Alt Bike Culture - Long wheelbase Gravity Bike

Here's my idea for a gravity bike that could fit my size, my technical capabilities and my pocketbook.

Take a Giant Stiletto, drop the front end down till the triple clamp almost hits the tire. Remove the chains and derailleurs and I have two places to mount weights. I might want to add brakes to the front wheel.

Any suggestions?

My sole suggestion is perhaps bikini-style fairings at the front to make the bike a bit more aerodynamic.

My sole suggestion is perhaps bikini-style fairings at the front to make the bike a bit more aerodynamic.


yeah...good idea.
Maybe BMX pegs on the back axle so you could get riding position
down a little ?

Narrower rims and tires for better aerodynamic!? A fairing for the wheels.

its a bout time you started putting a bike together!
i see a few things, where are you gonna put your knees? its a better set up if it has kneelers cuz theyre a more effective way of steering the bike than sticking out your knee.
i would be concerned about the increased (from the industry bmx and road bike standards) rake on the front end. the extra rake will make the bike wobbley in turns at speed, like a flipped bmx frame.
in that pic you have barbells (am i right?) under the seat, this would give the bike a rear weight bias as opposed to the preferable 50/50 weight distribution. hanging weights throught the bottom bracket on a chopper like that (putting the weight on the front side of the bikes center of gravity) would be better cuz it would offset the rear weight bias on a coverted bike which typically have more weight on the back cuz of the way theyre mounted.
you would def need more narrow rims...but this would be a problem on the back of those choppers cuz the distance between the rear drop outs/seat+chain stays are built around the wide rear wheel, so the brake bosses are too far apart for use with a more narrow rim - and since all the tubes are so far apart you cant use a v-brake adaptor either.
ive checked out those bikes as a prospect for a g-bike conversion, but if you look at the fork crowns they are very cheap, and i would not trust em for a heavy, high speed bike. by the time you made mods to get it ready, you'd pay alot anyway. gimme a email at kcgravityracers@yahoo.com i have something you might be interested in..what are you, about 5'10"?

fast eddie outty

It's about time you started putting a bike together!

Yeah, work has been insane as the last company I worked for imploded. And the first part of my project was paying down all my other bills so that I would have money to play with. That's just about done. So I'm starting to look and think.

I actually have a Stiletto right now, set up standard. It's great for parades. I've taken it down some significant hills, say 35-40 mph with curves and it did fine. I suspect that the rake on the front end wouldn't make it wobbly so much as it wouldn't turn quite as sharply. I suspect you are right about how well the triple clamps would hold up. I was more worried about the fork tubes and the possibility that they could bend under pressure. I wasn't sure how well the wheels would adapt, though I was figuring that the disk brakes might be good enough. There again, my worry was the fork tubes under braking pressure after adding a front disk. I did draw some kneelers in the pic, but their real location I wouldn't know till I built it. I was figuring that the weights could be attached at either location, but that the front might present some ground clearance problems.

I thought you would have some good thoughts on the subject. I'm 6'1". I'll contact you.

You can expirment a little for no money, the tripple crown on the Stiletto, will allow the fork tubes to just slide up throgh the top plate by losting the clamp bolts. You will need to turn your headset backwards and try it. you can get your pedals as close as you dare to the pavement.

Here's my idea for a gravity bike that could fit my size, my technical capabilities and my pocketbook.

Take a Giant Stiletto, drop the front end down till the triple clamp almost hits the tire. Remove the chains and derailleurs and I have two places to mount weights. I might want to add brakes to the front wheel.

Any suggestions?

Why do you keep reviving threads that are several years dead?
http://yozh.org/images/zombie-thread.png