pablosnazzy

i rode a tall bike and now want to build one so i can ride one all the time. i've googled "building a tall bike" and have looked at a bunch of different sites. also googled "freakbike."

i've read the stuff on instructables, watched some youtube videos, still haven't found anything that makes me feel confident.

does anyone with the actual experience of building a tall bike have a recommendation on a good link/site for tall bike building plans/directions?

please and thank you.

NoBrakeNate

You have to make one, they are so much fun. I ride mine to work everyday.
Just get two frames and weld them together. Some of the no weld ones look super scary to me. If you can't weld or don't have a friend that welds just take it to a shop and have them do it. I had mine done at a shop, they did a great job and it was only $60.
The headset was the trickiest part, I used a jack handle from a Range Rover Classic, and it fit perfectly, it is an old Peugeot so it is 21.1. I used two races at the bottom and it worked fine but there was some rattle at the top where the stem went in so I've put in one more at the top.
I used two 60cm frames, if you could use a large frame bottom and as small as you can for the top it would help get your weight forward. It does like to lift up in the front, as you can see the seat is over the center of the rear wheel.
Any questions let me know.

gavtatu

this is an easy option !
full sus MTB, just double up on the rear, or add a tube, and weld, or even bolt one fork on top of another...easy !
all i ver did was scour the interwebs for pics, and made it up as i went along !
look on my flickr set for my other tall bike, lots of pics there !

gavtatu

d'oh.....added pic now !

grrr.....ok, just look at my flickr pics, lol !

lz4005

Tall bikes are very individual, so its difficult to have a formal set of plans for them.

Some advice from when I built mine: Test your donor frames for size by removing the forks and putting both (or all three, etc) frames on a broom handle or other long stick, with the stick held horizontally so the frames hang below it. That will align the fork tubes and show you where the bottom bracket of the top frame will hit the bottom frame. That's where you'll be welding them together. Some people prefer using a step through frame on top to make it easier to mount/dismount. Once you have them lined up, do a test fit of the drive train to check for chain clearance.

After that, the most important thing is finding the right diameter extender for the steerer tubes. You want something with an exterior diameter that is as close as possible to the interior diameter of the existing forks' steerer tubes.

Nate's right about watching the position of the seat relative to the rear axle. And about smaller upper frame(s) being a good idea. I took this to a bit of an extreme with mine:


edit: I really need to take a better picture now that its painted and the bottom cranks are gone.

Dave Armstrong

pablosnazzy

thank you all for the excellent info, great tips . much appreciated.

Australianbike

To built a tall bike 2 bikes of equal size are needed. A girls bike on top, is preferable. So when you dismount the bike, your foot doesn't get caught on the top bar. And other extra Parts needed.
Extra long bike and gear cables.
1 black pipe for steering shaft (should match the inner diameter of your forks.)
1 smaller front tire, or else you'll have a UPD (UnPlanned Dismount).
1 smaller front forks to help with the center of gravity problem.
Chain link set (new or used)
Chain breaker (AKA chain link remover)

iamrik

It's easy, just do it!





Edit;
Oh wait, this topic is mega old.

staticguy

Love the graphic

Fastfingaz

nice ilustrations I've been thinking about it and I've got the two frames! now I've got a better idea of the construction but!!!How do you get up and going on that thing???? what if you have to stop suddenly???

BaMenace

yeah i was thinking the exact thing! do you lean it against a wall and climb up the frame work to get on? what happens when you have to stop at the traffic lights or something? like im 6'4 but i wouldnt want to be 8 feet off the ground without knowing how to stop!

frameteam2003

More than one way to build a tall bike

yodatic

I like the organic lines of your tall bike ! tom