Ok so I've not posted anything other than "help I need" or "I've got a few bits I don't need" so please bare with me :?
I managed to get my jaw dislocated at work back in July (the morning after the Strathpuffer 12hr) and as a result of the injury to my neck I ended up with a fairly useless left hand. This meant I went from about 100 miles a week; combined commute & in woods to zero overnight!!!! :shock: so after more scans, physio and manipulation than I care to waste my breath about, I decided in the hope of restoring some sanity I would slowly build a rigid 29er for when I was able?!?!? I decided that this years puffer was the goal.
Off I set with no real budget put aside I figured I would see how cheaply I could do it, I have a bit of a thing for finding a bargain so it kinda became a bit of a challenge. Over the next few months I managed to pick up pretty much everything I needed with everything being a minimum of 50% and most of it being about 75% off. I pretty much just went for the best bits could find with the greatest discount, sure most of it is a few seasons old and is more or less the work horse of their given range but that all fits in with the rest of my bikes!!!! Even up till xmas I was still undecided as to which frame to go for but an on one discount weekend and a wee bit of store credit saw me pick up a Scandal for £135!!! my wife and mother were happy to accept fairly detailed Christmas & birthday lists and with that I pretty much had everythin i needed. A half decent wheelset was proving difficult to find so I opted for some heavily discounted Ringle hubs and WTB laser disc rims and figured that surely wheelbuilding is like riding a proverbial bike and that my 15 years away from the black art wouldnt be an issue?!?!?!?!?!
Anyway at the end of Jan I woke up on my bithday to a bike shaped jigsaw puzzle!! Woo hoo let the build begin!!!!!
We have a 7week old son so most of it has been done on the night shift while he convinced me that sleep was a total waste of his existence :roll: I opted for a job a night; night one: frame, fork and cockpit assembly, night two: braking, night three & four: wheelbuilding, night five: drivetrain, night six: setup, tune and just be generally chuffed with myself!!! all in im very happy with it!! it's not done anything other than pedal round the street so far but an ever progressing hand means It won't be too long before its covered in the brown stuff!!!!
Oh and just as a point of interest the final count including what was spent on gifts comes in at £630 give or take a few pounds which I'm more than happy with!!!
Cheers
Cary
I managed to get my jaw dislocated at work back in July (the morning after the Strathpuffer 12hr) and as a result of the injury to my neck I ended up with a fairly useless left hand. This meant I went from about 100 miles a week; combined commute & in woods to zero overnight!!!! :shock: so after more scans, physio and manipulation than I care to waste my breath about, I decided in the hope of restoring some sanity I would slowly build a rigid 29er for when I was able?!?!? I decided that this years puffer was the goal.
Off I set with no real budget put aside I figured I would see how cheaply I could do it, I have a bit of a thing for finding a bargain so it kinda became a bit of a challenge. Over the next few months I managed to pick up pretty much everything I needed with everything being a minimum of 50% and most of it being about 75% off. I pretty much just went for the best bits could find with the greatest discount, sure most of it is a few seasons old and is more or less the work horse of their given range but that all fits in with the rest of my bikes!!!! Even up till xmas I was still undecided as to which frame to go for but an on one discount weekend and a wee bit of store credit saw me pick up a Scandal for £135!!! my wife and mother were happy to accept fairly detailed Christmas & birthday lists and with that I pretty much had everythin i needed. A half decent wheelset was proving difficult to find so I opted for some heavily discounted Ringle hubs and WTB laser disc rims and figured that surely wheelbuilding is like riding a proverbial bike and that my 15 years away from the black art wouldnt be an issue?!?!?!?!?!
Anyway at the end of Jan I woke up on my bithday to a bike shaped jigsaw puzzle!! Woo hoo let the build begin!!!!!
We have a 7week old son so most of it has been done on the night shift while he convinced me that sleep was a total waste of his existence :roll: I opted for a job a night; night one: frame, fork and cockpit assembly, night two: braking, night three & four: wheelbuilding, night five: drivetrain, night six: setup, tune and just be generally chuffed with myself!!!
all in im very happy with it!! it's not done anything other than pedal round the street so far but an ever progressing hand means It won't be too long before its covered in the brown stuff!!!! Oh and just as a point of interest the final count including what was spent on gifts comes in at £630 give or take a few pounds which I'm more than happy with!!!
Cheers
Cary
