Johnny Mullet

So I have my good bikes at home and had my beater Huffy MTB at the shop I work at that I could ride before work and during lunch. I recently did a drop bar and 700c conversion on the Huffy and made it my commuter bicycle. You can see the pics and read about that bike here...........
https://www.bikeforums.net/mountain-b...tain-bike.html

A guy I work with brought in this older Roadmaster girlie 26" mountain bike and said I can use it for parts or scrap it. I decided to fix it up with the leftover parts from the Huffy and use it as my beater bike at the shop. I did not really mind riding a purple girlie bike around the shop, but I had some spare time and decided to "man it up" some and made it a boys bike. Here are the pics from when I first got it, to when I got it rideable, and in it's current shape. Check out this beater.........

When I first got it..........





After getting it rideable..........





After "Manning it up"............







Right now it's in the basement hanging from the ceiling since I just got done painting it black. Updates soon!

alexaschwanden

good job.

Kayotee

I can understand cutting/moving/welding the top tube as a hobby or fun project, but to do it to not have a girly bike seems like a bit of work =)

I notice the absence of shifters for the derailleurs though. Just running it as a poor mans single speed?

Johnny Mullet

I got all new cables to put on after the paint dries so it will have gears.

tk1971

Looks great. Wish I can do that.

Merry Christmas.

Johnny Mullet

Here is the finished product.................





Toat investment = $12.00

agressor

It's call: Pimp my ride!.Nice work Johnny.

Wanderer

That's really cool....... and a nice job

I presume that when your daughter/granddaughter needs a bike, you can change it back, and paint it pink............. LOL

Johnny Mullet

Finishing touch on the shop beater bike................

bikemig 

That's a fine looking job but the bike may need some of these:

Johnny Mullet

No intention to relate to "Mike Mullet" or Gary Fisher "Mullet" named bicycles. This is my nickname since I been sporting the same awesome hairdo since the 80's

osco53

Remember this movie ?



A true classic American Hair but

Johnny Mullet

Quick update on the "Chaz Bono" bike...................

Got new handlebar grips and swapped brake pads on it and now the total investment is $25.00 on this beater.............

DMC707

Total monetary investment is $25, but how many hours welding, cleaning and scrounging/recycling?

I applaud the effort , -- but man -- $150 nets me a brand new frame and fork (26" rigid) from Nashbar that i dont have to mess with

(i know, I know --- people will say i dont "get it" --- and thats true , but it may be due to my age and schedule (definitely middle age (43) and definitely over worked) -- i'd rather spend a few bucks so i could spend more time riding and not wrenching

-- and by - a few bucks, i mean , a very few bucks ---- take my $150 Nashbar frame/fork - add in some old stock components and 26" wheelsets are cheap now on Flea Bay -- you have a nice single speed for less than $3-400 bucks with possibly some creative parts recycling if you already have a stash

Johnny Mullet

Because my time is only expensive when someone else is paying for it. The sex change took a little over an hour. Plus this is a beater bike that I ride around the Diesel truck garage I work at, so it's perfect. If I was gonna buy a new frame, I would not use it at the shop. I got better bikes at home and have no need for more bicycles (at least the wife thinks that)

Bicycle Addict

Johnny Mullet . . .I always find it funny that people have to put a monetary value to everything including someone else's spare time.

For what you set out to get . . .I would call it, GOT.

Should last you years for the use it will be which will way pay for the "time" spent. Nice.

Johnny Mullet

If you have to "get paid" for your spare time, then do something for yourself. Believe it or not, this bike will probably end up with more miles on it than my mountain bike, road bike, or my commuter bike. This is the bike I ride every day 30-45 minutes before work and 15-20 minutes during lunch. I don't care if it's a cheap big box bike from the 90's that was headed for the scrap pile. It will have more miles on it than my neighbor's $3000 Specialized or my brother's $1800 Cannondale. I bet it will go through a set of tires before my boss gets his brand new Fuji out of the garage this summer. That is all that matters.

DMC707

The most expensive time periods i have are my spare time -- so i try to enjoy them --- If the mullet man likes messing around with old bikes in his spare time , then thats his business, not mine.

MAny people talk about their projects and how little coin they have in them though not taking into account the hours of labor sometimes put into them ---- this goes for anything almost, not just old bikes -- and when someone says their spare time isnt worth much, then thats their business too

Johnny Mullet

I am also a mechanic and have tools at work and at home. I have a welder, grinder, and materials, so this was just normal tinkering for me.

I also built this in my spare time while tinkering so this bike was really nothing for me..................

Johnny Mullet

Well, I have ridden the crap out of the "Chaz Bono" bike every day so far since during and after the sex change and the operation went well. minus the crappy brakes, this is the perfect beater bike for riding around the shop. A lot of the customers who come in the shop and seen this bike before and after cannot believe it's the same bike. Regardless, it works for me. Put a little over 100 miles of indoor cycling on it so far.

Astrozombie

Those shifters are the worst.....but whatevs

Do people generally put grips on bar-ends?? I was thinking about doing that..

Johnny Mullet

Quick update on the "Chaz Bono" bike. A friend of mine who is overweight and been wanting a bike asked me if I could help him find one, but he don't have much money to spend. I did not even bother to browse Craigslist or anything. I figured since I was getting a Raleigh M-20, I had no need for an extra bike and I could replace one of them. The "Chaz Bono" bike is already tested, tuned, and reliable since I rode it all winter and I know it would serve him well. To make this bike more comfortable for him since he is short and heavy, I will go into work early tomorrow and swap the high rise stem and curved handlebars from the ladies Huffy I chopped up to make a rear rack out of and make a few adjustments and when I drop it off to him after work, I will do a bike fit for him so his riding experience is a good one. I will give him the bike for free just to help a buddy out.

Johnny Mullet

Sadly I went to visit my friend who was supposed to be riding this bike and to my dismay I seen the bike all nasty and dirty laying in the dirt with a couple garbage bags on top of it. I said

"WTF is this?"

And he said "I been riding it some. I was cleaning out the garage."

I can tell it was ridden, but I suspect his kids were riding it. I went over and picked the bike up and found the front rim taco'd and the chain was off the front chainrings and jammed in between the lowest gear and the bottom bracket. When I left his house he knew I was pissed. I simply said "When you want to enjoy that bike I spent a lot of time fixing it up bring it to my house."

I will be waiting.

bananafruitcake

Damn sorry ...
You're an artist and a good person... hope he just brings it back to you....

Johnny Mullet

Last update on this bike. I went to visit my friend the other day because he needed help fixing his wife's van. I went to the door and his son said he was still sleeping. This was at 11:00 AM. I knew his wife's van needed fixed and since I brought all my own tools and he had the parts on the porch, I went ahead and changed out the srtuts and swaybar links while he slept the day away. Before I left I went around the back of the garage to take a leak and there was the Chaz Bono bike laying in the weeds. It's a gonner now.

I will NEVER try and do someone a favor and give away anything anymore. Maybe if I sold it to him he would have taken care of it.

R.I.P. Chaz ;(