Alt Bike Culture - 12" triple high

i've been toying with the idea of hunting down some little 12" bikes and making a 'pixie' talbike and with my brother having a baby, it would be a fitting theme, but there are 2 problems 1) i have never seen anything like that, and 2) i don't know why that is
is there a reason that i have never seen this done?

i've made something similar. using a suspension mtn bike and a little mermade bike.

Behold the WAR MACHINE...
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/soneill/war%20machine.JPG

Photo was taken immidiately after the welding and we had no chain tool which is why it isn't on.

I love the way you recycle essentially useless bikes and turn them into something that is useful and fun.

East Hill

Small Tall

I love the way you recycle essentially useless bikes and turn them into something that is useful and fun.

East Hill

also because the pedas are farther away from the ground i could put a better crank on it and make it less useless. i think im gonna find some tiny bikes then thank you all

A triple small tall has been on my to-do list forever, haven't gotten the frames together yet.
Maybe a 20" on the bottom with a 16" front wheel so the seat won't be behind the rear axle.
Having the crank on the middle frame is the way to go.

probably, but then you can't look goofy while your cruisin around with your knees in your ears :P

probably, but then you can't look goofy while your cruisin around with your knees in your ears :P

I'm 5'0" tall--I probably would not actually look goofy :p .

Dorky, maybe, but not goofy.

East Hill

At mini bike winter there was a girl on a 16" small tall. It was pretty cool and actually rather rideable from the looks of it.

At mini bike winter there was a girl on a 16" small tall. It was pretty cool and actually rather rideable from the looks of it.


See, now I could go with that :) .

East Hill

also because the pedas are farther away from the ground i could put a better crank on it and make it less useless. i

You might have a hard time with that. Most of the 12",14", and 16" kid bikes have a smaller BB. One piece cruiser and BMX cranks will probably not fit.

yeah but doesnt that just mean the normal bearings wouldnt fit or would the crank not fit also because of that? it is also possibly to chop one longer
but i would rathe not do that, or even just change the BB

Los buenos. The bearing race and crank thread are much smaller also. Since I see you live in Michigan, try finding an older Schwinn pre 1990. I have a 14" Schwinn bmx that has a normal BB.

out of curiosity does the availability of bikes change drastically in different regions?

Depends on the style of bike. Older cruiser and muscle bike are cheaper and Plentiful in Midwest,OH,PA and other states with older towns. Also most bikes manf. 1900-1970 came from those areas. Fads, such as fixies, can also drive up the demand/cost of bikes in certain areas.

o i'll have to contact my aunt and see if she can't hit up some thrift shop bikes.!

the "AMIDALA STARDUST" named after the two frames.

I've ridden 25 miles in a day on this one. granted, 16 of that was downhill, (inspired by the zoobombers, we've got a windy mountain road one can take the bus up...) but my tush is not as soft as the demographic the purple glitter vinyl seat was designed for...

've since changed the chain setup. it has two independent chains, one from top BB to empty hub/cassette on the top, one from cassette to coaster hub/bottom back wheel, with a floating chainring in that chain, to fix the slop in the chain that i can't adjust...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/25/100564409_8d363bd493.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/30/100564411_60588cc516.jpg?v=0

since they're smaller frames, i actually sit just ahair higher than someone on a mtn bike with a jacked up seat. it just looks funny cos my knees are in my chest, and the pedals are way off the ground.

note that none of it's welded, since i don't have those skills yet. i'd love to make a triple, tho...especially with 12"ers...that'd be sweet.

i agree 12" ones would be hilarious just because those frames are so microscopic, the garage/yard sale season is at a dead stop in the winter though
so once spring gets here ill build one, kids grow out of those so fast they're everywhere at garage sales! :)

Veganboy. tell me about your Downhill cruise. 16miles. Do you know the grade or start and ending elevations? I am planning one this summer for friends and just wanted to know if our coaster brakes will hold up.

if you ever come across a bicycle thing that has never been done....do it.

fast eddie outty

Veganboy. tell me about your Downhill cruise. 16miles. Do you know the grade or start and ending elevations? I am planning one this summer for friends and just wanted to know if our coaster brakes will hold up.

it's somewhere between 15 and 16 miles. i've never measured it, i'm going from signage, but i don't know where it's officially measured from. elevation loss is around 2000 feet. from the town of nederland to the town of boulder. i didn't have a computer on my tallbike, but my roommate did on his SS, and at one point, we got up to 30 mph.

the coaster brake did ok, altho i need to overhaul it. it's taken a beating.

i actually did a lot more pedalling than i would have expected, but the grade was mostly pretty mellow, and there was one 6% section, and one 10% section.

i've checked out the bus schedule, and it is possible to get in enough runs in one day to top 100 miles. it's on my agenda for 2008, and i wanna make a film about it. it'd be an all day affair, from about sunup to after sundown...

Veganboy--thanks for the info.

i've been thinking and i realized that it would be easier and much cheaper to buy a little candy apple red radio flyer tricycle and chop it taller by making some new forks with a chaindrive built into them(and maybe a fixed gear front wheel because thats how the are supposed to be) and lengthening the pipe behind the seat and in between the 2 rear wheels. i need to do this fast sometime though because my brothers baby has just arived last night and i need to build a baby ride in his honor.

if you ever come across a bicycle thing that has never been done....do it.

fast eddie outty

That's almost exactly my philosophy!

I think we have two of these now they are pretty damn awesome we use the middle frame for the crankset. I'll look for a photo, they are pretty awesome.

..my tush is not as soft as the demographic the purple glitter vinyl seat was designed for...

don't torture yourself, put a good adult-sized seat on it.

:)

http://franzellers.com/random/Lena1.jpg