Alt Bike Culture - A very mild "Alt Bike" in process. $5.50 Fun!

On edit:
As this thread started I called it (A very mild "Alt Bike" in process. $5.50 Fun!) and after a few replies I realized we all have something homemade that falls into the Alt Bike class but isn't way out there. Just a simple combination of elements that seemed to come together into something where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. These bikes are not showy and might not be a bulletproof daily rider but we are drawn to ride them as Flying Merkel put it when we don’t feel like riding. These are bikes that are nothing special but then again they are special to us and we would find it very hard getting rid of them. So if others have such a bike let us see them. I have posted two of mine so far.
:love:
Original post:



Last summer I was at two different garage sales and at one I found a crappy Wally World Beach cruiser that some kid had been doing jumps with and the rear wheel was folded in half fenders falling off and totally junk. Asking price $5 offered price 50 cents and the mother took my offer. A week later another sale a new Schwinn Mesa-Runner. Rear derailleur was folded over on itself chain kinked, bars pointing one way front tire another. I asked what happened and wife said husband was going to get in shape and crashed in the first mile he rode and broke his arm. Asking price $10 offer $5 accepted. Put a old coaster brake wheel I had laying around on the cruiser striped everything else off to the bones and started riding it around and what a fun bike with the balloon tires for short neighborhood rides. The Mesa I replaced the RD with a donor RD and got everything back to working Rode it a bit and stuck it in the barn, was just another Mtn bike to give away or have as a loaner. This spring a neighbor kid came down and didn’t have a bike and I asked him if he wanted a bike as he told me his bike was trashed. I offered him the Mesa and he saw the 50 cent cruiser and fell in love. So I gave him the Wally world special much to my despair as I had grown to like riding it around the block after work. He shows back up a week later and my 50 cent bike was toast. At least 20 broken spokes and the condemning injury was the one piece crank was snapped off. He was hinting he needed a bike and did I want this one back. What he got was a boot in the pants. I tossed it in the junk pile and walking away the light came on as to a 21 speed fat tire cruiser. About 20 minutes later this bike was born. My new neighborhood bike and I always make it a point to ride slow past this kids house.

A really fun bike to ride I might even get a paper route now, ha! :)

Not sure what else I might add to it any suggestions?

http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/23636/2643369530037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2643369530037547136CMvBGs)

You need a basket or rack or both. Definitely a cup holder (NOT a water bottle bracket) on the bars. Always a cool thing to bring bikes back from the dead.

You need a basket or rack or both. Definitely a cup holder (NOT a water bottle bracket) on the bars. Always a cool thing to bring bikes back from the dead.

I do have a couple old 50's 60's wire baskets in the barn. With a fresh coat of paint on them it’s a done deal. I will have to look around for a cup holder. The Mesa has braze on's for a bottle cage but I didn’t put one on for the reason you mentioned.

As a kid there was no such thing as a new bike and no one was giving bikes away so I guess I have always enjoyed bringing back the dead. Something fun about riding around on a salvaged bike, but I don’t have to tell that to the members of this forum.

I have a really nice Cannondale road bike a Windsor tour bike and about 4 other experimentals, but the reason I posted this bike is it is so easy to ride I'm tempted to take it outside the neighborhood. never thought in the year 2011 I would be wanting to do a 20 mile ride on a bike with 40 PSI in the tires.

Add some fenders and racks and you have a very solid utility bike there.

Add some fenders and racks and you have a very solid utility bike there.


I might have the old fenders around still, hmmmm will have to take a look.

Also have another set of the white walls that might get studded for winter. :)

Here's a picture of my Varsity cruiser. It's based on a 1964 Schwinn Varsity. It's the perfect bike to ride when you don't feel like riding. Some unlikely bikes are like that. Got road bikes, mountain bikes, and a hybrid. The V-C has along term home here.

221437

I might have the old fenders around still, hmmmm will have to take a look.

Also have another set of the white walls that might get studded for winter. :)

Are you allowed to ride white walls after labor day??? ;)

Are you allowed to ride white walls after labor day??? ;)


That explains the looks I have been getting the last couple weeks. :)

Here's a picture of my Varsity cruiser. It's based on a 1964 Schwinn Varsity. It's the perfect bike to ride when you don't feel like riding. Some unlikely bikes are like that. Got road bikes, mountain bikes, and a hybrid. The V-C has along term home here.

221437


That is a very true statement. ( The perfect bike to ride when you don’t feel like riding! ) I might have to change the title of the thread to that.

Along those lines here is another of my bikes that falls into that category Not sure how many remember the Japan bike the Soma. I think there is a American frame maker now under the Soma name. But I picked this up as a curb find with a mangled RD, and it sat around the shop a while waiting for a donor. I had been seeing a lot of fix gears around and liked the look and simplicity and also knew I would kill myself on one. and something popped into my head to try a 3 speed rear wheel. I hunted high and low for a 27" 3sp and couldn’t find one or even if one was ever made. What the heck let's try a 26" I had a few of those around. Put it together and used the one side shifter lever to operate the 3sp and removed the other and used the bracket to mount a clown horn. diferent bars and grips a donor saddle and a small tool bag off a donor bike. I loved riding this thing so much I gave it a paint job, GMC truck blue auto touch up paint. With the smaller wheel and the 3 gears to select from the gear range balanced nicely for my riding style. Again I don’t think I will be doing a tour on the Soma but we have a state park close by that has a 14 mile lake front ride that is fairly flat. It's truly a pleasure to ride this mismatch bike around there.

Before and after pictures.

http://inlinethumb32.webshots.com/29535/2850237870037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2850237870037547136pPVTXC)

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/49780/2401202640037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2401202640037547136kyTgJB)

http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/48746/2842743570037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2842743570037547136yviBaj)

This spring a neighbor kid came down and didn’t have a bike and I asked him if he wanted a bike as he told me his bike was trashed.
You are a really nice guy.


He shows back up a week later and my 50 cent bike was toast. At least 20 broken spokes and the condemning injury was the one piece crank was snapped off. He was hinting he needed a bike and did I want this one back. What he got was a boot in the pants.
It's too bad you could only kick his butt 50 cents worth.


Last summer I was at two different garage sales and at one I found a crappy Wally World Beach cruiser that some kid had been doing jumps with and the rear wheel was folded in half fenders falling off and totally junk. Asking price $5 offered price 50 cents and the mother took my offer.
I think that was the jerky kid's bike in the first place, and he was just waiting on you to fix it and give it back to him. Next time give him a one dollar kick in the slats.

At least you ended up with a really nice, unique cruiser!

You are a really nice guy.


It's too bad you could only kick his butt 50 cents worth.


I think that was the jerky kid's bike in the first place, and he was just waiting on you to fix it and give it back to him. Next time give him a one dollar kick in the slats.

At least you ended up with a really nice, unique cruiser!



This particular kid suffers from Asperger's Syndrome so I cut him some slack thus the 50 cents in the slats vs. the buck two ninety eight worth I wanted to give him. Most likely a bicycle will be his best mode of transportation throughout his life. He always shows up with a backpack full of the worst oversized, mismatched, beat up, non bike tools. I don’t know if part of Asperger's is to want to constantly tinker with things but he wears out things like brake adjusters and derailleur adjusters. I broke down and gave him another bike I got for free. (Came out of work and a old mtn bike was hanging from my bike rack.) I tuned it up and had it shifting really smooth all 21 speeds. Before he got the bike I read him the riot act. Any jumping broken spokes yada yada yada this was it no more bikes and no more help!!!! Few days later he pulls in the driveway dual flashing headlights, rear blinker, second blinker mounted to the seat tube facing straight at the ground and two handlebar mounted mirrors that look like orange county chopper. Oh and no shifters, no cables and no FD and the RD was stripped down to just the slack adjuster. He's riding in middle, middle gear and my first question was what's with the blinker pointing straight down? Answer "ground effect lighting"!!! I didn’t ask about the gearing. We talked about the lights and how his mom got them for him and how his rear tire needed 2 pounds of air. He went to leave and he squatted down changed gears and off he went.

At least he didn’t break any spokes.

Looks like I read this all wrong! Except that you are an exceptionally good guy.

You need a basket or rack or both. Definitely a cup holder (NOT a water bottle bracket) on the bars. Always a cool thing to bring bikes back from the dead.

I had to laugh all the cup holders had the "Schwinn Quality" badge on upside down.


http://inlinethumb30.webshots.com/47837/2749186980037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2749186980037547136XdXsvS)


http://inlinethumb17.webshots.com/28688/2481123500037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2481123500037547136FCAUgT)

http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/47764/2923019130037547136S600x600Q85.jpg (http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2923019130037547136uVxYmR)

This particular kid suffers from Asperger's Syndrome so I cut him some slack thus the 50 cents in the slats vs. the buck two ninety eight worth I wanted to give him. Most likely a bicycle will be his best mode of transportation throughout his life.


There's no reason to treat Asperger's syndrome as a lifelong disability. Someone with Asperger's will never be NORMAL, but they can be independent, capable, and successful. We can even pass well enough that even coworkers rarely notice we're anything more than a little odd.

*The word filter apparently has an issue with the common term for slowed mental development. I'm sure most of you can figure this out.

For those who don't know, Asperger's is less like being ******** and more like being socially ********. Understanding "normal" people is a serious challenge, understanding cars and traffic laws not so much (now if I could just figure out why "normal people" can't, or won't, drive in a safe and legal manner).

Asperger's is diagnosed by a cluster of conditions, so it can vary enormously, but it's almost all stuff that can be adapted to/overcome. Tinkering is almost universal.

There's no reason to treat Asperger's syndrome as a lifelong disability. Someone with Asperger's will never be NORMAL, but they can be independent, capable, and successful. We can even pass well enough that even coworkers rarely notice we're anything more than a little odd.

*The word filter apparently has an issue with the common term for slowed mental development. I'm sure most of you can figure this out.

For those who don't know, Asperger's is less like being ******** and more like being socially ********. Understanding "normal" people is a serious challenge, understanding cars and traffic laws not so much (now if I could just figure out why "normal people" can't, or won't, drive in a safe and legal manner).

Asperger's is diagnosed by a cluster of conditions, so it can vary enormously, but it's almost all stuff that can be adapted to/overcome. Tinkering is almost universal.

I hope in mentioning that the young fellow I was helping out with an endless supply of bikes having Asperger’s didn’t offend anyone I had no such intention when posting the above. He’s a very nice guy and has become a good friend. I really don’t know a lot about the syndrome and if his constant desire to adjust and dismantle his bikes has anything to do with that. He has also came up with some very cleaver ideas with attaching things to the bike and ways of matching mismatched parts to make something that works. The first bike I gave him was actually part of a deal I made with him to get him to stop smoking and so far that has taken hold.

So to the point of his Asperger’s that’s mostly a non-issue I think what I have done with him is very much what I would do with any young person his age showing an interest in bikes. But hes not getting my new beach cruiser! J

Bud, no offense taken. By your actions you sound like a nice guy. Just the "Most likely a bicycle will be his best mode of transportation throughout his life" comment seemed likely uninformed. And not knowing the kid I could be wrong and you could be right. I just don't want people to read your post and think someone with Asperger's can't be trusted to drive a car (not that I think you meant it that way).

And if I ever met someone diagnosed with Asperger's who didn't love to tinker with things I would seriously question the diagnosis.

P.S.
I've been driving for years, but I do consider a bicycle my "best mode of transportation".
And in that respect I think I'm probably in good company. :)

Bravo! A nice bike and even nicer to help a kid out. kind of like the age old saying " give a man a fish VS teach a man to fish..."

Bravo! A nice bike and even nicer to help a kid out. kind of like the age old saying " give a man a fish VS teach a man to fish..."

Thanks

My young friend wasn’t around all winter and I thought he may have moved away as we had a mild winter and bike riding thru it was an option we rarely get this far north. Well like clockwork and the groundhog seeing his shadow he showed up on my door step a couple weeks ago. Sitting in the driveway was a pretty nice looking Giant mtn bike and Nick said wana see my bike. He was given this by another neighbor because the shifting was all messed up. I hadn’t planned on opening the shop up yet and it was full of winter stored items but I got it open and we worked on the giant new cables and adjusting. Took a 2 mile ride together and he was off. Last week he came walking down the road and I asked him “what no bike?” he said I totaled it all the rear spokes broke and the rim caved in. Hmmmm . I’m seeing a trend. Asked me if I had a bike for him? Hmmmmm. I had a half dozen parts bikes outside all winter and they were about ready for the junk guy and I said take your pick. We got a chain to work on a ten speed in one gear and the brakes working and I asked him where is the bike with the bad wheel? and he said he chucked it in a dumpster. Hmmmm. Then he showed me his cell phone and a picture of an $89 walmart bike his mom was getting him the first of the month. I haven’t seen it yet but might tonight. It will be a good test of walmart bikes I’m sure.

I’m beginning to think there isn’t a bike nick cant total….

Nice job on the Soma! That's a cool bike.

I’m beginning to think there isn’t a bike nick cant total…

Maybe something with 20" or 24" mag wheels?

If he's trashing wheels like that, I bet he gets more enjoyment out of riding than any of us do. :)

Oh, and I shamelessly trot this out on C&V often, but it probably fits the spirit of this thread as well:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f223/BigPolishJimmy/bicycles/frontier_new_fenders_side.jpg


I just got a new-to-me Raleigh 6-speed that could rival this ride as my go-to all-around bike, that is if I don't steal the alloy wheels off it for the Schwinn. I don't have pics of it yet, but perhaps soon. I haven't even ridden that bike, but there's something about it that reminds me of my Huffy Thunder Road that I had as a kid. I don't know if it's the handle bars, or the chain guard, or what. I know it's not the saddle, because the Thunder Road had a bananna seat. I'm tempted to fix it enough, but leave it looking kinda crap, and then just leave it outside unlocked to grab whenever I feel like it without all the process that's involved unlocking the barn, and navigating the bike through the maze of crap and whatnot.

Maybe something with 20" or 24" mag wheels?

Sounds right. A BMX type bike, maybe a ss or a two speed kickback with coaster brake.

About the tinkering. Sounds like we all have a touch of Asberger around here ..:)

Maybe something with 20" or 24" mag wheels?
My friend rides a 144-spoke 26" front wheel on his drum bike (the one on the left at 1:23) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwlG_lJodjA&t=1m23s):

http://www.beachbikeoutlet.com/images/med_144%20Spoke%20Chrome%20Wheel%20set%2026%20in.jpg
Now that is one strong (and heavy!) wheelset! (http://www.beachbikeoutlet.com/144-Spoke-Rim-Set-Chrome/prod-160.html) You can get them in 20 or 24" too.

I would guess that at one point the rim is weakened by all the holes. Not sure what the magic spot is.