Alt Bike Culture - rat bikes

is there any love for rat bikes on here? i was looking for a new bike and ended up going for a old diamond back for commuter whose ugliness is beyond mere words, and can only get better... previous owner did do a nice job at custom electrical tape grips but that is something ill have to change...once i get some spray paint over the 20 yr old stock job ill have to get some pics...now if only i can find a little more of a riser bar and some junked fenders...ill have a beauty

yes! i just finished one. while not the traditional black, i enjoy the crappy red paintjob that someone did before the frame came to me.

i definitely have an appreciation for bikes that look like they have been ridden into the ground and back again.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2749/4421794798_9ff6cefb84.jpg

That is a beauty...i like tyhe drop bars though im trying to find risers for my ride


yes! i just finished one. while not the traditional black, i enjoy the crappy red paintjob that someone did before the frame came to me.

i definitely have an appreciation for bikes that look like they have been ridden into the ground and back again.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2749/4421794798_9ff6cefb84.jpg

Wow. Beautiful work! The saddle's just the icing on the cake.

pictures?

another, larger shot

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2713/4421791814_4aebb4abcc_b.jpg

Sweet looking ride!! Has Character written all over it!!

Theres tons of love for ratrods from me, I cant stop loving them either. I dont know how many times the thought of ratting a new mountain bike(one im supposed to get soon) crossed my mind

Hey why not? If thats what you want to do , go for it!! I have all kinds of different projects going. I started to build my own bike, with ones I found in the trash!! I cut the rear off of some Mongoose mtb that has back suspension. I welded in some light sqaure stock, Im going to flip the back. I have a plan in my head. Next step is to get some more ideas out on paper. Who knows what this ride will turn out looking like. Trying to make it street friendly at the same time. All have a good one and happy tinkering, and building, and painting and.......

Nice looking bike! Rat bikes are cool!

Shaggy

Not your traditional Rat bike frame but it's what I had to start with.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/Collegiatebefore-1.jpg
70's Schwinn Collegiate was a $5 garage sale find.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRside.jpg
Handle bars came from a garbage picked Schwinn Breeze. They had less rise / drop than the original bars, so I thought they would work better when flipped.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRfront.jpg
Original chrome shifter was retained. New gum wall tires were installed.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRrear.jpg
Six speed freewheel and Shimano derailer came from my scrap parts bin.

The bike rides really smooth!

AlmostTrick, that is one good looking bike!.....So is there a "carcass" of a Raleigh buried somewhere?...Nicely done!

Not your traditional Rat bike frame but it's what I had to start with.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/Collegiatebefore-1.jpg
70's Schwinn Collegiate was a $5 garage sale find.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRside.jpg
Handle bars came from a garbage picked Schwinn Breeze. They had less rise / drop than the original bars, so I thought they would work better when flipped.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRfront.jpg
Original chrome shifter was retained. New gum wall tires were installed.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRrear.jpg
Six speed freewheel and Shimano derailer came from my scrap parts bin.

The bike rides really smooth!

Wow! That's quite a transformation considering the state it was in before. She cleaned up real nice. Great job and nice pics!
I need to do this to oneof my bikes. I have a bike similar to that made by Venture. It has 26"x1 3/8" wheels. I believe it's a Canadian department store bike from the 1970's which has a sticker on the forks that reads: "Special X-Lite High Tension Tubing". It's a typical lugged frame. I really need to get to work on fixing it up. Your bike has given me some ideas. I think it might actually be my first project bike.

just pop those lights back on and it's be perfect!

Not your traditional Rat bike frame but it's what I had to start with.

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/RRside.jpg

The bike rides really smooth!

That front fork looks like it has been bent back by riding into a curb.

:)ensen.

I love Rat Rod bikes. Here's my rat rod chopper with an 8-speed Sturmey hub:

http://jeffhendricks.net/images/RRBBO4/102_1542.JPG

That front fork looks like it has been bent back by riding into a curb.

:)ensen.

Yep. Funny thing is I never noticed until I took the pic and looked at it closely. One of the nearby bike shops has a bumper jack converted into a bicycle fork straightener. I used him once on a Schwinn Stingray Midget that had a bent fork that was very noticeable. He only charged me 5 bucks. :)

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/BlueRaysfront.jpg

By the way, the above Stingrays were found in the trash, side by side. :eek:

Since the Rat Ride rolls and handles so nice, I have little desire to straighten the fork. If anything it kinda adds to the beater rat image!

Funkystickman, was that made from a new OCC Stingray? I like it a lot, and may have to dust off the one I have that just sits there unused and give it a makeover!

Yep. Funny thing is I never noticed until I took the pic and looked at it closely. One of the nearby bike shops has a bumper jack converted into a bicycle fork straightener. I used him once on a Schwinn Stingray Midget that had a bent fork that was very noticeable. He only charged me 5 bucks. :)

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/BlueRaysfront.jpg

By the way, the above Stingrays were found in the trash, side by side. :eek:

Since the Rat Ride rolls and handles so nice, I have little desire to straighten the fork. If anything it kinda adds to the beater rat image!

Nice DeLuxeSR and Fastback. You gotta love stick shift muscle bikes.

Thanks, and yes, it was the neighbor's throwaway OCC bike I rescued. I put quite a bit of work into it. This is what it looked like before:

http://jeffhendricks.net/images/Stingray.jpg

yes! i just finished one. while not the traditional black, i enjoy the crappy red paintjob that someone did before the frame came to me.

i definitely have an appreciation for bikes that look like they have been ridden into the ground and back again.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2749/4421794798_9ff6cefb84.jpg

Sweet ride!

We need to revive this thread! I'm seriously itching to take the 8-speed hub off the chopper and put it on a more traditional frame, and make a rat rod commuter/cargo bike out of it. How many rat rod cargo bikes do you see around? :D

My chopper rarely gets ridden anymore, and since I'm not going to do a long tour with it again, I can convert it to a more traditional 1 or 3 speed rear with a wider rim for the 3" tire.

However, an 8-speed bike with the dual-top tube setup would look awesome, especially with old bits and some cream tires! Hmm...

Ya know, now that I'm pedaling again on a new cruiser, I have the bug to try building something weird. I phoned home today and told Dad to take some pics of my old Sears Free Spirit, so I can post them here and i.d. the thing, because it has a twin top tube. I've never seen another one like it. I want to take it from being a 10 speed to a 2-speed, using one of the new Sturmey-Archer kickback hubs.

Not your traditional Rat bike frame

remember there is no such thing as a traditional Rat Bike---only rats of the same litter.So your Rat came from a diferent nest---Even Better

I would like to see a Dyno Kustom Kruiser built as a Rat Kargo Byke.

Yep. Funny thing is I never noticed until I took the pic and looked at it closely. One of the nearby bike shops has a bumper jack converted into a bicycle fork straightener. I used him once on a Schwinn Stingray Midget that had a bent fork that was very noticeable. He only charged me 5 bucks. :)

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss306/mlskol/BlueRaysfront.jpg

By the way, the above Stingrays were found in the trash, side by side. :eek:

Since the Rat Ride rolls and handles so nice, I have little desire to straighten the fork. If anything it kinda adds to the beater rat image!


They look awesome, what a find!

I don't get it, aren't rat bikes supposed to be used, abused, pieced together on the cheap frankenstein bikes that are still fully functional? All I see in this thread are beautiful custom machines, not rat bikes :)

Things that can cause people to go to war: Politics....Religion...And the definition of "Rat" bikes.:D

I'm a fan of Rat Bikes. A lot of them would have ended up in a landfill somewhere if they weren't rescued by their new creative owners.

I visit the ratrodbike forums from time to time too. Lots of nice people over there! :thumb:

RAT ROD TEAM... ASSEMBLE!
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/Revraydio/changeupRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR003.jpg

Plenty of rat bikes in this video I shot last year at the Sacramento Cyclefest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9n0X3jMAvc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9n0X3jMAvc

There are some pretty sweet bikes in that video. Thanks for sharing.

first bike I built after moving to Boston was a Frankenstein of sorts from parts I found on the street with yellow spray paint and a bent pedal. that thing was ugly but it got me out and about and helped Boston seem like home. Boston is an amazing town to find bike parts in.

There are some pretty sweet bikes in that video. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you:)

That is a beauty...i like tyhe drop bars though im trying to find risers for my ride
Those are riser bars just installed upside down. We did that to our clunkers back in the 60's.

Here's some rat bikes I saw last Saturday night at the first Sacramento Midtown Cruise.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/5527240290_2170c5385c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240290/)
rat bike 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240290/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5060/5527240410_0b7e7b78ce.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240410/)
rat bike 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240410/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

Double rear rim on the bike pictured above:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/5527240502_c56cc9ed25.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240502/)
rat bike rear double rim (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5527240502/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

This bike had an old-school car "aiooga" horn. You can hear it in the video posted below this pic:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5524425122_405de7a141.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5524425122/)
rat rod bike with aiooga horn (http://www.flickr.com/photos/29998767@N07/5524425122/) by kittyz202 (http://www.flickr.com/people/29998767@N07/), on Flickr

Video from the ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhYvanqwbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhYvanqwbw

Here is the finished product of my BEER RUN bike. It kinda took a turn in the styling once I found the steering wheel.

http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac348/kingfish254/RatRodBikes%20Build%20Off/IMG_2238.jpg
http://i914.photobucket.com/albums/ac348/kingfish254/RatRodBikes%20Build%20Off/Photo-0012.jpg

My Bratz bikes. Left one started out like the one on the right, but after about 20 minutes with some primitive tools I ended up with something I'm almost not ashamed to ride.

214877

Frame is a 62 JC Higgins. Bars are from a 20" Schwinn Bantam. Fender is a Fuji, chopped. Seat is a Persons. Fork, that's mine.:D Rear rack and front supports are from two Spaceliner racks. Paint is Dupli-Color primers, with flat clear. Frame was propane torched and steel wool (got blisters to prove it).
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/KOTA777/003-24.jpg

This one is: In Your Face!
http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff182/KOTA777/DSC04768.jpg