Alt Bike Culture - Tall bike attempts

it's really nothing special to you guys but to me it's my first tall bike, well 2 attempts at a tall bike

first:http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/Jason_5159/CIMG2542.jpg
didn't work so well

second:http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d106/Jason_5159/CIMG2569.jpg
should be good and street worthy in a matter of days

Second attempt with the road frames looks a lot better. The mtb attempt looks like a triple decker some of my friends are making. That is to say, it looks like it would collapse if you rode over a bump.

I didn't trust booger welds until I destroyed my tall bike - the seat lug peeled away before the weld broke. I guess they're okay, even if they are ugly.

What was wrong with the first one?

it didn't turn, the top bike would turn sideways and warp

Just out of curiosity (I'm not trying to patronize anyone, I'm genuinely interested), what is the appeal of tall bikes? I can imagine how you'd get on one, but what if you need to stop before you get back home? How do you dismount? How hard is it to maintain balance up there?

it's really not too hard to keep balance on it, and if you want to get off, just bring both feet on one side with one foot on the pedals then jump off, i still need to get breaks on mine before critical mass though

I saw a dude tooling along, helmet on head, messenger bag on back, along the street in Simi Valley CA (suburb of LA) a couple months back. Guy was in the bike lane, stopping at lights, dealing with mid-AM weekday traffic. Very cool.

You get off the way you got on, just swing your leg over the saddle. I also like the wheelie dismount. Mine acutally rides just like a normal bike for the most part, I can acutally trackstand on it.

Nice job, dude! my first tallbike was an all-Huffy monstrosity with super-sloppy MIG welds and no brakes or, for that matter, grease in any of the bearings. This week I've been teaching myself how to TIG so I can put together a pair of beautiful old cruisers that are past their prime, big old fenders and everything. I'm so excited, but more than a little bummed that it won't be ready for critical mass this friday...

the first ones head tubes were too far from being aligned at the same angle to be able to turn. number 2 could benefit from either raising the rear just a bit or using a shorter steering tube, but it should work. nice bike!!

just thought i'd throw this in http://photos-362.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v155/94/116/525320362/n525320362_1733885_4423.jpg

here's my fixedgear tall bike. I can trackstand on it and do a backwards circlehttp://photos-653.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v156/242/99/6212653/n6212653_35894299_529.jpg

here's my fixedgear tall bike. I can trackstand on it and do a backwards circlehttp://photos-653.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v156/242/99/6212653/n6212653_35894299_529.jpg

Are you also the creater of the commander and chief. If so, the C&C is the greatest bike I've ever ridden. I'm Chris F.'s friend and i crashed at your place last year

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v98/112/41/637813798/n637813798_97776_3182.jpg

Are you also the creater of the commander and chief. If so, the C&C is the greatest bike I've ever ridden. I'm Chris F.'s friend and i crashed at your place last year

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v98/112/41/637813798/n637813798_97776_3182.jpg

Nope mike stratton is the guy that made that one. I would like to try riding that tall tandem but it's not in town any more. Oh and there's an alleycat race for fixie riders at war memorial at 11:59pm Friday Nov. 30

i'll be at the race.

Just be aware that while welds don't have to look good to be sound, a booger, or surface splat is not a good weld. The fact that other stuff broke first, does not make it good to go. Detructive situations will often take the path of least resistance, while wear may take a sneakier path. Of course you probably aren't putting 3000 miles on these things anyway.

All the tall bikes I see in these pictures have the seat tube and saddle way too far back, why not do it how we used to do it years ago, flip the frame over so the bottom bracket is on top, flip the fork around and weld a new pipe along the seat tube going up to a new seat, that way, the seat is forward over the bb.

All the tall bikes I see in these pictures have the seat tube and saddle way too far back, why not do it how we used to do it years ago, flip the frame over so the bottom bracket is on top, flip the fork around and weld a new pipe along the seat tube going up to a new seat, that way, the seat is forward over the bb.


Do you have a picture of this, because I'd be interested to see how exactly you go about pedaling, unless you mean, that you use the existing bottom bracket on the flipped over frame. So are you saying that seated position is much higher on the older style bike you're describing?

Do you have a picture of this, because I'd be interested to see how exactly you go about pedaling, unless you mean, that you use the existing bottom bracket on the flipped over frame. So are you saying that seated position is much higher on the older style bike you're describing?


I believe this is what he was talking about. http://blog.makezine.com/ridinghigh.jpg So yes you do use the existing BB of the flipped bike. I've never built or ridden a bike with this design, mostly because I don't think the look as good. The handling may be better, having the seat farther back on stacked bikes isn't a big deal once you get used to it.

here's my fixedgear tall bike. I can trackstand on it and do a backwards circlehttp://photos-653.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sctm/v156/242/99/6212653/n6212653_35894299_529.jpg

You should totally post that in the elitist/purist convention that is the 'Jackass Fixed Gear of the Day' thread. Seriously, I think you may put a few hipsters in a sarcasm-coma.
:D
(Not talking smack, I do browse that thread and it's often pretty funny.)

Also, next halloween, you could mock-up the other 2 or 3 triangles, paint it white, and make it a snowflake. Like this:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/downloadphp.jpg
(Sorry, online image editor and no patience. you get the idea.)
Then again, I'm probably the only idiot besides the guys from SCUL that dresses up his alt-bike for halloween. Next year I'm painting my chopper woodgrain, adding fake leaves, branches etc. to make it a bike-tree. I think I'll go as a forest gnome or a lumberjack.

You should totally post that in the elitist/purist convention that is the 'Jackass Fixed Gear of the Day' thread. Seriously, I think you may put a few hipsters in a sarcasm-coma.
:D
(Not talking smack, I do browse that thread and it's often pretty funny.)

Also, next halloween, you could mock-up the other 2 or 3 triangles, paint it white, and make it a snowflake. Like this:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/downloadphp.jpg
(Sorry, online image editor and no patience. you get the idea.)
Then again, I'm probably the only idiot besides the guys from SCUL that dresses up his alt-bike for halloween. Next year I'm painting my chopper woodgrain, adding fake leaves, branches etc. to make it a bike-tree. I think I'll go as a forest gnome or a lumberjack.

If you liked that bike you'll loooove this video I made of my friends track tall. I'm filming whilst riding my fixed gear tallbike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIInUEri1Tk

Sean, can you post some close up pics of your welds, where the bottom bracket meets the tub tube, also the quality of your welds at the top fork. I picked up a 100 amp mig welder last week for $100, so the prefab has begun, just need to make sure I have the bike setup the way I want to before I weld anything.

PM sent. Also sounds like you got a good deal on the welder. Let the crazy bicycle shenanigans begin!

I ran across a couple of odd videos here- basically tall bikes made to ride similar to a penny-farthing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znbOXVpXzgg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQH_2kz1H3o

i had a tall bike for about a month and it went fine for a wile but one day wile i was riding it the weld broke and i fell right threw traffic. i think the main problem was because of the pole i used to connect the stem and the fork for steering. does anybody know where i can get a pole that is the right size to right in the holes. the one i had was too big and i had to weld it on but it was never a sturdy that would help alot. that and maybe the width of the pole.

i worded that really bad sorry. i need the width of the pole for steering and where i can find one. lowes doesnt seem to have the right size

i worded that really bad sorry. i need the width of the pole for steering and where i can find one. lowes doesnt seem to have the right size

I use 1/2 EMT or commonly referred to conduit. Any hardware store should have it, the problem I've found is that the fork does not have even diameter all the way down the steerer tube.

Here is how I came about determining this. If you insert the conduit halfway down the steerer tube, it stops about halfway down. So what I did, is used the full bottom fork, steerer tube intact, and the top half of a steerer tube from another fork.


Here is the first post of my bike. I built it up last night, and rode it this morning. I'm having some problems with the drive train, so I took it completely apart again and cut a section of pipe to weld between the two head tubes. The bike will be completely different from the current picture.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/2126136648_ee09f2d7bb.jpg?v=0

no! no! no! no! no!
Conduit = bad. Not only is it thin-walled and easily breakable, but creates extremely toxic fumes during the welding process. Please stop, it is bad.

We've got a "re-building" center here, and there is always some old iron plumbing pipes that sleeve right in.

Yeah, talking about toxic fumes I was so light headed after welding it, it was def not healthy but got the job done.

However, I disagree with the thin walled stuff, it you get the Rigid conduit it def isn't think walled.

Howdy all,

Finally built my first tall bike and thought I would weigh in on the lengthened steerer tube. for mine I was planning on using another frame and cutting a tube out of it, but didn't have enough frames, so I made a midnight run to home depot and found a drop tube for extending a fan away from the ceiling. Worked perfect -- its painted (just grind it off), extremely beefy, and has tapered threads on either end. I kept the threads on the top end and used them as a crown race for the top headset, with a cutoff steerer tube from another fork welded on top. Once I set the crown race and had everything cut to length, I slid it into the headtube on the top frame, tightened the top headset down, then welded the bottom of the drop tube to the top of the bottom steerer tube (after installing the bottom headset).

For the gent asking about 'why a tallbike', after just a couple of hours of tooling around on mine, I'm hooked... u can see everything, once you figure out how to get on and off they are pretty graceful, not to mention funny to look at.

Here is my first -- still needs to be painted (yes, I look like a big dork, but I don't care... it makes me happy!):
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7269/tallbike06pa2.jpg

Anyone know of any other tallbikes in Tampa?
Best,
Steve
M1Sandman
Tampa, FL

Really impressive! Good idea using the mixte frames. I think it gives it a sleaker look, more natural.
Good job dude.