stretching the monster

[philphine]

for now the title is misleading, but I know sometimes I start a thread in the talk section, then start building. so this time i'll make the mistake in the other direction

some crank/seat/handlebar changes I've done just to see if I can make it a better rider. I don't know why they used so small a crank on it. the 7" works pretty well. I think I hit my foot on the front fender once just getiing my feet situated on the pedals, but other wise they clear fine. the slightly larger sprocket works better too. the chainstays spread too wide for a larger one, but I could go down on the back sprocket a little if I were leaving it a single speed I guess.

since I've been riding it some I even took it with me and did the mayors bike ride I do each memorial and labor day. it was raining and I figured on my stretch I'd be getting splashed with dirty water the whole ride from sitting so low. with the exception of only having one gear that was still a little low, it did pretty good. it occurred to me later that that was the furthest I've ridden an unstretched bike in years (about 15mls).

but as you can see in the last pic, I'm already eyeballing the stretch. trying to get an idea of how long it will be. it may end up being an accidental burrito just from the lenth and getting the seat as low as I want. it'll be well below the top of the wheel if I work it out like I'm thinking.

but I'm still trying to make myself finish some old projects before I start (I've made a deal with myself. if I finish one, I can start one. you can see by my post activity how well that's going). plus I want to take my time on this. it's not like I can pick up another at the flea market next week.

so a lot of talk and not much action, but at least the thread's in the right place.

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

I think those came with a small crank because they were suppose to be a beach bike. They obviously aren't too sand friendly though.
If you do go Burrito or something else, I would build a new frame and keep the old as is. This way you could always switch it back to original.
Oh hell yes 36" tire in your face Burrito build! How can anyone resist that! Bring it!

[philphine]

leaving the frame as is was my original plan, but remember about a month after i got the first one, i picked up another. so i'm keeping the nicer one as is (mostly. after that mayors ride i'll want some gears on it), and the less decent one i'm going to cut. i was kinda worried about making my own chain/seat stay section since i've never done that, but with two i don't have to worry about it.

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Well in that case ......... .... .... ..... ..... ..... !

[philphine]

still no real building, just parts collecting. I've been just sticking the parts I mean to use on the bike, so it looks odd, but I'm not riding it as is anyway (not sure I could, the pedals just about touch the ground)

one reason I did a bit of work was because I got a deal on a few cheap springers off ebay, but when I got them I found that the steer tubes were way too long for the short head tube the monster has. I've decided I want to use the stock head tube (I hate welding on head tubes, and the down and top tubes molded in look nice anyway), so I got back on ebay and found a springer with a shorter steer tube, but it was still way too long, so I fooled with that some to make sure I could still keep the stock head tube in the plan

not the prettiest, but it seems like it'll work. a combo of threaded and threadless pieces that take up the extra lenth of the steer tube and should let me use the stock head tube.

I'm tempted to try and start the build, but i'm holding off. I've made another try at making a frame jig, and I mean to build one of my usual 26' stretches on it first to see if it works for keeping it strait and easier to build. then i'll try it on the newer project ideas when I start them.

sooner or later...

[philphine]

took off for martin luther king day. not sure why. maybe with the death of my sister I'm feeling more spiritual or something. but since it was halfway warm and I was off, I ended up starting on the monster instead. I'm saying in honor of mlk I set it free to be a cooler bike

proportionally it didn't come out too bad. I would have liked to end up with the seat lower, but I'm going to go with it as is mostly. there are a few clues looking at the picture, but it kinda looks like it could be one of my 26' stretches, 'til you put one beside it

there are a couple other pics, but I'm having so much trouble up loading pics  (just broke my camera too. another obstacle), I just went with the main ones. there are a couple pics of (really bad) ms paint tries to see where I want to go. one was trying a curved seat post like the one I put on my nephews bike. I liked that enough to cut out the seat tube and rework it

if you read that thread I mentioned getting a regular seat tube inside the fat one and how much trouble it was. this time knowing a little more, I made the seat tube setup off the bike then added the whole thing together. it was it's own little project and I guess I should have taken some pics of it. kinda too late now, but I still have enough of the curved tube for another couple bikes, so maybe next time if I'm still not fighting with getting pics uploaded.

it's all tacked together so no test rides. threw the bars and seat on to try out ergos and make sure there was no seat/tire interference (using a suspended seat post). whenever I can get it to work and finish the welding, I can do some test rides. the rest of the not structural welding I think I can do at home.

so it's started, but since I don't have a deadline like with my nephews bike, I'm back to slug like speed on the build (and scatterbrained multi project mode. did some prelim work on another cargo bike too). I think I'm far enough along to feel like it will be a rider though. we'll see...

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Looks good Phil. Definitely a "Big Boy" version. I'm curious though, why didn't you go with a front 36" too?

[philphine]

for the same reason I put 20" front wheels on the 26er's. I have a hard time working out the rake to make it steer and ride well. but I did think about it afterward, how I got the 26" front to work pretty decent. the big curve of the 36" down tube worked like the 26" down tube works on a 20" wheel. now I have a tubing bender on my wish list, because if I could copy that curve I might be able to make a front and rear 26er that steers well.

[philphine]

ridden, but still needs work

I changed the front fork. the springer was so flexy I couldn't put the fender on. also I decided to go with a big rotor, but the forks flex side to side so much that I couldn't use it ether. 203mm, still pretty cheap but as big as cheaper ones come. i wanted something big for a big bike. I may even try a 255 I saw, but that will cost (plus they always seem to be out of stock). I had this monark fender around the house from an ebay clearance a year or so back, so I stuck it on. truthfully, I don't like it as much. not the look or function of it (seems harsher). it also raised the front end up a little, don't like that either. I'm looking on ebay for a better quality, or maybe even original Schwinn springer. also looking at this

www.ebay.com/itm/RUFF-REGULATOR-SPRINGER-FORK-CHROME-CUSTOM-BICYCLE-FORKS/222216677864?_trksid=p2050601.c100085.m2372&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140211132617%26meid%3D57a1cde899ef443d96c67035f15b5048%26pid%3D100085%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D222216677864%26clkid%3D2397011641524594172&_qi=RTM2247625

I'm gonna need to like this project a whole lot more, or win a lottery or something before I buy it though. I do like trying different types of springers, so if I can figure out the purchase, maybe i'll try.

the ride is kind of hard. that's my fault because I didn't want to use so tiny a sprocket on the front, it looks funny. I went about as big as what would fit under the chainguard (mean to put it back), a 44t. the pedal effort is pretty hard though for a single speed. I saw some larger rear sprockes on ebay for about $8, a 24t, so I got one and i'll try it with the 44 to see how it goes. did some really simple math (which may be wrong) and I think it'll match up to what I had before (32t front, 18t rear). ought to be be better than now anyway.

edit: I was in the library earlier and ran out of time.

I may have to do something about the seat. I thought it might be too cramped, but I'm actually stretched out pretty good pedaling. any more and I almost couldn't ride it. I may have to give up the suspended seat post so I can bring the seat down. probably look better slammed anyway so that would be a plus.

got the tank bag at a local shop. cost about what I got the electra  bag for, but is just a little bigger. at some point i'll frame it in, cut the straps off and try to make it look more part of the bike.

[philphine]

a slow two days off (kinda broke and iffy weather). so I did some detail work

most important, I got the larger rear sprocket. makes it ride much better as a single speed. I may change the front sprocket later (44 now, maybe down to a 42 or 40) but that will come with more riding. also gave up the suspension seat post so I could lower the seat. between those two things the bike feels better to ride (looks a little better too).

also added tabs to put the rear fender and chain guard back, added a bar to complete the tank area (at some point i'll cut the straps off and mount it more permanently), added tabs for the swing arm bag and cut up some handlebars to make tail lights (the kind of lights that go in handlebars anyway. just moves them to the back as proper tail lights).

still have the monark fork on it, but still not warming up to it. I don't like that it raised the front end, the wheel is closer to the pedals so I have to be careful in turns, and it seems so stiff that it's like there's no suspension (i have one on another bike that works better, so I don't know what's happening here) got an eye out for other options.

as a single speed, the bike is about done. a few touch up welds and paint would complete it. since I eventually want gears though, this is kind of a long term stopping point. depending on what I can end up with, I'd be adding some cable routing and possibly a different rear brake. part of not using the big front wheel is I have the rim to build a new back wheel (though if I could have worked it out, I probably would have used it on the front. this works out for me though). normaly I go with derailleur type setups mostly because they're easy to find, but since I need to build (or have built) whatever I come up with, I mean to have it be an internal gear hub. I don't have to risk chain interference going with a derailleur (and have to try bending or altering the frame if so), plus the stock one speed wheel can be a spare. I had a short list of hubs I thought would work with such a large wheel and this sprocket setup, but I've forgotten all but a couple of them (I think there were only 4-5 anyway). so i'll need to get it back together, and keep an eye on ebay or wherever else one might pop up.

I normally drag my feet anyway on builds, but this time it's kind of intentional and/or can't be helped. until I can come up with a rear wheel it's a neighborhood rider, with the build on the back burner.