Bike from the Dead
I live for the CABE
I've been getting a little burnt out working on my current RRBBO20 entry as of late, as I've run into a few hurdles that I need to take my time with before I proceed with final assembly. I really wanted to have it rideable in time for this weekend, but it's just not going to happen at this rate. Plus, as much as I want to build my factory green Schwinn straight bar cruiser, what I really want to build right now is another klunker.
Specifically, I want to build a single-speed, low-gear klunker to test a theory I've got about why I see so many single-speed klunkers with such small chainrings, as opposed to klunkers with multiple gears. I'm sure everybody who's already done this knows why and has explained why, but I learn better from hands-on experience. My guess as to why so many folks build klunkers with a single low gear as opposed to having more gears, aside from ease of assembly and maintenance, is because you don't need a higher gear for going downhill, as gravity is on your side there, but you need a low gear for going uphill. It never really clicked with me until I rebuilt my step-thru klunker to have 7 gears, and spent more time riding in a lower gear than a higher gear. I also got a better sense for that when I rode a Mongoose Dirt Jumper alongside my 7-speed klunker this past Monday.
I want to find out whether riding a single-speed klunker with a low gear and a coaster brake is just as good, if not better, than riding a klunker or mountain bike with multiple gears, shifters, derailleurs, caliper/v-brakes, and all that other stuff. I certainly know which one I'd rather build, but I want to find out which one's more fun to ride. Up till now, my only problem with that was that I wanted to paint the bike I planned to build to test that theory. That all changed when I got an idea yesterday for a frame I bought at Haysville, Kansas this year for $4.
I'm not 100% sure what it is, but my best guess is that it's a mid/late-'30s CWC. I bought it because I thought it was Colson, but the tank area's narrower than a Colson's. The fork that came with it was junk, the rear fender and rack are probably not original to the frame, and the chain tensioners have been replaced with flathead bolts, but the frame was nice and straight, and the price was right.
Headbadge reads "NONPAREIL BICYCLE WORKS Speed ST. LOUIS, U.S.A. (Part of the reason for the thread name.)
Originally, my plan for this frame was to install this Shelby fork I have, bob the rear fender, and make a board track racer out of it.
I still might do that later, but when I was gifted this Schwinn Cruiser for free last month, I hatched a new plan for this Speed bike. See, I got this bike for the fork, but the steerer tube is 6.5", 1/2 an inch too short for the bike I planned to use it on. So, I tried thinking of a bike in my stash that could use it.
That's when I remembered that this Speed bike used a 6.5" steerer tube, and since the fork I want to use isn't coming off the donor frame anytime soon, I figured this would be the perfect bike to use that fork! When I ran by my storage space to drop off some parts and pick up some for my Build Off bike, I grabbed this frame and any parts that could come in handy for the idea I had in mind.
I mocked it up after dinner last night, and although the tires I mocked up were too big and I hadn't removed the skiptooth chainring yet, I could already tell that this bike would make a perfect klunker!
I threw on a small Schwinn chainring, and right then and there, I knew this bike was just what I needed to test my theory about low-gear single-speed klunkers!
Here's the plan: I want to throw this bike together before Saturday, because on Saturday is the Port City VW car show in Catoosa, Oklahoma. Not only is it a big car show, but it's also a big bicycle show as well! I even won "best in show" with my bike Shoestring last year and won a new Park Tool work stand, pictured above! I want to bring something new to the show this time, and since my RRBBO20 entry won't be ready in time, I want to bring this and ride it around at the show! Now, there is a chance that the show may get rained out, but even if it does, I still want to be able to bring it to my Dad's next cruise-in at his shop next Thursday. With any luck, I'll have it ready to ride by tomorrow evening, but we'll see how that goes. The bikes that "should be pretty easy to put together" have a way of being more difficult than I'd like.
Specifically, I want to build a single-speed, low-gear klunker to test a theory I've got about why I see so many single-speed klunkers with such small chainrings, as opposed to klunkers with multiple gears. I'm sure everybody who's already done this knows why and has explained why, but I learn better from hands-on experience. My guess as to why so many folks build klunkers with a single low gear as opposed to having more gears, aside from ease of assembly and maintenance, is because you don't need a higher gear for going downhill, as gravity is on your side there, but you need a low gear for going uphill. It never really clicked with me until I rebuilt my step-thru klunker to have 7 gears, and spent more time riding in a lower gear than a higher gear. I also got a better sense for that when I rode a Mongoose Dirt Jumper alongside my 7-speed klunker this past Monday.
I want to find out whether riding a single-speed klunker with a low gear and a coaster brake is just as good, if not better, than riding a klunker or mountain bike with multiple gears, shifters, derailleurs, caliper/v-brakes, and all that other stuff. I certainly know which one I'd rather build, but I want to find out which one's more fun to ride. Up till now, my only problem with that was that I wanted to paint the bike I planned to build to test that theory. That all changed when I got an idea yesterday for a frame I bought at Haysville, Kansas this year for $4.
I'm not 100% sure what it is, but my best guess is that it's a mid/late-'30s CWC. I bought it because I thought it was Colson, but the tank area's narrower than a Colson's. The fork that came with it was junk, the rear fender and rack are probably not original to the frame, and the chain tensioners have been replaced with flathead bolts, but the frame was nice and straight, and the price was right.
Headbadge reads "NONPAREIL BICYCLE WORKS Speed ST. LOUIS, U.S.A. (Part of the reason for the thread name.)
Originally, my plan for this frame was to install this Shelby fork I have, bob the rear fender, and make a board track racer out of it.
I still might do that later, but when I was gifted this Schwinn Cruiser for free last month, I hatched a new plan for this Speed bike. See, I got this bike for the fork, but the steerer tube is 6.5", 1/2 an inch too short for the bike I planned to use it on. So, I tried thinking of a bike in my stash that could use it.
That's when I remembered that this Speed bike used a 6.5" steerer tube, and since the fork I want to use isn't coming off the donor frame anytime soon, I figured this would be the perfect bike to use that fork! When I ran by my storage space to drop off some parts and pick up some for my Build Off bike, I grabbed this frame and any parts that could come in handy for the idea I had in mind.
I mocked it up after dinner last night, and although the tires I mocked up were too big and I hadn't removed the skiptooth chainring yet, I could already tell that this bike would make a perfect klunker!
I threw on a small Schwinn chainring, and right then and there, I knew this bike was just what I needed to test my theory about low-gear single-speed klunkers!
Here's the plan: I want to throw this bike together before Saturday, because on Saturday is the Port City VW car show in Catoosa, Oklahoma. Not only is it a big car show, but it's also a big bicycle show as well! I even won "best in show" with my bike Shoestring last year and won a new Park Tool work stand, pictured above! I want to bring something new to the show this time, and since my RRBBO20 entry won't be ready in time, I want to bring this and ride it around at the show! Now, there is a chance that the show may get rained out, but even if it does, I still want to be able to bring it to my Dad's next cruise-in at his shop next Thursday. With any luck, I'll have it ready to ride by tomorrow evening, but we'll see how that goes. The bikes that "should be pretty easy to put together" have a way of being more difficult than I'd like.
