, but I am thinking about just sanding down the outside and doing a rattlecan/shadetree job once the weather dries out a little. Maybe Rustoleum Farm Implement paint in John Deere Green. The ride it till it dies attitude was in full effect on the consumables too, front brake pads were worn all the way to the metal plate. Rears were razor thin. Derailleur pulleys were mangled little nubs on a completely seized wheel. The front derailleur relies on a little pulley (built before top-pull was an option), which was likewise seized. Old U-brake was filled with mud and allowed to sit until worthless. The headset was in OK shape, but looked to be a newer addition to the bike.

I’m shopping for a new fork, too, maybe I could do a NYCBikes rigid fork in yellow for the full effect. Then again maybe not. I’ve already decided the accessories are going to be silver, as the wheels and brake I picked up are silver, so I’m thinking silver headset, the Sugino cranks from my Rob Roy (to replace them with something neat and black there) with a 48/36 double on the front. A touring 8-speed cassette on the back to finish.

And finally, the bars. After much kvetching and whatnot, I think I’m going to go with the Nitto Albatross. Barend shifters. Maybe the Rivendell Silvers, maybe just a Shimano set (if I can source them cheaper, this is supposed to be a cheap project and $80 shifters and a $50 handlebar are upsetting my ju-ju). A nice set of cork grips sure sounds good too. I’ll likely be using my old Vetta Lite until I can come up with the money for a better seat. It’s gonna be great.

I drove halfway across town to Hillsboro to buy a bike frame Sunday, an older Raleigh road frame/fork that I aspired to make into a townie. Well, when I arrived, I saw a very high quality older Raleigh frame, probably Reynolds 531, pantographed seatstay ends, very, very suspect. The gentleman selling the frame was not present, but a woman of limited english let me in the garage to look at it. A year or two ago, I’d have bought it immediately, a bargain, a steal. Luckily, I’ve been jacked around a lot in the intermediary times and learned my lesson. I began to go over the frame with a critical eye, and immediately found the problem.

Bent. Demolished. Must have been quite a crash too, the top and down tubes were bent so heavily that a card set on the top radius sat half a centimeter above even the steerer lug. The owner still had not shown up and I decided to leave. Sigh.

Back to the search. I have a freebie Bianchi MTB frame I scored out of the free pile at Citybikes, but it needs a fork. A 1″ MTB fork isn’t exactly a super common item anymore. Webcyclery offers one for $50, but it seems like a goofy expenditure for what is intended to be a really cheap build. I might do it anyways, since one of the major reasons for me wanting to make an around-town bike is the awesomely retro BMX Kenda K-Rad tire. But the reason it was in the free pile is that there is a seat post abso-lutely jammed into the frame. I don’t feel any damage from it, but it’s in there pretty good just the same. I guess I’ll try to pry that sucker out first. Lame.

I also want to make this bike with an internal gear hub, but the cost comparison for a 7 speed or 8 speed rear wheel, versus JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER THING is not favorable. I could potentially build a 3×8 or 9 setup for the same price. Super lame.

Now that I have akismet figured out, I might turn comments back on. I still don’t quite know how comment spam was getting in, but whatever.