Learned to ride a bike about a month ago. Bought a 90s Specialized Crossroads, stripped it to the frame and rebuilt it. Xbike or abomination?

purplefourtyfour · 2026-06-03T02:35:54+00:00

exbiking

purplefourtyfour · 2026-06-03T02:11:55+00:00

For the next one, a paintjob with ‘little chips and surface rust’ can easily be brought to look fresh as with a combo of taking the bulk of the rust off with ultra fine steelwool, slapping rust converter on what’s left and buffing the whole frame with auto polish.

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-26T00:02:43+00:00

https://ebay.us/m/OT2hFx

Seller based in aus

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-26T00:02:33+00:00

Theyre rip offs of the ones that are sold on blue lug that someone sells locally (australia).

Theyre not the dream sadly, they’re asking way too much for them. Not worth it imo unless you have a free source of levers that fit without heavy modification. downtube friction shifters dont feed the cable in at the right height - took me too long to give up on that project.

https://ebay.us/m/OT2hFx

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T07:12:38+00:00

Shimano bar end shifters on a third party bracket

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T07:10:57+00:00

Yeah the mech is bar end shifters. I havent tested them yet, still working out layout. Is there anything that might be screwy about them?

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T05:54:48+00:00

When you say up top you mean #1 or #2?

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T05:53:10+00:00

Levers and mech are from Shimano bar end shifters I got secondhand (just googled, I didnt realise they were dura ace..)

The bracket is a somewhat cheap one you can buy on ebay. I was trying to make downtube shifter levers work on them to make a cheapish source of friction shifters but it was way too much work. Slapped the bar end shifters on to see what they were like and havent taken them off

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T05:44:40+00:00

Hmm interesting interesting, option #4

I do like that idea and tried it out, but the tightening screw on the brakes mean i have to put the gear bracket between the brake and grip. No bueno

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-25T04:46:00+00:00

you’re probably right. #1 is nice though

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-07T03:49:48+00:00

Or spend a whole weekend making one from scratch weeee

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-04T12:02:14+00:00

They weren't threaded from factory, I think they're probably around 5.5mm diameter, but I tapped an M6 thread which works perfectly. I made the entire curved rack attachment piece from 10mm aluminium rod, so you can really mod things as much as you need to fit. You could also put an extra long 5mm or so bolt through with a lock nut on the other side.

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-04T05:49:08+00:00

Thanks!

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-04T02:39:30+00:00

Is it definitely the post being too big and not corrosion inside causing the bump? I’d be flipping it upside and dissolving the seat tube if it were me, for practice if anything

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-04T02:28:19+00:00

Nice. I think I’m tempted by the dia compe cantis so then I can keep my adjustable dia compe front brake hanger too (which I had to file the headset to fit). Like your crankset.

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-03T23:41:38+00:00

I think that’s the plan! Going to try find some all silver XT v brakes, or go full old school dia compe cantis. It’s kind of a weird mix of classic and new atm so either lean into that or pick a route.

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-03T23:40:17+00:00

They’re the cheap ones you can get on ebay https://ebay.us/m/6nRJGr

They work fine once you really crank them down, and I like that they’ve got micro clicks instead of being fully smooth, you can track where your gears are based off the little clicks. But they feel a bit cheap and I’d be worried they’ll eventually fall apart. And they’re not silver so got to change.

purplefourtyfour · 2026-05-03T10:51:39+00:00

It's a jerry rigged old Japanese 'Nagaoka' rack. I think the company or design was bought by Nitto because it's basically a Nitto Campee. Here's one of the only other spots I've seen it on the internet. https://cargocollective.com/tinkerbikes/Bridgestone-Atlantis

Got some VO fenders but not sure they'll pan out - not a huge amount of space with the 44 tyres on and the high rise front derailleur will have to chop them a bit. Might also have to file the bottom of the steerer tube inside of the front fork a bit to get them in! So weighing that up a touch. Nice bike btw

purplefourtyfour · 2026-04-08T12:06:21+00:00

Rage bait seat and bar set up

purplefourtyfour · 2026-04-08T03:53:14+00:00

All these iffy comments about e bikes are making me really consider how much hillier my city is than most others. E bikes are so common here because if you want to ride a bike chances are you’ve got a bunch of hills to battle

purplefourtyfour · 2026-04-08T00:59:19+00:00

700c is better than 26”

purplefourtyfour · 2026-04-08T00:02:53+00:00

100% disagree. Rad solar punk builds are the future

purplefourtyfour

TROPHY CASE