Alt Bike Culture - Scraper Bikes on NPR

You can hear the Weekend Edition segment and see pics at the link below. Personally I admire the ingenuity of these kids!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94318161

I heard that. The story is kind of worthless w/o pics tho

I heard that. The story is kind of worthless w/o pics tho

Check the link again. There is a photo gallery with lots of pics.

can't see the pics on the radio tho

lol, no doubt. When I was making major commutes the past few years I listened to NPR all the time. I think shows like This American Life actually benefit from the radio medium, although the Showtime series is very good as well.

can't see the pics on the radio tho

They even mentioned the online photo gallery on the air, during the segment.

here's the link to the photo gallery

http://www.californiareport.org/slideshows/scraperbikes/index.jsp

some really cool lookin ghetto bikes and a neat article too. The idea seems to be to dress up a junker with Rattle Can paint jobs and Shiny foil Candy Wrappers. Some of the paint jobs are very well done even if you don't take into account that they have very little to work with in terms of supplies and $$.

I'm not sure if I get how the scraper thing works...you put on wheels that are too big for the bike and it looks cool. I can dig that much, but I don't get how they are doing it...I mean you can't just slap a 26" wheel on a 20" frame/fork can ya? would a 24" fit in a 20"? Or perhaps they're taking 24" and putting a 26" or 700c...

I wonder...

**edit**
funny I've been toying with the idea of converting my 26" stretch cruiser to 700c just for fun.

here's the link to the photo gallery

http://www.californiareport.org/slideshows/scraperbikes/index.jsp

some really cool lookin ghetto bikes and a neat article too. The idea seems to be to dress up a junker with Rattle Can paint jobs and Shiny foil Candy Wrappers. Some of the paint jobs are very well done even if you don't take into account that they have very little to work with in terms of supplies and $$.

I'm not sure if I get how the scraper thing works...you put on wheels that are too big for the bike and it looks cool. I can dig that much, but I don't get how they are doing it...I mean you can't just slap a 26" wheel on a 20" frame/fork can ya? would a 24" fit in a 20"? Or perhaps they're taking 24" and putting a 26" or 700c...

I wonder...

**edit**
funny I've been toying with the idea of converting my 26" stretch cruiser to 700c just for fun.

look at picture number 8 the answer is there

I saw the pictures, I asked because I honestly don't know...if you do know could you just like let me into the club please.

maybe the term 'scraper' refers to big wheels rubbing inside the small frames, they never explained the origin of the term in the story AFAICT

I always thought a scraper was When a bike is so low that the pedals scrape the ground as you ride.

I thought that was a low rider

;)

Yeah they say in the article that the term 'scraper' comes from the 'Scraper' cars that dudes around there drive. They take a POS car and put HUUUUUGE wheels on it and paint the car body and the wheels the same color usually.

These kids applied that to bikes.

I'm just wondering what wheel sizes they are using on what size frames. It kinda looks to me like 24" frames with 26" wheels but it could be 26" wearing 700c's.

. . . the quotes . . . lol, i actually think the bmx frame with the road tires looks kinda neat. . . don't know how you'd RIDE it, but . . . it looks cool : P

Yeah they say in the article that the term 'scraper' comes from the 'Scraper' cars that dudes around there drive. They take a POS car and put HUUUUUGE wheels on it and paint the car body and the wheels the same color usually.

These kids applied that to bikes.

I'm just wondering what wheel sizes they are using on what size frames. It kinda looks to me like 24" frames with 26" wheels but it could be 26" wearing 700c's.

kinda like lowrider bikes take a Pos and make it as nonfunctional as possible, its a 20 with 26 i talked to king champ yesterday. we dont have Scrappers around here we do have Swagger or Swagga bikes.

as for the term scrapper its taking the springs out of the car and dipping the back hard so it scrapes

as for the term scrapper its taking the springs out of the car and dipping the back hard so it scrapes


The article the OP linked to says otherwise, I'm just going by that

The article the OP linked to says otherwise, I'm just going by that

do you believe everything Fox news reports on too?

My understanding is that a "scraper" is a car w/ outsize wheels put on it - so big they scrape the wheel wells.

do you believe everything Fox news reports on too?


Why do you ask?

Scraper bikes rule.

these kids need and xtra cycle or two. In the last pic they have car speakers attached to the bike very haphazardly. They would go nuts over what Rock the bike does. I think with an xtra cycle or two they could really get the subs and speakers on and really get poppin.

anyone see a Pimp my bike tv show in the works? I can see it

My understanding is that a "scraper" is a car w/ outsize wheels put on it - so big they scrape the wheel wells.

actually after living in north oakland /berkeley and going to school there.. you cant help but notice scrapers everywhere... it was actually kinda awesome

1.SCRAPER
A Scraper is a late 80's to late 90's General Motors made (affordable) luxury car with rims so big (20-22") that the tires rub the inside of the fender and frame. The most common Scraper is made by Buick and includes Regals, Centurys, Park ave's, and Le Sabres. Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cutlass Supreme's, and 88's as well as Pontiac Bonnevilles, and the ugliest one of all, a Chevy Lumina are all considered Scrapers when ridin' on 20's.

Bass in the trunk is a must, but the tint, whistle and suction tips, dvd screens, and candy paint is all optional. The way you set your car up seperates your whip from all the other scrapers out there. That's why you will probably never see 2 identical Scrapers. The term derived from the fact that when one dips or presses the gas and steps on the brake simultaneously the front and back bumpers SCRAPE the ground.

actually after living in north oakland /berkeley and going to school there.. you cant help but notice scrapers everywhere... it was actually kinda awesome

1.SCRAPER
A Scraper is a late 80's to late 90's General Motors made (affordable) luxury car with rims so big (20-22") that the tires rub the inside of the fender and frame. The most common Scraper is made by Buick and includes Regals, Centurys, Park ave's, and Le Sabres. Oldsmobile Cutlass, Cutlass Supreme's, and 88's as well as Pontiac Bonnevilles, and the ugliest one of all, a Chevy Lumina are all considered Scrapers when ridin' on 20's.

Bass in the trunk is a must, but the tint, whistle and suction tips, dvd screens, and candy paint is all optional. The way you set your car up seperates your whip from all the other scrapers out there. That's why you will probably never see 2 identical Scrapers. The term derived from the fact that when one dips or presses the gas and steps on the brake simultaneously the front and back bumpers SCRAPE the ground.

this is what
Scraper means not the above