Hello I'm Mark and I'm a cycloholic and now appear to be a ebikeoholic I put some of the blame on you lot.
Bikes have been an addiction of mine for last 18 years since I went on holiday to Skipton and took my £99 Apollo All Terrain Bike (as they marketed it at the time). The bike was horrendous as expected, but the mountain biking, wow, I was a one hit addict.
I was late into cycling, at the relatively old age of 31. I used to love bikes as a kid, but ditched them in favour of a powered 2 wheeler as a 16 year old and then into 4 wheels from then on. I'm still a total petrol head, but that's a different story.
I've built and modified numerous mountain bikes over the years and commuted occasionally when I could, but working in construction has limited this due to the location of the sites I've in which I've been involved. Having changed role 3 years ago and now spend 2 or 3 days in the office, which is only 12 miles from home (there is a shorter direct route, but this has very busy roads), I toyed with the idea of cycling for ages, put off by lack of showers and a very heavy bag I need to carry in and home when I'm not in the office 2 days in a row.
I then saw an GTech advert and bought one in March this year. I love singlespeeds and commuted for about a year on one, so and I liked the idea, plus it sounded great as it had a belt drive.
IMG_20170422_171538 by fatwomble, on Flickr
The bike was actually very good, but like most addicts, it wasn't enough, I fancied building my own and bought the cheapest kit from Panda who had an offer, so £380 with the battery.
I already had a spare mountain bike, so I put the kit on my Stooge Frame
The idea was that I would use it more off road than on.
IMG_20170423_101414 by fatwomble, on Flickr
Soon however, I found that I preferred this bike to the GTech (saved 5 to 10 minutes on my commute) and have been commuting on it since May, ditching the knobblies and adding a rack and a better front mudguard.
I bought a second battery for longer rides.
Now I have lots of bike spares in the bike shed, enough to build another bike, with a few additional purchases, so I again found myself buying another kit, this time an elifeshop one which was good value (assuming it lasts). I have a spare battery holder, so I can swap batteries between bikes, but which frame to use?
In the end I went for my old On-One Inbred 29er singlespeed, to which I fitted a mech hanger. Other than the cassette and chain, I only needed a set of hydraulic brakes to add to the parts I already had. I found a bargain set for £65 (only Clarkes, but they feel fine).
Finished it yesterday evening, final fettling and test run today.
IMG_20171202_154149 by fatwomble, on Flickr
Clearly I'm not in the same class as D8veh, but with this forum to feed my addiction, I can see more bike builds in the future.
Bikes have been an addiction of mine for last 18 years since I went on holiday to Skipton and took my £99 Apollo All Terrain Bike (as they marketed it at the time). The bike was horrendous as expected, but the mountain biking, wow, I was a one hit addict.
I was late into cycling, at the relatively old age of 31. I used to love bikes as a kid, but ditched them in favour of a powered 2 wheeler as a 16 year old and then into 4 wheels from then on. I'm still a total petrol head, but that's a different story.
I've built and modified numerous mountain bikes over the years and commuted occasionally when I could, but working in construction has limited this due to the location of the sites I've in which I've been involved. Having changed role 3 years ago and now spend 2 or 3 days in the office, which is only 12 miles from home (there is a shorter direct route, but this has very busy roads), I toyed with the idea of cycling for ages, put off by lack of showers and a very heavy bag I need to carry in and home when I'm not in the office 2 days in a row.
I then saw an GTech advert and bought one in March this year. I love singlespeeds and commuted for about a year on one, so and I liked the idea, plus it sounded great as it had a belt drive.
IMG_20170422_171538 by fatwomble, on FlickrThe bike was actually very good, but like most addicts, it wasn't enough, I fancied building my own and bought the cheapest kit from Panda who had an offer, so £380 with the battery.
I already had a spare mountain bike, so I put the kit on my Stooge Frame
The idea was that I would use it more off road than on.
IMG_20170423_101414 by fatwomble, on FlickrSoon however, I found that I preferred this bike to the GTech (saved 5 to 10 minutes on my commute) and have been commuting on it since May, ditching the knobblies and adding a rack and a better front mudguard.
I bought a second battery for longer rides.
Now I have lots of bike spares in the bike shed, enough to build another bike, with a few additional purchases, so I again found myself buying another kit, this time an elifeshop one which was good value (assuming it lasts). I have a spare battery holder, so I can swap batteries between bikes, but which frame to use?
In the end I went for my old On-One Inbred 29er singlespeed, to which I fitted a mech hanger. Other than the cassette and chain, I only needed a set of hydraulic brakes to add to the parts I already had. I found a bargain set for £65 (only Clarkes, but they feel fine).
Finished it yesterday evening, final fettling and test run today.
IMG_20171202_154149 by fatwomble, on FlickrClearly I'm not in the same class as D8veh, but with this forum to feed my addiction, I can see more bike builds in the future.
Last edited:
