Restomods!

[SBC]

Hey y'all!

Long story short is because of a couple of old Cannondales I've started a fun little passion project of restomoding bikes for friends and family. I've done/plan to do non-'dale bikes too, but I love the craftsmanship of these older frames. They make great launchpads for (sometimes wacky!) projects.

My personal goal is to take older frames that have been hammered on pretty dang hard, and give them a few more laps around the proverbial track. It's not my objective to take mint period examples and cannibalize them, but rather to put strange combinations of parts together on worn out bikes to get a fun result. I paint all of the bikes myself using spray paint, and the results have been decent!

If you want to check out some of the builds, here's a website that documents them in some detail. Apologies in advance, I'm a pretty poor photographer. The Ketchum Krewzer bikes are restomodded Cannondales, and I'll likely be finishing a couple more this summer!

shitbikecycles.com

Thanks for having me!
-SBC

 

[black lightning 1987]

Welcome. It's great that you are getting neglected bikes back in operating condition. I've done a few odd builds too. I put a brand new Tiagra build on a late 80s SR700 that I picked up from a forum member. Made a pretty nice bike of it. I have a CAAD3 R4000 that I built with a flat bar, sub compact Coda double crank, and Shimano 9 with MTB shifters. Another odd build is an old steel Gary Fisher MTB that I built with Campagnolo 10 speed and Paul Thumbies. Since Campagnolo didn't make MTB components post 8 speed, the Thumbies allow mounting the Campagnolo bar end shifters to function as traditional thumb shifters.

 

[SBC]

The MO that seems to work for me is have a couple of cold ones and rummage around in the parts bin to see what fits. Bonus points if it mechanically functions and is practical, but makes little logical sense.

Those sound like super cool builds! Especially figuring out a way to get the Campy stuff to work.

Folks have expressed interest in townie rebuilds of the F400 and F3000 you helped me identify, but I think trying to rebuild the Head Shok on the F3000 and turning it into a flat bar gravel muncher would be fun. I've also got a Criterium frame set, I think from a 1989 SR800 that needs a future. That one might be fun as a ripping single speed.

 

[black lightning 1987]

Mechanical function is always a plus. I remember trying several front derailleurs with the Deore 9 shifters on the flat bar build before I got one that worked. I probably didn't have a Deore 9 FD with the right mount and ended up using a Sachs 5000 which worked great.

I think MTB frames make a lot of sense for gravel road builds. Gravel rides in my area can have 5-10,000 feet of climbing, so 26" wheels make a lot of sense. Grumpy Grind has fallen by the wayside but the 2016 edition was memorable for the heat and sun. By half distance I was feeling the affects of sunburn ( the first ride of the year in summer clothing) and I took every short cut on the way back to limit the burn. Other years I've seen people walking up some of the hills because their gearing wasn't low enough. I've seen some interesting 26" builds on local gravel rides. One year on the (once annual, now defunct) Night Bison ride there was a guy riding an old MTB with what I think was a Scott AT-3 handlebar. A bar that incorporated a flat portion, bar ends, and a forward "aero" hand position inboard.

Link to a post about the Grumpy Grind. You can find some years of the route by searching Mapmyride or Ridewithgps.

Chainlink Ride Report: Grumpy Grind 4

By Eric Alexander The Chainlink is thrilled have Eric Alexander as our new gravel/adventure contributor. We first encountered Eric a few years back on t…

thechainlink.org

 

[SBC]

I don't see too many 26" builds in my area. Most folks prefer (and have the budget to support their preference) a new off the shelf gravel bike. I've seen some cool 29" builds though on carbon bikes that are 10ish years old and have fallen out of fashion with new trail geometry, but are still great overall platforms.

I've had good luck with the Prime 9 stuff from Box. Affordable, durable, and you can get their drivetrains with an 11-50 cassette which makes going 1x super simple and easy. Only downside is their more affordable offerings are a little heavy. Perfect drivetrain for breathing new life back into a cool 26" bike without breaking the bank.

 

[black lightning 1987]

I'm having trouble seeing why 29" is preferable to 26" for a gravel bike other than that the industry has pretty much abandoned 26" at the high end. As I see it 29" has some advantages for MTBs in rough terrain as the larger diameter wheels roll over obsticles eaier and smooth the ride out. That's not a factor riding 98% of the gravel in my area. Given equal technology a 26" bike should be lighter than a 29" with less rotating mass.

Most of my gravel riding has been done on 700C or 27" wheeled bikes. That's due to building to a limited budget rather than to what I think might be optimal.