building a bike

Well, first off: don't be an A-hole. Spend time with your kids, some CEO or not (who cares, not exactly germane to the question now is it?). Second, the book: "The Zen of Bike Maintenance" is pretty damn helpful for most folks and is an easy read. Most LBS will have a that and a couple of others, but "Zen" is my favorite. Park makes a couple of kits that have most everything us garage mechanics need. They range from "about" $250 to $550, but there are other options out there (buy a tool or two each month). You can start with a good set of allen wrenches, chainbreak tool, screwdrivers, and open end box wrenches. Move on to more specialized (and likely expensive) tools later. If you have access to a Merlin frame I wouldn't disgrace it with "cheap" forks. You can pick up used Marzocchi or Manitou that rock for a couple hundred (less on ebay often). Although the rear derailleur from your old Univega will fit any bike, check the seatpost diameter (and cable routing) between bikes to see if it will fit the Merlin. Have fun with the project.

K.

Hi, Good points all round!, off to find the bits this week
many thanks

Hi, Good points all round!, off to find the bits this week
many thanks

Gotta love it The kid and the dad are both winners. The kid gets a hands on dad and a "built with love" bike. The Dad gets to hurt his face smiling too much.

Gotta love it!!
Pat

Sounds nice, huh Pat? The good guys win one here. Finally.

K.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by simonpeb
Hi
As a keen family of bikers, I have been fostering in my son (6years old) an interest in bikes, he has his own and we do woodland trails etc. We came across an old frame dumped in a ditch that he insisted we take home an make new. The frame in question is just trash, but after a weekend of stripping and cleaning it, it is ready to be sent off for a respray(ie I can bin it and replace it). My wife has an old Univega 5.3 LX/mix and the idea is to take bits from that and put onto a new frame and sus forks. I have been thinking about a merlin malt frame and some cheap forks, but really where do we start and what tools/books should I get. The chance to work with my son on this is just to good as a company CEO, I rarely get freetime with the kids. Any thoughts, thanks

I suggest you surf over to Sheld Brown's website at URL:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/articles.html
There are good articles and illustrations on many bicycle topics there.
You might also find the Park Tool site helpful.
I suggest the following URL as a starting point:
http://www.parktool.com/repair_help/FAQindex.shtml
Once you learn the navigation method of pointing and clicking at the part of the bicycle you are interested in, it works well.
They have some great instructions and illustrations.
I think that you can get some good help with speicifc parts at rec.bicycle.marketplace
You will need to tell your story and see if you can enlist your son to do some of the surf and sweat as part of the preocess.
David Ornee, Western Springs, IL