BigPolishJimmy

I just set up my mountain bike with an extra tall stem and some new bars the other day. It is so comfortable for the type of riding I do. I did my first real ride of the season--12 miles--on it 2 days ago and it was Fantastic!







The bike is really too small for me. I bought it at a thrift shop and was going to flip it, but then I rode it and loved the ride, so I kept it.

This is what it looked like when I first got it, ...except that I added the bar ends.



It replaced the 26" wheel huffy mtn bike I put together when I first got into riding a couple of years ago(shown below). I put ape hangers on the huffy to make it comfortable, but then we stole the ape hangers to put on my son's new stingray chopper. The huffy has since been given to a person who couldn't afford to buy a bike.

jbrow1

Sweet bike
And good for you for giving a bike to someone who needed one

motobecane69

you know what, sometimes I see the things that people do and I'm like "that looks so stupid" but you sir have done a nice tasteful job with that one. love that trunk bag, where did you get it?

BigPolishJimmy

Thanks

The bag on the back is an Olympus camera bag that my brother gave me. It is the perfect size for a rack bag, and that's just what he was using it for before he gave it to me. I do need to adjust the rack, I remember now that I kicked it out of level the other day and forgot to put it back. Also the fender lines are a bit messed up because I put it in the car and it was way too tight a fit, so they got mushed a little bit and need to be straightened out.

motobecane69

only changes i'd make to really pimp it out would be the hand grips being black leather to match the trunk bag and put some tires with reflective sidewalls to play off the silver in the frame.

himespau 

nice looking ride.

BigPolishJimmy

I still need to mount my Brooks on there, then the grips and saddle will 'almost' match. the grips were on clearance, so I had to buy them and try out this setup.

Mr. Beanz

That looks so stupid!........Kidding (comment above)! Cool bike.

But the reversed brake levers look like they could be tricky on a fast unexpected descent.

BigPolishJimmy

I suppose they could be, but I don't ride fast or unexpectedly, our hills are not even what you would consider a hill. I like to ride with my pinky fingers out and around the lever and modulate my breaking. The cool thing is if I'm leaning back too far and lighten up too much on grips that they might slip from my hands, the levers catch them. This came in handy the other day, I was hit a bump and caught myself. No technical descents allowed on this bike.

Mr. Beanz

I'm sure you wouldn't plan a descent on this bike but even a 15-20mph mile on a slight downhill can be dangerous if you need to make a panic stop (eg. exiting vehicle at shopping center).

I've never used em that way so I don't know but it looks tricky.

RichardGlover

Looks like you've set up a real nice commuter / town bike.

BigPolishJimmy

With a pinky on the lever it was easy to get used to it fast, the bigger issue I found was riding posture and balance. I'm sitting almost upright on it so I have to lean gently, or lean forward to center my weight to get more aggressive cornering. 15-20 really is top speed even downhill, I ride the brake as I don't like going too fast, I don't see as quickly as I used to.

Mr. Beanz

I see that the hb's are very high. Are you really tall so they are at a comfortable level vs your torso? Or do you ned to raise your arms as you ride? They look pretty high but not real high compared to the saddle.

BigPolishJimmy

Yep tall (6'4"),

Here's a pic with my son and that stem on my Motobecane a couple years back. Note: helmets are up for the photos.



*edit* actually here is that bike from a couple of years ago after I put the fenders and the rack on:



Also, thanks for the complements everyone

Mr. Beanz

Oh yeah, body to bike comparison shows........you are tall.

BTW, dig them leather grips!

Nightshade

VERY nice MTB conversion !! Kudos to you for give a needy friend a hand up with the Huffy. MAJOR kudos, indeed.

exile

I like the look of the bike. It definitely has it's own unique styling. Of course the most important thing is that you enjoy riding it.

BigPolishJimmy

It's just a huffy, almost the same as if I kicked the guy while he was down. just kidding. I think the hand grips are pleather, I bought them because they were on sale for 7 bucks. In fact the whole of the bike as it stands is ridiculously cheap.

Thrift store bike: ................................ $20
Tall Stem ............................................ $15
Grips .................................................. $7
NOS Schwinn Garage Sale Handlebars .... $0.75
LBS Bottle Cages .................................. $12
LED tail light (Deal Extreeme) ................ $3
Halogen Headlight (Craigslist) ................ $5
Crappy HF Clearance Frame Pump ......... $1.17
Bag (from brother) ............................... $0
Rack (from old bike) ........................... $0
Fenders (from old bike) ......................... $0

Total ................................................... $56.92

Riding With Friends = Priceless

CraigB

That is one helluva stem!

BigPolishJimmy

Added a Brooks and fenders with some bling. This is easily the most comfortable bike I've ridden except for maybe my recumbent.

zjrog

I need to do something like that riding with my wife. She is slow on her trike and it just gets to be a bit uncomfortable going that slow on my Fisher HooKooEKoo... I have a 1989 Trek 950 I can sub for that duty...

freighttraininguphill

Very nice! Metal fenders are the best! I hate plastic ones as I've broken every set I've ever owned. Even the plastic front fender on my Worksman Port-O-Trike was broken when it was brand new, so I took it off since I have another trike with full metal fenders for wet rides.


Here's one of my solutions for riding with very slow people like those in wheelchairs or walking:



These are my other two trikes. The big one is being used to tow the Worksman Port-O-Trike home from the LBS on a rainy day:


one adult trike towing another one by kittyz202, on Flickr

For extra comfort, I have this:



As you can tell, I love trikes! I have my two-wheelers for climbing and longer rides, but for around town utility use you can't beat a trike!

CraigB

Wait a minute - isn't that what the grownups always told the kids when they asked what those two animals were doing out in the field?

BigPolishJimmy

I like my recumbent for certain types of riding, but I really prefer the upright riding for riding in traffic. I like to see and be seen. Still I'd love to have a tadpole to use as a base for a velomobile.

freighttraininguphill

It does remind me of that website my friend showed me years ago called "furniture porn"

Me too. I use uprights almost exclusively, only riding the recumbent on long flat rides that are mostly MUP. But I haven't had visibility problems with the recumbent, even on night rides. It has a tall orange safety flag with flashing LED Christmas lights wrapped around the flagpole from top to bottom. I run 3 lights at a time front and rear, for a total of 6 lights going all at once plus the flagpole lights.