Given the price of bikes at the moment with everyone and their dog wanting a bike I've been cobbling some of my unwanted parts together and making up complete bikes to sell off for a bit of extra £££. I managed to get three complete bikes together and sold two in the great sale only to then buy two more parts donors....
Exhibit one:-
The extortionate sum of £20 for what I believe is a Kona frame with all the bits in the picture plus a front wheel and a set of forks. I have a back wheel that doesn't match but will go with it and many sets of front gears to choose from. A bit of effort and that'll fetch in excess of £100 in the current climate.
Exhibit two:-
A Foffa (yes I had to look that up too!) Urban Premium 8 (I liked the sound of the "Premium" bit). I wanted a hub geared bike for general use being tired of being in the wrong gear on setting off and this has a fully serviced Alfine 8 hub, good wheels and cosmetically scabby but functional mechanical discs for £50. The rust below the seat is testament to a previously seized seat post and the subsequent heat used to remove it! What I failed to realise was the new seat post was also now seized. After more heat, penetrating oil and a 3 foot pipe wrench I ended up with this...
A neatly torn off seat post with the majority still in the frame. I'm now waiting on a 1 1/16" (26.8mm) cutter head so I can bodge up a tool to run down the frame tube to drill the (fortunately) aluminium seat post out of the steel frame to have any hope of returning it to use.
My garage has got fuller not emptier and whilst I'm still well in pocket in this effort to reduce the pile I can't help wondering how the focus of the operation went so blurred so quick.
Exhibit one:-
The extortionate sum of £20 for what I believe is a Kona frame with all the bits in the picture plus a front wheel and a set of forks. I have a back wheel that doesn't match but will go with it and many sets of front gears to choose from. A bit of effort and that'll fetch in excess of £100 in the current climate.
Exhibit two:-
A Foffa (yes I had to look that up too!) Urban Premium 8 (I liked the sound of the "Premium" bit). I wanted a hub geared bike for general use being tired of being in the wrong gear on setting off and this has a fully serviced Alfine 8 hub, good wheels and cosmetically scabby but functional mechanical discs for £50. The rust below the seat is testament to a previously seized seat post and the subsequent heat used to remove it! What I failed to realise was the new seat post was also now seized. After more heat, penetrating oil and a 3 foot pipe wrench I ended up with this...
A neatly torn off seat post with the majority still in the frame. I'm now waiting on a 1 1/16" (26.8mm) cutter head so I can bodge up a tool to run down the frame tube to drill the (fortunately) aluminium seat post out of the steel frame to have any hope of returning it to use.
My garage has got fuller not emptier and whilst I'm still well in pocket in this effort to reduce the pile I can't help wondering how the focus of the operation went so blurred so quick.