The Gravel ShedStart a build

The Gravel Shed

Old bikes.
New adventures.

A bare purple steel bicycle frame and fork standing upright in a cut stubble field, fog closing in behind it.

Restored and rebuilt, a few builds at a time

A bright red Merida Dakar 670 with drop bars and a gold chainring, standing on a snow-covered track with frosted forest behind.
The red Merida seen at an angle from the front, snow-covered field and frosted trees behind it.
The same bike from the opposite side, standing in snow beside frost-covered scrub.
Close view of the red frame showing the Dakar 670 decal on the top tube, the Merida logo on the down tube and the black-taped drop bar.

BUILD 001

Merida Dakar 670

Year
1997
Size
52 cm
Status
available
Price
16,900 NOK

01 / The bike

Red against the snow

Nothing about this frame is subtle, and that is the point. The red was mixed in 1997 and it has not faded a shade since.

02 / The angle

Front on, in the cold

Wide bars, wider tyres. The front end sits low enough to be quick and high enough to be ridden all day.

03 / The other side

And from the other

Cables run clean along the top tube. Nothing is hidden, because on a frame this age there is nothing worth hiding.

04 / The detail

Dakar 670

The decals came up under a cloth and warm water. No respray, no clear coat, no attempt to make it look newer than it is.

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Next build

Peugeot Hurricane

A bare Peugeot Hurricane frame and fork, fading from turquoise to navy, leaning against a pine-panelled workshop wall.
The built Peugeot Hurricane in low autumn sun. Turquoise-to-navy fade frame with paint splatter, orange chainring and knobby tyres, standing on gravel scattered with fallen leaves, a meadow and treeline behind.
The same bike with yellow handlebar tape, standing on leaf-covered gravel in thick fog, autumn trees and a misty field behind it.

BUILD 011

Peugeot Hurricane

Year
1993
Size
56 cm
Status
archive

01 / The frame

Stripped back to the tubes

Bare frame, bare fork, and a wall to lean against. This is the only honest way to look at a bike before deciding what it should become.

02 / The build

Built up again

Modern gearing, period paint. The parts are chosen for how the bike will be ridden, not for what it was sold as.

03 / In use

Out in the weather

Bar tape changes, chains wear out, bikes get ridden. That is the whole idea.

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Stripped & built

The built Peugeot Hurricane in low autumn sun. Turquoise-to-navy fade frame with paint splatter, orange chainring and knobby tyres, standing on gravel scattered with fallen leaves, a meadow and treeline behind.
A bare Peugeot Hurricane frame and fork, fading from turquoise to navy, leaning against a pine-panelled workshop wall.
StrippedBuilt

Next build

Merida Miami

A blue-purple Merida Miami with pink handlebar tape and tan-wall tyres, standing on a leaf-covered forest track between birch trunks.
The same bike seen head-on from behind the saddle, showing the drop handlebar, pink tape and pink pedals against the forest floor.
Close view of the cockpit: the pink-taped drop bar, brake lever and the red Merida decal on the purple down tube.

BUILD 010

Merida Miami

Year
1996
Size
54 cm
Status
archive

01 / The bike

A 90s frame, still working

Steel, 26 inch, built the year the shop that sold it stopped stocking anything without suspension. It has outlasted all of them.

02 / The stance

Drop bars on a mountain frame

A short stem and a wide drop bar turn a twitchy mountain bike into something that holds a line on gravel for hours.

03 / The detail

Original paint, kept

Chips, scratches and a decal that has started to lift at one corner. All of it stays.

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The frame

Cannondale CAD3 M500

A bare navy Cannondale CAD3 M500 frame and fork standing on a concrete floor against a pine-panelled wall, the Cannondale name in white down the down tube.
Called out
  • Top tube
  • Down tube
  • Bottom bracket
  • Seat tube
  • Chainstay