How hard can it be? bits onto a frame?

[silverback mike]

Hi folks,
Following my bike being stolen my dear old dad has found an old marin muirwoods 19" frame in his garage along with another 17" marin bobcat bike which he used about 7 years ago.

The 17" is too small for me, so my plan is to swap the bits over to the 19" frame.

However, having never done this, what sort of a project is it? any pitfalls to look out for.

Thanks,
Mike.

[Y7TSY]

Well sometimes stuff doesnt fit like the bottom bracket etc. But overall its quite easy and can be quite satisfying building the bike up from just the frame. Also the gears can take a while to get them running perfect once you have swapped it all over.

[pdV6]

In essence, it's easy. But you might come unstuck by needing specific tools that you won't find in your average car-focussed garage.

[silverback mike]

ahh yes indeed, I'll have a look, I'm keeping both anyway so I'll have a think.
Nice to speak Pete, hows things?

[Floor Tom]

You may or may not run into problems with the seatpost and bottom bracket size, the rest should fit ok. Make sure you check that the steerer tube on the forks is long enough too. Sometimes bigger sized frames have longer headtubes.
The only specalist tools you will need will be headset removal and fitting tool (might be a good ideat to just take the two bare frames to your LBS, will probably only charge £5/£10 to switch it over), a bottom bracket tool and a crank puller. The rest should be ok with the standard workshop stuff.

[silverback mike]

Thanks Tom, I'll have a bash at it I reckon. Can't be that bad

[pdV6]

Not bad Mike - trying to get back into riding a bit more following a disappointing winter.

The "current fleet" section of your profile looks suspiciously empty... anything fun in the offing?

Meant to add - Neil will have pretty much every tool imaginable if you get stuck...

Edited by pdV6 on Monday 12th April 16:13

[silverback mike]

Glad all's well Pete

Sadly I'm into bangernomics for a while, lots of things have had to shelve the toy for a bit.
I'll be sure to bounce back in something 'interesting' though.

And yes, I had a natter with Neil last night who has offered his services if I manage to balls something up, which, is quite possible.

[pdV6]

The Park Tools website has guides on how to do pretty much anything to your bike. Might be worth a quick look before diving in, Mike.