For my own amusement

BT Humble said:

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/index.htm

Hopefully I'll be able to do the first commuting run on Friday, my
right knee suffered pretty badly during Saturday's experiment with
downhill skiing. :-(

BTH
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Interesting. It will be interesting to see how the $$ add up. Will you
do the same on a >$5k bike in the name of research as well?

Brendo

"BT Humble" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

Did you see the guys at one of the 24hr races a couple of years ago. Two
teams of four mates in each team (from memory) bought bikes from K-mart or
Toys R Us for the race and had them sitting at the start line still in the
box. The first guy from each team had to assemble the bike (using only a
shifter) before then starting the race. From memory they were both dodgy
looking dual suspension mtbs but I think they made it through the
race........great concept......[censored] funny!!!

Too bad you don't live in Melbourne......it is $9.20 per day for a zone 1 +
2 rail ticket......bike would pay for itself in a couple of weeks. Even
better if I drive in.....it is about 18km or so each way which is probably 2
litres of petrol (about $5 all up) and it is $6 per day for on street
parking. How can anyone afford not to ride???

All you have to do is replace the parts as they wear out with decent ones
and if you can manage to crack the frame and break the forks one day you
might end up with a nice ride........sorta like Grandpa's Axe.

Good luck and hope you are back on the bike soon.

Gags

BT Humble said:

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

How far are you going? Canberra has the advantage that it can be
relatively flat (though also relatively unflat!), which reduces the peak
load on bits. I'm also assuming you've got a bit of knowledge regarding
basic set up and maintenance which will improve the longevity of
components. Still, a worthy experiment.

But I got 18 months commuting out of $8, so I'm happy with my
inherited/bodged singlespeed. (It's still going, but I'm probably going to
be going a bit further afield so it'll be demoted to station bike duties).

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
We're standing there pounding a dead parrot on the counter, and the
management response is to frantically swap in new counters to see if
that fixes the problem. --Peter Gutmann 18/06/1998

I put a similar idea to the BV forum a few months back. $$++ from an unrelated bike accident, and looking at those plastic levers, I've re-thought the idea... I'd be really pi**ed if my obituary read "He died doing what he loved, on a Kmart bike" 🙂

Keep us updated on the decomposition process!

gplama said:

Keep us updated on the decomposition process!

More like metal fatigue issues and/or catastrophic failure.

"BT Humble" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This has probably been done many times before, but I'm going to do a
"break-even or bust!" experiment with a sub-$100 Big-W commuter bike.

Here's the home page of the attempt, if you're the type who enjoys
watching other people doing odd things for no apparent reason:

http://www.smallsolar.org/BTH/budgetbike/index.htm

Hopefully I'll be able to do the first commuting run on Friday, my
right knee suffered pretty badly during Saturday's experiment with
downhill skiing. :-(

BTH
(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Definitely needs a Rohloff and and Schlumpf. You'll increase the value of
the bike forty-fold!

Hmmmm, If I buy myself a $10 junk frame from the dump, maybe we could have a
"pimp my [censored] bike" contest

Brendo said:

BTHumble said:

(PS: No, I am NOT seeking sponsorship. My wife would probably be
pleased to receive a few messages of sympathy though).

Interesting. It will be interesting to see how the $$ add up. Will you
do the same on a >$5k bike in the name of research as well?

Heh! OK, for *that* one I'd be looking for sponsorship! ;-)

BTH

Tex said:

Hmmmm, If I buy myself a $10 junk frame from the dump, maybe we could have a
"pimp my [censored] bike" contest

LED valve caps would be a good start! ;-)

BTH

Dave said:

How far are you going? Canberra has the advantage that it can be
relatively flat (though also relatively unflat!), which reduces the peak
load on bits. I'm also assuming you've got a bit of knowledge regarding
basic set up and maintenance which will improve the longevity of
components. Still, a worthy experiment.

16km each way. Not much by some standards, but good enough for me.

Quoted message said:

But I got 18 months commuting out of $8, so I'm happy with my
inherited/bodged singlespeed. (It's still going, but I'm probably going to
be going a bit further afield so it'll be demoted to station bike duties).

Hmm. You fixie people are a bit weird in my book, but then the
feeling is probably mutual. ;-)

BTH

BT Humble said:

Hmm. You fixie people are a bit weird in my book, but then the
feeling is probably mutual. ;-)

Nah, it isn't fixed. I wasn't lucky enough to score something that worked
nicely with a gear combo I could easily get, so an old derailleur with one
wheel cut off makes a good tensioner and required no cash input. I'd
probably be able to fix it if I used a phantom cog, but that can wait
until the freehub dies.

The only thing I had to buy was a front brake cable. That's a fair enough
investment, since it's kind of critical safety wise if you've got a
freewheel (and the back rim's sufficiently buckled that braking is of
limited controllability).

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Never go off on tangents, which are lines that intersect a curve at
only one point and were discovered by Euclid, who lived in the 6th
century, which was an era dominated by the Goths, who lived in what
we now know as Poland." - Nov. 1998 issue of Infosystems Executive.

Dave said:

BTHumble said:

Hmm. You fixie people are a bit weird in my book, but then the
feeling is probably mutual. ;-)

Nah, it isn't fixed. I wasn't lucky enough to score something that worked
nicely with a gear combo I could easily get, so an old derailleur with one
wheel cut off makes a good tensioner and required no cash input. I'd
probably be able to fix it if I used a phantom cog, but that can wait
until the freehub dies.

Why don't you just unscrew the freewheel and weld it up? If that
feels too much like vandalism to you, I can send you a 5-speed
freewheel that has its innards rusted up nice and tight, which would
give the same effect. ;-)

BTH

BT Humble said:

Why don't you just unscrew the freewheel and weld it up?

I don't have a welder and that sounds like too much work. It is a
freehub body (7sp) so it's a little tricky to weld up. Oh, and I have to
hunt out a chainring that has more than slight indents if I'm going to be
braking as well, though it's disturbing just how little metal it takes to
make a bike go.

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Thus leading us to the obvious conclusion that all software should look
like a nipple. - Eric the Read

Dave said:

BT Humble said:

Why don't you just unscrew the freewheel and weld it up?

I don't have a welder and that sounds like too much work.

Gaff tape & zip ties?

Parbs

Parbs said:

Gaff tape & zip ties?

Oooh, both fixers. Classy!

--
Dave Hughes | [email hidden]
Frankly, your argument wouldn't float were the sea composed of mercury.
- Biff

Gags said:

Too bad you don't live in Melbourne......it is $9.20 per day for a zone 1 +
2 rail ticket......bike would pay for itself in a couple of weeks. Even
better if I drive in.....it is about 18km or so each way which is probably 2
litres of petrol (about $5 all up) and it is $6 per day for on street
parking. How can anyone afford not to ride???

Heh! If I was counting "car costs" here it'd be 32km @ 6km/l @ $0.50/
l (LPG) = $2.66 for fuel, plus $5 for parking, plus $X for
aggravation. ;-)

Quoted message said:

All you have to do is replace the parts as they wear out with decent ones
and if you can manage to crack the frame and break the forks one day you
might end up with a nice ride........sorta like Grandpa's Axe.

Good luck and hope you are back on the bike soon.

I gave it a go this morning. My ride in took nearer to 50 minutes
than the usual 40, but I think most of that was down to the rider
rather than the machine. My knee is a little sore, but I reckon it'll
be OK.

Bike's going OK too. I'll give it a good checking over tomorrow, the
bearings and such should be pretty well bedded in after 40km or so.

BTH