Hello all... Single white male here looking for that special bike to spend the rest of my life with. Must like rides by the beach and early morning rips to work. But seriously... 32 years old Canadian here, carpenter by trade, life long bike enthusiast and newly discovered bike builder.
I've ridden bikes all my life, always owned one, always ridden... but until just a year ago never knew how to fix or build one. The whole thing started when my bike was stolen, I didn't have much cash to spend on a new one so I needed one on the cheapskate. Luckily a friend from work had a couple of bikes that belonged to his parents kicking around in his garage. Both were Nishiki road bikes, one a woman's frame and the other a men's. The deal was I could have the men's if I fixed up the woman's for his g/f. Now I had never so much as changed an inner tube before but I needed a bike so I dove in head first. I found a not for profit DIY bicycle collective near my house http://bikepirates.com/ , this place is great, dirt cheap parts, specialty tools and friendly volunteers with lots of know how. So with new found confidence I broke her bike down, cleaned it, repacked the BB and headset, new grips, new cables/housing ect.. I was so proud of myself and liked the bike so much that I kept it for an extra week... you know to make sure it rode safe and all
. I ended up turning mine into a fixie after developing a fondness for them a few years back, and I loved building mine even more than I did hers.
So I guess you could say I caught the sickness, I've found myself hoarding parts and so called "junky" bikes waiting on inspiration for a new project. My place is swimming in bike stuff, my friends all think I'm nuts now. Lately I am really into cruisers, vintage ones, so I found one I liked and I am currently in the process of painting and rebuilding it. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=30381
Being a carpenter I'm pretty good with tools but working with metal is very foreign to me. No plans for a wood bike yet, but I would love to be able to mod a frame or even build my own from scratch. A friend of mine is teaching me to weld, I would say my current skill level is "Popcorn anyone?".
I really like this site, the people on it seem very nice and helpful. So thanks guys for keeping it going and thanks to the builders I've seen a lot of really cool stuff. Well I guess thats it, thanks for taking the time I know it's a little long. May all your builds go smoothly and ride it like you stole it cause you can't take it with you when you go.
I've ridden bikes all my life, always owned one, always ridden... but until just a year ago never knew how to fix or build one. The whole thing started when my bike was stolen, I didn't have much cash to spend on a new one so I needed one on the cheapskate. Luckily a friend from work had a couple of bikes that belonged to his parents kicking around in his garage. Both were Nishiki road bikes, one a woman's frame and the other a men's. The deal was I could have the men's if I fixed up the woman's for his g/f. Now I had never so much as changed an inner tube before but I needed a bike so I dove in head first. I found a not for profit DIY bicycle collective near my house http://bikepirates.com/ , this place is great, dirt cheap parts, specialty tools and friendly volunteers with lots of know how. So with new found confidence I broke her bike down, cleaned it, repacked the BB and headset, new grips, new cables/housing ect.. I was so proud of myself and liked the bike so much that I kept it for an extra week... you know to make sure it rode safe and all
. I ended up turning mine into a fixie after developing a fondness for them a few years back, and I loved building mine even more than I did hers.
So I guess you could say I caught the sickness, I've found myself hoarding parts and so called "junky" bikes waiting on inspiration for a new project. My place is swimming in bike stuff, my friends all think I'm nuts now. Lately I am really into cruisers, vintage ones, so I found one I liked and I am currently in the process of painting and rebuilding it. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=30381
Being a carpenter I'm pretty good with tools but working with metal is very foreign to me. No plans for a wood bike yet, but I would love to be able to mod a frame or even build my own from scratch. A friend of mine is teaching me to weld, I would say my current skill level is "Popcorn anyone?".
I really like this site, the people on it seem very nice and helpful. So thanks guys for keeping it going and thanks to the builders I've seen a lot of really cool stuff. Well I guess thats it, thanks for taking the time I know it's a little long. May all your builds go smoothly and ride it like you stole it cause you can't take it with you when you go.
