Frankenbike for cross? Help? tips?

[goldfinch]

I was just working on my sister's old Schwinn Caliente juvenile which has the 24 inch wheels. That bike is a tank. The wheels are chrome and you have to really have the brakes set close and the wheels super true for them to work at all well. Even with Koolstop pads the braking is inferior. I am very short, 4'10.5", and also ride a 43cm bike with 650 wheels. Even I find the handlebars uncomfortably narrow on the Caliente. However, it is kind of nice to have such a small frame. But, if you are going to use it for cross you will need to have better brakes and wheels than what they came stock, if your bike has similar components to my sister's. You also won't want the original Schwinn wheels because you will be limited in what tires you can use anyway.

I look at the bike and sigh. It just isn't that great of a bike.

I'd go for a mountain bike frame. I just bought for fifty dollars an older Trek 800 mountain bike with no suspension in a 13" frame. That would work far better for cross than the Caliente. Though it is almost as much of a tank as the Caliente.

You could look at juvenile cross bikes as well. For example: http://www.rei.com/product/795151/no...525-_-10456937

Or a 24 inch wheel bike from Kona that a friend tried to persuade me to get: http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=jake_24