Cold, raw, white-hot metal. Mixture of Track, ATB, Hybrid with aftermarket parts. a bike for 1%er. SNAFU

@fizzy.bleach it was and is fun building it up. It is great for going to sainsburys, Oxford Street and just riding around aimlessly. Will put up pics with new wheels next week. If there is anything I have learnt is to just go with it.

@FujiRacer it was naive to think that I could have this for 50 qui but It is worth every extra pound, this one is a keeper.

Man, are you putting black layers with 50% opacity on top of all those shots or something?!

On topic: nice bike! Cool to see what you can do on a tight budget. I don't know how good your back is, but a horizontal stem might most definitely will transform the look of this bike:

This won't have to cost much, as they're readily available second hand for cheap (where I live at least).

I have the same bell by the way; works great!

50% black layers. How did you find out? I use Fotor for photo editing.

Horizontal stem looks good but I am not giving up the positive stem, it is incredibly comfortable, you should try it too.

How long have you had that bell for?

put on new wheels. riding feels much better now. freewheel is sturdy.

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keeping in with the theme of Snow Leopard...

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...i won auction for these valve caps for 99p. they are coming from hong kong, free postage.

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Tot: 284.77 (with the current 80£ chainset, it is 364.77)

Nice work.

Might just be my connection at work but your pics aren't showing up.

im sorry but I just dont think that is that impressively cheap

If you want a good trick for securing cables along a frame put a loop of cable tie through a washer then put the outer through the loop then tighten it, looks much more deliberate

@swedeee why?

@thrillho that is great, did you come up with it yourself?

Re. the thing not being impressively cheap - take a look at the Dolan mentioned previously, for under £200. At the end of the day, price doesn't matter if you like the bike - it's yours afterall and if you like buying things for it, go ahead and let it keep you happy, but if you're still truly carrying on with the aim of making this a 'cheap budget bike', and thinking you've got a bargain ride then, for the quality of what you've got, that ship sailed a long time ago.

Just an observation. You clearly have great enthusiasm for the thing which is good to see

Mmm, there I was feeling proud of myself for getting bars,stem,brake levers,seatpost, saddle for 30£. guess I missed the trick when it came to frame price. or I should not have spent on the new wheels. Then it would be cheap and cheerful. Now it is slightly expensive and cheerful.

the full shopping list:

frame - £158
wheelset - £39
freewheel - £12
front tyre - £8.50
rear tyre - £9
inner tubes - £7
valve caps - £0.99
bars,stem,brake levers,saddle,seatpost - £30
bottom bracket - £15
2 brake cables - £2.90
grips - £7
bell - £0.85
pedals - £3.49
1 set of brake pads - £1.30
Spray Paint - £5
Clear lacquer spray - £4
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£307.03

Mmm, there I was feeling proud of myself for getting bars,stem,brake levers,seatpost, saddle for 30£.

That's indeed not bad! Frame and wheels almost always cost a significant amount of money, especially if the frame is one with track fork ends.

And @FujiRacer said it perfectly: as long as you're happy with the bike and the amount of money you paid, that's all that matters.

Regarding your earlier comments on the stem and my idea: I find a horizontal stem with risers already comfy enough and really don't like the look of positive stems, but that's me!

well yeah the frame is a huge expense. the wheels arent awfully expensive... just think for nearly £300 its a bit underwhelming for a so called "budget bike"

received my valve caps in 8 days.
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decided to spray paint the frame. sanded and prepped.

as i finished painting in the garden, rain began.

i am using a £5 Kobra KOB-10031 400ml Aerosol Spray Paint in in dark blue.

Good sanding job. did you prime the frame first? I have a raw steel frame that I'm planning on painting ;-).

Seems a shame to lose the yellow paint and macklam decals though!

Thank you. sanding took two days and those frame's intricate parts were a challenge, i used a cable cutting knife. I did not use a primer because if I ever want to paint it in something else, don't want to go through as much effort taking the paint off.

Not all of the paint is removed as you will see in the full bike pictures tomorrow. Although this is not a Macklam made frame it was nice to have the decals, so the headtube badge has been left.

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does anyone know what is the lowest number of teeth that 144BCD 1/8" chainrings go down to?

Word on the grapevine is that 42 is as low as it'll go. Not personally tried to find smaller though :)

Thank you 42t would be just right, gotta go and see if it can be found for sale somewhere.

Have you decided what colour to paint your raw frame?

Why not just get a higher tooth count freewheel? Cheaper, easier to find.

Paint doesn't look bad! Wonder how long it will hold without primer (and clear coat?) though.

Will higher teeth on freewheel (eg 22t) reduce rolling resistance as much as the lower tooth chainring?

Paint won't last long as you say but I don't mind