"Hot Rod" Bicycles

[special-K]

I ended up having to sell my old Schwinns last spring. I had an old Streamliner with tank and all. I still have a Typhoon left to build something,though. It's not quite what people are building these days,but back around 1980 I build a "Clunker",the predecessor to the mountain bike before they were made. It started with an old Columbia springer (w/fork lock) frame I found in an old farm dump on the mountain. I read about Clunkers being built in Marin Co,CA and Crested Butte,CO and went to work. Beach cruisers had hit the scene so I found some cool anodized aluminum parts and converted some BMX parts. I grabbed a tandem bike rear drum brake,found a vintage diaper pin seat,and Ashtabula crank,and the hardest thing was finding knobby tires in 2.125 x 26. I had to grind the front sprocket to work with the pitch/width of the derailleur type chain. The front pouch carries a patch kit and tools and there used to be a gold anondized Zefal tire pump mounted under the top bar. It hasn't been ridden in years. It's a pioneer of the off road bicycle movement and I have considered donating it to the national mountain bike museum in Crested Butte. But,I dunno,I don't think I could let this old relic go:

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by special-K

I ended up having to sell my old Schwinns last spring. I had an old Streamliner with tank and all. I still have a Typhoon left to build something,though. It's not quite what people are building these days,but back around 1980 I build a "Clunker",the predecessor to the mountain bike before they were made. It started with an old Columbia springer (w/fork lock) frame I found in an old farm dump on the mountain. I read about Clunkers being built in Marin Co,CA and Crested Butte,CO and went to work. Beach cruisers had hit the scene so I found some cool anodized aluminum parts and converted some BMX parts. I grabbed a tandem bike rear drum brake,found a vintage diaper pin seat,and Ashtabula crank,and the hardest thing was finding knobby tires in 2.125 x 26. I had to grind the front sprocket to work with the pitch/width of the derailleur type chain. The front pouch carries a patch kit and tools and there used to be a gold anondized Zefal tire pump mounted under the top bar. It hasn't been ridden in years. It's a pioneer of the off road bicycle movement and I have considered donating it to the national mountain bike museum in Crested Butte. But,I dunno,I don't think I could let this old relic go:

I love it! Definitely something different!

[special-K]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

I love it! Definitely something different!

Here is my Schwinn Cruiser 5,the first factory built all terrain bike for adults. They were made in the late-70s-early-80s and are pretty much the same thing as what I built:


It broke my heart to sell this one. I wanted to do something special with it: