Originally Posted by
stcapp
i have this vintage bike i recently found out it was from 1941 from some very polite insightful people here on the forum, its not worth a whole lot so i decided to make it my own personal project for the summertime. It has 26" rims and tires and i was wondering if it was even possible to convert them to say 20" BMX style tires at the smallest maybe a little bigger if needed. Same with handle bars, basically i just wanna know if its possible for the modern style parts to fit on the vintage frame, ill add some pics so you guys can see the bike as it stands today...any insight will be greatly appreciated, thanks guys.
I'd about be killing for that prewar frame but you do need to look up CLUNKERS (early balloon tired cruisers built up for dirt/off road use). You could have a lot of work getting a 72 year old frame up to snuff and you haven't pondered any possibilities of corrosion or stress that the bike has been through.
My best advice is to study up if you want to do this and in the meantime try a newer middleweight (Schwinn/Huffy/Murray/Western Flyer type cantilever frame) or a Stingray type sport frame first. My 250+ lb weight initially caused the bottom bracket of my 50s Rollfast to come apart at the tube welds until it was cross-braced with heavy duty welding and it came from New York State where it had probably spent most of it's life.
Another thought I have is will the truss rods take the beating or should you remove them or even replace the fork with a shocked example?
At this point I'd leave it as found and enjoy a really swell bike while reading up on what makes a good early MTB build and getting a real MTB, which are plentiful.
Since I don't know your age/size/weight at this point and have to assume you are a teen to adult rider of 5'5"-up and maybe 150 lbs I would think a 20" frameset is wicked small and inhibits your ability to create power. 26" or a 29er would be more ideal. Any good bike shop owner can help you find a bike that fits your frame based on your height and leg length.
By the way, is that a Rollfast? The headbadge area looks familiar but the chainring doesn't for a Rollfast.
For some insight into frame problems look throughout Bike Forums and my particular problems with the bike in my avatar can be found early in my Alt Bike Culture thread of six years Tempest--The Grey Bike Grows Up and the like named You Tube videos under my user ID steadfastcoward.