I'm starting a thread for Klunkers and Strandies

[Bradies Bicycle Shop]

Klunkers and Strands....I've made a couple and I've seen some great ones on the "What Rat-Bike Did You Ride Today" Thread. While a Klunker absolutely falls into the category of Rat Bike, I believe it is specifically different from other Rat-Bikes or Rat-Rods. From my understanding, Klunkers came about in the beginnings of the BMX era because all BMX bikes were 20" and the bigger guys needed something to ride. Mainly using steel cruiser frames, these bikes were suped up with repurposed or aftermarket BMX parts to make larger Bikes that could be ridden on BMX tracks. Strandies served a similar purpose But were more cruiser than BMX. I was barely born when this all started to go down but by talking with folks who were, I was told that each neigborhood or city would have a slightly different style of Klunker than the next.

Please if anybody has more to say about this phenomenon please chip in!

Here is a continuous 24" double straight bar Schwinn modified to have some pretty fat tired 26" wheels. Schwinn predator handlebars, early Mathews stem, Heavily springed Brooks seat, Straight BMX forks, and some donuts to remind me of my racing days. This is a mock up and I'd like to finish it nicely but we'll see. It's a solid rider and a lot of fun with the smaller-ish size.

 

[Wolfmac]

It’s very true, that we who spent our youth and our hard earned coin in the late 70’s, converting our spitfires and cruiser model Schwinns into oversized BMX bikes and road them on homemade dirt tracks, launching them what seemed to be unimaginable distances, at least from a twelve year olds perspective, may have contributed to the shaping of a new style of bike, or biking. However, I believe the term klunker has its roots in the pre-mountain bike genre of a time even slightly earlier than my giant BMX years.

It is my understanding that the advent of mountain biking was centered in the Nor Cal region and was pioneered initially by daring young men or teens, who had converted their ballooners by stripping them down of needless weight and throwing a set of motocross bars on them, then klunking down the mountain trail in a best timed event. These were not pretty bicycles, hence the name. They were ugly, cobbled together rigs with purpose. The prewar Schwinn DX was the ideal model at the time due to its considerably greater crank case clearance.

Nonetheless, it’s all intertwined and a cool idea for the thread. I’m a fan of the BMX cruisers and would like to see if anyone out there is still running the klunkers hard on the trails.

 

[Wolfmac]

My most recent BMX cruiser build. Not a klunker nor a strandie in my view but you sure see a lot of them running up and down the beach.

 

[fordmike65]

Thread 'Post your klunker pics here!' https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/post-your-klunker-pics-here.133268/

 

[Miq]

@Bradies Bicycle Shop there is good info about Klunking and the origins of Klunkers here and elsewhere on the web. You need to familiarize yourself with Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze and the Repack race in Marin, CA. There are good posts from visits to the Marin Museum of Mountain Biking here and on YouTube. Charlie Kelly’s out of print book “Fat Tire Flyer” has a lot of info and many of Wende Cragg’s pics of the OG Klunkers and the places they rode them.

This thread has lots to check out. awesome-early-repack-pics

This thread has a more BMX cruiser focus if that’s what you are looking for. Post Your Pics of 26” BMX Cruisers

 

[Bradies Bicycle Shop]

It’s very true, that we who spent our youth and our hard earned coin in the late 70’s, converting our spitfires and cruiser model Schwinns into oversized BMX bikes and road them on homemade dirt tracks, launching them what seemed to be unimaginable distances, at least from a twelve year olds perspective, may have contributed to the shaping of a new style of bike, or biking. However, I believe the term klunker has its roots in the pre-mountain bike genre of a time even slightly earlier than my giant BMX years.

It is my understanding that the advent of mountain biking was centered in the Nor Cal region and was pioneered initially by daring young men or teens, who had converted their ballooners by stripping them down of needless weight and throwing a set of motocross bars on them, then klunking down the mountain trail in a best timed event. These were not pretty bicycles, hence the name. They were ugly, cobbled together rigs with purpose. The prewar Schwinn DX was the ideal model at the time due to its considerably greater crank case clearance.

Nonetheless, it’s all intertwined and a cool idea for the thread. I’m a fan of the BMX cruisers and would like to see if anyone out there is still running the klunkers hard on the trails.

Beautifully written, Wolfmac... And it seems my budding knowledge of things is not correct. Haha. Thank you for replying to the post. And I'd have to say that the bike I built is not a Klunker at all, although there are some very Klunker looking 26" BMX cruisers ih the thread that @Miq kindly posted here. Beautiful build as well. Great color palette. And I'm glad I'm not the only one running one piece cranks, I blew all my budget on the stem and seat. Thank you for the history lesson! I'm gonna have to have a chat with one of my Schwinn guys who failed to mention anything about Mountain bikes when I asked about the history of klunkers.

The only mountain bike I ever had was a nice bonded Aluminum framed Trek in the late 90s. I put road tires on it because it was essentially my car those late teen years making my way around Huntington Beach. But it never saw the mountains and I've never mountain biked, so I'm going to humbly refrain from posting anything else on this thread because I don't believe I have those credentials.

 

[Bradies Bicycle Shop]

Thread 'Post your klunker pics here!' https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/post-your-klunker-pics-here.133268/

Thanks! I ran a search for kluker and no threads came up, but this is perfect.

 

[Bradies Bicycle Shop]

@Bradies Bicycle Shop there is good info about Klunking and the origins of Klunkers here and elsewhere on the web. You need to familiarize yourself with Charlie Kelly, Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Joe Breeze and the Repack race in Marin, CA. There are good posts from visits to the Marin Museum of Mountain Biking here and on YouTube. Charlie Kelly’s out of print book “Fat Tire Flyer” has a lot of info and many of Wende Cragg’s pics of the OG Klunkers and the places they rode them.

This thread has lots to check out. awesome-early-repack-pics

This thread has a more BMX cruiser focus if that’s what you are looking for. Post Your Pics of 26” BMX Cruisers

Thank you for sharing this. Those pictures of the early days are straight up gnarly. What legends. I think my favorite one might be where the kid is riding side saddle and his Dad or Uncle is flying him down the hill... the difference in expressions in their faces and that little trail of dust to let you know they are all gas no brakes....radical. All the photographs here are wall hangers. And the BMX cruiser thread is awesome too. I now have there to post and the thread recommended by @fordmike65, so much thanks again.

 

[Archie Sturmer]

Is the Brooks saddle-seat customized, or does Brooks make them with all of those (dual-compound) springs?

 

[Caj Remtiw]