Originally Posted by
Bikedued
Schwinn even made a bike called a Klunker 5, which was a 5 speed with rear drum brake, and my memory might be failing but I think it had a front drum brake as well. They were sued by someone else who had rights to the name, IIRC, and were made to stop using the name. It turned into the Cruiser 5 I believe?
It turned into the Spitfire 5 after the Marin Co boys sued Schwinn for the name Klunker as they had the rights to it.( I sold my unfinished Spitfire 5 last year). The rear had drum and the front did not but it was a popular upgrade that was made ( I still have the Fr Drum brake I was going to use on mine) all the time.
I have been wanting to build a Klunker for years and I have a bike with the parts and a plan but it needs a lot of labor that I really just don't want to put the time into it yet. So I just built this instead, just to hold me over until I have the time to spare
I started with a Wally World Schwinn that I got in a lot of bikes from a local thrift store, it was in ready to ride condition with new tires on it and all. After a few weeks of pushing it in & out of my shop the design of the frame with the built on rack grew on me & I said what the heck. Parts were all out of my bins saving for a rainy day build, here they are,
Shimano XT m735 sgs RD w/purple jockey wheels, Shimano generic 7spd Rapid Fire Shifter.
Ritchey Vantage Expert Rear & Vantage Comp Front wheelset with Deore DX hubs, Kenda Kwest folding bead tires
Avid Brakes & levers, Kool Stop Pads.
Vintage Answer Cro-moly high rise motorcycle handle bars, Blasted & painted, Vans BMX grips. Unknown Stem blasted & painted.
Mongoose Laidback seat post and a Brooks B17 saddle.
Profile BMX sealed bearing 19mm BB & Crankset blasted & painted 40t sprocket.
It's a blast to ride & I have already had it airborne a few times with no damage so far.