I found a well used mixte frame upright bike at the local Goodwill store for about $10. This was the basis for the bike. It had a lugged frame and department store components – the *perfect donor bike for the project. On second thought, I wish I would have looked a little longer and got a bike with better components!
To keep things as simple as possible, I wanted to keep the same head tube angle, trail, and fork rake as the donor. To do this, I needed to take two measurements BEFORE disassembling it. With the bike standing straight up with tires inflated, I measured the height of the bottom bracket(BB) and the front axle. By keeping these measurements the same in the final bike, I kept the front geometry from the donor bike (because I did not alter the “front triangle”).
The next step was removing components from the frame. I removed all every thing except the front fork and one of the bearing cups that was stuck in the bottom bracket. I should have taken the time to remove the cup before I started working! It took a lot of effort after I had applied heat to the bottom bracket!