>>1611443anyway. I had a bunch more to look at but it won't fucking let me. What the fuck is wrong with gumtree?
you could buy this:
https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/hurstville/men-s-bicycles/free-spirit-mountain-bike/1265508210it's a reasonable quality bike.
Restoring it would entail stripping it, taking apart the bearings (wheel hubs, headset), cleaning them with kerosene, potentially replacing the balls or cones, and repacking with grease. Bottom bracket is a cartridge unit you just replace. If you have a clean workspace and a clean mind you can accomplish this. Then re-cabling with new cables, and replacing the cassette and chain and brake pads and grips.
Your idea of hacking your way to a good bike is probably plug and play lego type 'building' and 'customizing' but actually you want to buy something in bad condition with reasonably nice parts, and not really change any of them, just restore it.
The bulk of your money will go into tools and service item consumables. If you're disciplined it's very cost effective, but i take you at your word when you say you want to put in time and effort because it will be that. Luckily, there are fantastic resources online that will guide you through it all and we can do some handholding if you get stuck.
At the end, a bike like this will be fantastic for riding on gravel roads and loading with racks and gear. Basically, an /out/ bike through and through.
