price of fixing up an 80's bmx?

[Deleted]

always fancied a mongoose frame with some of those extra cheesy plastic fantastic wheels when I was a kid, but my parents thouht little hooligans rode bmx's so I always had mtb's.

with summer creeping up on us slowly (very slowly) and fuel prices not so slowly going up, a summer commuting bike might be a good idea for me, its onyl about a 3 mile ride every morning and there's only one small hill

so what would the cost be of building up a small bmx bike?
i don't know if frame size matters, as I'm only 5'7 anyway so kids bikes probably work for me!

give me info, and as its friday pics please.

(also this will work as a plea to my g/f so make good arguments)

[Tim]

next to naff all really if you shop around, using ebay and classifieds - frame size for BMX's isnt as important - the racier (lighter) ones are a bit longer to allow better weight distribution (throw your body about)

Unless you want to practice your jumping and street, might a 24" cruiser be better? (athough may cost more)

Plastic wheels are ace :-)

Watch ET for inspiration

[Deleted]

Just had a browse on ebay, mag wheels are what i probably meant by plastic

and I do have a thing for mongoose frames, though they seem reasonably priced to me.

I'm hoping/guessing that I could build a commuter for less than £100 including tyres/paint/wheels/frame if I'm stingy and shop around?

I wont be pulling any "mad skillz" on my way to work, just always wanted a bmx so why not

p.s what kind of breaking setup can I use? when i last had a bike I had inverted V's i think? really curse word just 2 little pads connected to a V shaped line of wire... rubbish, and the cables broke alot.

[Tim]

They are standard cantilever brakes like this - well I think that is what you are referring to:




A V brake is this -




A bmx will (usually) either come with a U brake:




or a Side-pull brake



Any of these are adequate for a commuter - set them up well, clean the rims and use new pads and they will be fine

You can get adaptor plates to switch between them as well - www.sheldonbrown.com is always good for generic bike information

hope that helps!

Tim

[stuey]

you can buy bmx's quite cheaply from car boot sales and get some real bargains and save the ebay pickup polava but if you want a mongoose check out the radbmx forum someone may alreay have one at a reasonable price but expect to pay a little more if you want skyways... heres one of my collection to scratch your itch if old skool is your fancy- If you need any help give me a shout..

[surprisingskoda]

depends what spec you want!
u brakes are the best on a bmx IMO. but personally i wouldn't ride a bmx 3 miles! just not comfortable for me sitting down on one but then i'm 6ft.

but as a guide - very, very skilfully i amassed the bits for my bmx on the sly without anyone knowing and built a Ruption frame covered in Snafu and Diamondback parts which has easily £200+ spec going for it. cost me less than a quarter of that, and for that it rides superbly.
just got 1 3spoke mag for it for less than a tenner, i'll get another soon.

but another bike i've just about finished is a 16" carrera kraken frame, i'm building that into a fast road bike to use during the lighter evenings, and that's the kind of thing I'd use for a 3 mile into-work trek. as it sits it stands me no more than £30 or so, and thats including the brand new Deore mech!

[Deleted]

It official SWMBO has given me a £50 budget!

thinking I might have a hybrid of 80's right up to modern, with oodles of bodge.

mag wheels are a must, as is a respray of a frame... Ebay awaits.

[stuey]

I have a set of white ogk copy mags for not alot of money if youre interested...

[rmad]

Old School BMXs are really small! For £50 you're not going to get much, but I'd be going for something about 5 years old to get the best of both worlds (a bike that's not rubbish, but has dropped massively in value!). Three miles on an old school BMX won't be fun. In fact, for a flat, fun commute I'd look at a cruiser or a single speed jump/street bike with no suspension. Oh, and a slightly bigger budget!

www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/10601/Saracen_Amplitude_1_Bike_2007

[Danger High Voltage]

Think you will struggle to get an 80s Mongoose for £50 more like £500!

All the 80s BMX stuff is selling for a lot these days and also the early 90s stuff is creeping up too.....How do I know you may ask?

I've had a few oldschool BMXs and ALL of them made me money when I came to sell them!

You best bet would be to visit as many car boot sales as possible and maybe you will get lucky!

Theres no point going in bike shops and asking if they have any old stuff because almost every bike shop in the UK has been plundered for anything of value by now!

Or if you are old enough to have ben BMXing back then look up all your old school mates and ask them if they have anything laying around in their mums garage!

[Deleted]

kinda gone off the 3 mile commute, more angling toward weekend ride now.
but i might try it, and kill myself.

may well be interested stuey drop me a pm with some details if you would.

rmad : love the small bmx's, but being a bit on the short side, I don't really mind