Building Poli Chapter Three: Take All Your Clothes Off, Baby

A budget build means not everyone gets their way.

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Day one in my allotted space in the basement. Cramped among bike tires, pots, cardboard boxes, a ladder and sundry articles either in storage or in sporadic use, this is where Poli – yes, she has a name now – will rise. Like Phoenix out of the ashes. Only that in this case, Poli will rise out of the debris of a slaughtered bike.

This chainring has been lying around for a while. The bling factor isn't what I really want, but it will have to do for now.

The conversion kit from MTB Tools will hopefully live up to expectations so that I don't have to procure a new wheel.

With the conversion kit installed, the screw on the Syntace hub can't move freely. Hopefully it won't be a problem.

Poli won’t be equipped with brand spanking new parts. Costs must be kept down, and that means that one bike will lose its life – I mean, wheels – so that another one can roll.

Chiquita is a Santa Cruz Tallboy LTc. My first trail bike and my first and only full suspension bike. I’ve had a ton of fun on Chiquita. Yet all good things come to an end, and I’ve decided to strip Chiquita of all her intimates – wires and all.

In our era of consumption, people may not remorse getting rid of something as material as a bike. However, five years and numerous of adventures makes me a bit melancholic now that Chiquita will be reduced to a faded yellow frame, hidden behind cardboard boxes and the ladder in the corner of the basement.

I may blow the dust off her again if the hardtail project is a complete failure and my body needs the cushion offered by a full suspension bike. After all, old love doesn’t rust, and particularly not if it’s made of carbon.