Creating a (hybrid) Frankenstein - tips?

[swee'pea99]

Recently took delivery of this. My basic gameplan is to get another hybrid off ebay and strip it for parts - basically handlebars with brake levers & shifters, wheels, and any other usable bits & bobs, making up any remaining bits either at LBS or thru' ebay. Where are my hopes and dreams most likely to come crashing to the ground?

For example, I know that saddle stems come in about 17 different flavours - are handlebar stems the same, or does one size fit all? Would I be right in assuming that the shifters from any 24 gear shimano setup would work ok with this? And any etcs you can think of.

Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[PpPete]

As I understand it there are 2 types of handlebar stem, QUILL type, usually 22.2 mm (7/8" diameter but sometimes referrred to as 1" as the top of the forks is 1" threaded). I believe there are also some large quills?
the other type I know of is AHEADSET, usually the 1-1/8" version, but also 1" and 1-1/4" versions as well ( I think)
Can't see from the pics what type it is.

i don't know about the shifters - I've yet to get that far on my own Frankenstein.

There are bound to be other probs along the way. For example I bought a set of Tiagra canti brakes on Ebay, turns out they are no good to me as frame in question (also off ebay) has clearance for mudguards and the brakes are for a bike with no clearance - basically they will fit on the bike, but are not long enough to reach the rims !

So one lesson learned.

hope you have as much fun in your rebuild as I'm having with mine !

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks porkypete. Any idea how I can tell which mine is? Is it that quill types have threading on the outside of the top of the forks and ahead ones don't?

(Fortunately I don't have brake worries 'cos it came with brakes. Good luck with yours!)

 

[PpPete]

[quote name='swee'pea99']
Is it that quill types have threading on the outside of the top of the forks?

[/quote]

Yes sweepea, I think that is the difference. I don't know anything about the internals of ahead stems though, because I've never taken one apart to find how it works.

 

[fossyant]

That is a threaded headset - the top race will have two locking nuts. It's either 1" or 1-1/8th" depending if that's an MTB frame.

PS Measure the hole in the top - over an inch 1 1/8th

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks porky & fossyant...I'm now pretty sure this is a quill-type. The inside of the barrel is smooth - no threading - and it's definitely 7/8" inch. Would I be right in assuming that not many (if any) mountain/hybrid bikes have stems that would fit it? What I'd like ideally is flat bars with 24 gear shifters that would fit this headset...would any 'bog standard' mountain/hybrid bike I could get off ebay have such bars?

 

[PpPete]

Here is a conventional quill:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kalloy-80mm-q...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

or a more modern style
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Promax-adjust...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

then look for whatever handlebars you fancy which are listed as 25.4 mm
avoid anything that says "O/S" or "Oversize" or "31.8"

 

[mickle]

It's an inch steerer, threaded, and a very fine frame indeed.

Bear in mind that V brake levers are not compatible with cantilever brakes and non V levers are, if not hard to find, few and far between. St Johns still have stock of some very excellent Suntour XC Pro and XC Ltd flat bar levers for cantilevers. Or you could go the whole hog and fit V brakes, the bosses are the same.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks guys. I love that old quill stem Pete - just my kind of thing. (Tho' I'm aware it's not exactly in keeping with the frame...but this is a Frankenstein bike after all!)

I'm very interested to hear about the brakes, Mickle - have to say it never occurred to me there could be an issue there. I was planning, having pretty much assured myself that it was a quill stem, to transfer the drops (with levers) off my old 10-speed, till the right cannibalisable candidate came up on ebay. I guess if even cantilever and V aren't interchangeable, that idea's a non-starter?

 

[mickle]

Your drop bar levers will work perfectly well with cantilevers (and side pulls, centre pulls, roller, drum and some disc brakes). If you fit flat bars you'll need levers which are compatible with the above. If you find a donor with Vs use its levers. Simple.

BTW it's an inch quill stem. I would stake my life on it.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks again Mickle. No need to go staking lives...I believe you!

D'you have any idea whether these would fit in a quill stem? I've been googling but getting nowhere.

 

[mickle]

Depends on the stem actually, a 1" mountain bike stem yes, a 1" road stem designed for drops not.

 

[PpPete]

I've found an old raleigh quill stem in my box of bits, and i've a flat steel handlebar on my knock around bike that I've been meaning to replace when I can find some cheap drops. PM me if you are interested in either or both

check this one out if you want alloy bars though - enough time to email the vendor and ask him to check the diameter of the center section.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/EXCELLENT-RET...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks again chaps - so...a mountain bike stem is different from a road bike stem eh? They say you learn something new every day, and I'm way ahead of that average at the moment! Many thanks Porkypete for the offer - I'm going to try not to put steel bits on this frame...I'm no purist, but it does seem a bit of a betrayal...I try not to do anything that would have the original builders in tears. But those alloy ones look sweet - many thanks for the link. I'll get onto the guy now. (I thought these looked sound too - if not as pretty - and it says 'not oversized', which sounds promising.)

 

[PpPete]

No probs - I feel that way about steel components myself, just happened to be what I had around when I was building that bike up.

On the other hand I have a real "thing" for Reynolds 531 frames, much prefer them to alloy, so no logic there!