Hello Reddit.
I got sucked into a YouTube rabbit hole of people building bikes out of old steel vintage frames. And now I got it in my head that I want to do that. With no prior experience.
I came across this kona mountain fire, 18” frame.
I would like to build a commuter type bike, one that I could also bike pack with. I live close enough to my employer that I can (and already have) bike to work (11km each way).
I currently have a beautiful specialized crosstrail (large frame)I love that bike but I honestly just want the adventure of building my own bike. I’ve started researching parts. But I don’t know what I’m looking at. I just know I want to learn!
I should say, I’m 5’10” 160lbs.
Does this frame work? Any other tips are helpful.
by new_rizzident
1 Comment
The best thing you can do is buy a bike, take it apart and put it back together again.
Then you can experiment swapping out components, and learning about what works and what doesn’t.
But with no prior experience, it might be overwhelming to start from the ground up; especially an Xbiking/parts bin type build where compatibility and broken components might be a real pain.
You can bikepack on anything if you’re committed. But wider tires, rack mounts and comfortable geometry are things to look for.