Little late to writing this but better late than never, right? Cheap Bike Build off is back for its second year (I believe) and I felt comfortable enough in my own skills to take part this time!

Organized and hosted by Max the Mullet Mechanic the goal of the challenge is to acquire, and build up a bike for $175 (or less). You cannot use Alibaba / Amazon knock off brands, but can rely on local shops to help with physical labor you may not be able to do and the cost does not count towards the bike!

My Bike(s)

Initially my gut wanted to go with a step through bike that I would (possibly) repaint and make into a “sporty” swept back type vibe. The owner of the first bike I was interested in messaged me 30 minutes before we met up to let me know his wife had sold it. The next step through I found was free – 1970s(?) Azuki Century! I drove about 45 minutes to pick it up and upon getting it home and looking it over I realized it would take way to much money and effort to source everything.

After a week of no luck I scrapped my first idea and went for the first 90s-00s MTB I could find that caught my eye. Introducing the Haro Escape 7000 Series. I was able to pick this sucker up for $50, not the best deal but not the worst either. While building up the bike I discovered the rims and bottle cage had been sprayed painted to cover purple anodizing!!!

Using Surly Corner bars as the main attraction I went for a gravelesque build. I was originally hoping to find drop bar setup but realized it would be to expensive. To complete the build I was super lucky to find a 26″ cantilever fork for a steal of a price ($40) AND a titanium rail/carbon reinforced shell for $10 – shoutout The Northwest Hub!

Cost Breakdown

• Bike – $50
• Surly Corner Bar – $30
• Seat – $10
• Fork – $40
• Star nut – $5
• Cable hanger – $7
• Spacers – $5
• Stem – $5
• Cables and Housing – $10
• Clipless pedals – $10

Total: $172

I also had the opportunity to help The Northwest Hub build up a submission for the Cheap Bike Build Off. What made this build hard was having too much nice stuff to choose between! We settled on a Gary Fisher Montare that came with a couple really quirky things already (aside from the elevated chainstays). With the bike only being $30 we were able to throw a lot of really cool stuff at this, like the Brooks B17 saddle ($40), MSW tires ($20×2), and the Deore friction shifters ($10). Side note, super stoked to mention I bought the Brooks saddle right after taking these photos!

Cost Breakdown

• Gary Fisher Bike – 30
• Oury Grips – 15
• MSW Bars – 20
• MSW Tires – 20 (2x)
• Brookes B17 Seat – 40
• Deore Friction shifters – 10
• Seat post – 2
• C&H – 3
• Shimano Pedals – 15

Total: $175

Something Cycles Meetup

Last but not least Nic at Something Cycles was kind enough to host a local meetup and group ride for people in the Portland area who built up their own bike to take part in the competition! I was super excited to see everyone’s bike in person and was really blown away about the ingenuity and personality each one had. Elon if you’re reading this – My bad for forgetting to photograph you 😦

Final Thoughts

Overall I had a blast taking part in this little competition. I really proved to myself how much I have learned in the couple years I have considered myself a “cyclist”.

Because I wasn’t able to fully materialize the gravel build like I wanted it has caused me to start a new project… updates coming soon! I also will be posting an updated build video on my 1991 Diamondback Apex, BIG changes were made and I am super excited to share. In my opinion it is a perfect example of how to restomod a bike!

Apologies for the inconsistency in posting these. I will make sure moving forward to start posting these on a schedule! Let me know if there is any topics you would like me to cover in depth. Thanks for reading!