You need leverage. A few years ago my wife wanted to move to the “Big City” from the small “Podunk Town” that I was very happy living in. Now any time I want to make a “reasonable expenditure” I mention that we moved to make her happy. Once in a while I still complain about living here so she won’t think I’ve started to like it.

Pete..

Good plan; maintain your leverage that way! Never let them think you're happy, or they'll find a way to make you unhappy.

Mark

Now that I see how that works I may be inclined to try it. I have a few old DF's out in the garage collecting dust! It might be fun to play with something like that.

Walt

Bike Leggos!!

You just have to make sure that your donor bike has a low enough top tube that you'll be able to reach the ground when the seat is attached.

Mark

I think the current 24" kids bikes offer a pretty promising base for conversion. I set mine up with 650c wheels and it seems like a real good seating position and is fast. My only concern is for those with long legs. I think you have to run the telescoping top tube (TFT) out too far. But, it's marginal for me and I do have long legs. Here's a picture of that bike:



I also had mine set up on a cheap Pacific mountain bike frame and while a little heavy, it was a nice rider.



The seat was a little bit higher than I really wanted and I could never get the recline and the nose of the seat just right. Otherwise, it was a hoot to ride and the mountain bike suspension really made for a nice ride.

Mostly look for your frame. Chances are, the components will be throw-away. I guess it doesn't hurt to build it with what comes on it, you can easily upgrade later. I bought the mtb frame from a Craigslist dealer that bought bikes from police auction. It was incomplete, had a 24" fork/wheel on the front and had obviously been beaten badly in it's previous life. I already had parts for the build, so I stripped all the junk parts off of it and put them directly in the dumpster.

Mark

Saw an image of a different location for the handlebar on a Freerider, it was down near the crank. Do you know of any advantage(s) to having the connection place near the crank? I plan on investigating this placement on my mongoose conversion but wanted any personal experiences to go by before I start the conversion of my conversion.

I am unclear on this matter: Is this a con-version or a per-version? Or maybe you just can't resist being part of Team Wal-Mart, with a little designer flair.