I totally agree with you that planning, sourcing and building is a huge part of the enjoyment. It adds to the satisfaction of riding if it's your own project.

I think the fact that you can buy a £100/200 old bike, spend anywhere from £200 to £1000+ on parts, and have it still not really be worth selling is actually what keeps this kind of scene accessible and enjoyable for what it simply is: enjoying riding your bike and making it your own.

If we get to a point where vintage ’90s mountain bikes can be bought and sold for a massive profit, the whole thing will be over.

Otherwise, a great build, which I think is specced just right. I agree there is a step slightly too far with old bikes, and I’d say Paul and White Industries make more sense on a new build. Still, from experience, it's never a good idea to go cheap with parts if you plan to really use your bike.

That's an awesome build great work.

Very good break down! I appreciate your time and transparency..most people down play how much they spend and make it seem like these ATB builds cost next to nothing,yes they can be very inexpensive and if you’re already a bike addict/mechanic and have a full “Parts bin” to pull choice parts from or have a local co-op to buy from..but if you’re out looking to buy/build one it choose wisely because it can either save or cost you a lot money in the end..great info!

I have a 1993 Marin Muirwoods and a 1997 Kona Hahanna that I've converted to 1x7 lazy cruisers. I had both in my early and mid 20s. Loved and lost and bought again. The Marin was £40 and the Kona £130 (both on eBay). I've spent no more than £200 modifying both (tyres, bars, racks and baskets and few components here and there). Both mean a great deal to me and I'll never sell them. The joy was in finding them again and making them what I wanted today as a 52 year old cyclist with a huge love of nostalgia. Love your channel. Makes me feel at home. 🚲😁

as long as the heart of the bike - the frame -  is good, you can go as mad or as frugal as you want on parts. If you love the build and the way it rides under you, it really doesn't matter.

Surly Krampus with 29er I-30 rims and 2.35" tires. Happy trails!

This is the truth. My old 94 Dyna Tech Ti frame has hung on many a garage wall over the years, I built it back up with a bit of a retromod updated to 27 speed in 24, mainly parts off ebay.... cassette was toast and the front mech had issues. Rebuilding the bike yourself gives it soul, it is unique, it turns heads when I turn up to rides locally, it is a lot of fun to ride and is and will evolve over time. 65 year old loving the outdoors on my bike.

Cost: $200-$1200
Value: unlimited with limitations.

I spent about $800 on my $10 Jamis. I built the bike I wanted to ride. The bike that made me feel cool with comfort. I loved riding it so much, I decided to sell my car and use it to commute. With the money from the car, I paid for a year train pass and had a lot left over for savings/investments. I’ve saved over $16,000 the first year in insurance and gas at the cost of January’s pricing (before the Don ruined the world markets). I’m fitter than ever. Leaner than ever. Happier than ever. More free than ever. Get the bike. Spend the money. Let the ride take you places. ✌🏻

I typically wait for a good deal on a used, complete vintage bike with a nice part spec. That way I can reuse many of the original components and upgrade a few things here and there while keeping the total cost down. The joy is in the cleaning and refurbishing of the period correct parts. Best case scenario the build comes out to ~$200 USD, but if replace most of the components I can certainly get up towards your build budget. Totally agree that the value out is always worth the cost.

Marins are great

I like the build a lot! Did you use a 26mm stem for the Crust Ortho Bar? Or does it work with a 25,4mm stem?

Nice! Interesting to see the breakdown of costs of parts and so on. Puts a bit of perspective onto what I recently spent on a bike built for my wife. For that bike I wanted to make her something nice of course so i splurged a little on fancy cable housing and small things like that, but saved a lot by using an old STX RC crankset I happened to have stripped off another frame, and kind of followed a theme by getting used STX RC v brakes and levers - nothing very fancy but nice and silver and retro looking. The frame also had a stem with it, and very serviceable Tioga headset which again was used but looked nice to me, and worked perfectly well….. how much did I spend in the end up with new and old bits, maybe £500? Not sure. But the point is could I get a lot for it if I sold it, maybe not, but I know it’s a good bike, that looks nice, and that will be fun to use for her, and I know it inside out. It’s MY build. And that’s the real beauty of it. Maybe I’ll swap in some fancier bits one day, but for now I’m just quite chuffed with what it is now.

You’re into vintage MTB frames, but if you were to splurge on a new frameset, what would be worthy of the finest components on your dream build? What’s the dream frameset?