Theflyingdutch

Hi
I posted on my "introduction post" that I love beachcruisers, and have already built one, besides my first built bike (a lowrider). Some of the members then asked me to post pictures of these bikes, so here they go.
I only have a final shot of the lowrider (begginers mistake):
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I built this lowrider from a tandem a friend of mine gave me. It was almost destroyed after his parents had an accident with it. It has some structural errors as to what a tipical lowrider is concerned, but since it was the first bike I made, I love it. It rides very smoothly and it is really confortable.

The second bike I built was this beachcruiser. I made it from scratch and did everything except bending the tubes. Here goes the sequency (aproximately 3 months of work):
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I have three other bikes, but my favorite is a 1947 raleigh dawn tourist.
Soon I'll start working on a streched cruiser, when I can find another coaster brake. I also have a 1970's chopper, whith 3 speed Strurmey-Archer rear hub, with a really cool clutch like speed selector that deserves to be chopped and droped!
Lots of ideas, but no time!
thanks

kemmer

I love the lowrider, it looks great! The cruiser is really neat too, you do nice work!

East Hill

Great looking rides there TFD, and I think the sneaks are pretty cool too.

East Hill

FlatTop

The cruiser has a graceful art deco look to it. You deserve a lot of credit for making what is not available to you. Well done!

Theflyingdutch

Hi.
Thanks for the support.
do you think the cruiser's overall size is right?
I don't have anything to compare it to, so I'm not sure about the frame's size. Both the wheels and tires came from nirve.com, so I know they'r "real"... Not sure about the rest.
Do you know any website from which I can get a cruiser's frame plan?
Thanks again.

FlatTop

The rear triangle may be shorter in overall length than a cruiser's. I think you got the front triangle perfect. I have no data to back this up, and haven't seen dimensions for frames anywhere on the internet.
Although you didn't ask, I suggest that the bike looks very good by itself, and only when a rider is on it does it look small. It's not of great importance in my view. Customs succeed or fail as they stand alone. Even function is not of primary importance unless that is your wish. Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?

Theflyingdutch

Hi.
I took a look through the bike&rod custom website, and in fact, although all the bikes look great, some seem to have something (which I can’t describe) wrong and others don’t seem “ridable”, confort-way.
I just wanted a beachcruiser, and now I have one. I think that the most important thing is to have fun. I love grinding, welding and painting my stuff, and I have a good time doing that. This is mainly what keeps me going. But, of course, I want things done correctly.
My next beach cruiser will be a bit longer and lower, because I want to try building one of those streched cruisers with the seatpost curved to fit the rear wheel shape. I think it will be a big challenge.

East Hill

Fun is why we're here . If you enjoy grinding, welding, paint--that's good. If you want your welds to look good--that's good too . Just don't forget to have fun. Life is too short to not enjoy it .

East Hill

Theflyingdutch

Has any of you tryed BikeCad?

Rollfast

I love the 'shorty' Cruiser frame you built but I needed to ask about the 'direct' path of the bottom cantilever tubes straight to the axle. Virtually all factory-built cruisers I've seen tie the tubes below the seat tube with either a bar or a panel. does this actually provide strength or is it more for attaching a rack or brake cables? Have you noted how it flexs if it does and what weight limits the frame could handle well? The reason I ask is that your curve geometry is mighty attractive and I think you should make an effort to build them for others. They don't look as 'large' as Nirve, more like a BMX sized frame, hence I call it 'shorty' but I really like it. The lowrider may have been a 'mistake' but the curvature is so sweet and between the two I really like your imagination and skill. I am very impressed. You should do more with your ideas!

Theflyingdutch

Hi! First of all, I thank you very much for your post. I know my work doesn't look very bad, but comments like yours really make me keep going.
I'm not really sure about the meaning of all the "techincal" names you refer (I'm portuguese), but I'll try an answer.
As you saw on the photographs, part of the cruiser (back bottom tubes and seatpost) came from an old mountain bike, so those things you refer were not built by me, only the rest. I did not conduct any tests on the material, and I have no idea the weight limit, nor of it's flex possibilities (this sounds dangerous....)..
Finnaly, when I said "begginers mistake", I was not refering to the cruiser, but to the fact that I din not take any photos of the construction process. I really regret that, because the tandem was really in bad shape and it would be great to show you the evolution...
Do you know of any site where I can get frame measures for cruisers?
Thanks again

Theflyingdutch

Hey rollfast,
I just saw your bike on the pepper post.... I'm so stoked!
What is it?

Rollfast

At the moment, It's a 50+ yo Rollfast with a broken seat tube weld at the crank housing...

It's not a bad break and the tube is around 1/2 inch off. If I have to sleeve another housing in I'm gonna fix this. I had a 50's Western Flyer that replaced a Wal-Mart hoax bike (NEXT Sierra Key) that broke the crank at month two and by month seven the cheap plastic bearings and races had a nuclear meltdown. The Flyer was stolen in November with the nearly new Redline crank and sprocket from the NEXT specimen and whatever else I could salvage. Fortunately, none of the things I bought for it were installed at that point, so I bought the Rollfast on eBay at the end of November for $50. I think I have about $700 in parts and repairs into 3 bikes and the original bike was supposed to be a Flyer from a guy in Homedale, a rebuilder and indeed it was like new as I understood. Mom and I were out paying of my debt with the money from selling my '94 Grand Prix sedan and the last bit was for a bike. Mom said she'd surprise me while I was working at the thrift store and she brought the NEXT back. Neither of us knew what was going to happen.

I like the wheelbase and feel of the Rollfast, I love the bike PERIOD. As a stereo hobbyist I may have a fatal sense of it can be done but then again I did most of the rebuilding for my Philips 202 turntable and I've put Pioneer, Allied, Onkyo, HK, Philips sets and Pioneer, JBL, Altec Lansing, Jensen, Onkyo, Philips and plenty of good old Radio Shack speakers in use again in various forms and mixes.

I have EIGHT Trinitrons from #1 (KV-9000U 9") to about 1980-'81 (KV-1957R, 1923 and 1913) and I've gotten at least 3 into shape myself, 3 are needing repairs. I have a collection of tube sets dating back to 1937, tubed and solid state reel decks, mono and stereo in both genres (7, I think).

THAT COULD BE IT. I had a 21" Wards Airline with a round color tube once that I never got to...yeah, that's it. I had two microwaves make it to 27 years old, one was a family hand-me-down.

GUILTY

Theflyingdutch

That broken seat post seem easy to fix. Just fit a piece of tube on the inside, weld it on the outside and grind it, then paint it again.
Those fenders are just too much.
You got it for 50$???
Do you have many of those bikes sold used? For what prices?
Thanks

Rollfast

Alas, NO. I bought it from NY state on eBay. I did not expect to find it and I was looking for a Schwinn actually. It just struck me for the look of it. I thought it might be an Elgin at first; did not realize the Schwinn DX existed at that point and through a few websites I started to learn about old lugged steel cruisers. It was another eBay frame that cued me to rub some grey paint off the headbadge and I confirmed it was indeed a Rollfast. Rollfasts seem to be rare from all I've seen, rarer than Columbias. It's a Columbia Supreme reproduction tank you see and I got it for $25 on clearance at Memory Lane Classics in Ohio. There's a Hong Kong made 1.5V piezo horn in there but something is shorted, NUVO forked kickstand and Electra bell, "traditional" Wald basket and a seat from and old exercise bike.

I have six more where those fenders came from, three pairs with two rusty needing TLC and one sorta primered. If you want to know more PM me, I don't need them much.

Here is what the break looks like:

Rollfast

I got ahold of my friend's spouse and she said she'd let him know. Hopefully I'll be back to rolling soon.

Theflyingdutch

The bike really looks great. I don't know much about your bikes, aside the famous schwinn, but I'll tell ya, that one is awsome as it is. If it was mine, i'd just fix the seat post and ride it 'till the tires wear out!
that problem seems easy to solve. You can just sand of the paint around the holes and weld it. Maybe you'll have to take apart the the crank set and chain guard to do it right, but it's not a big deal. Just be carefull not to open any holes in the bottom bracket.
I appreciate very much the "thing" about the fenders, I would really like to have a set, but i'm from Portugal... Can they fly the Atlantic?

Rollfast

PM me and we can ask the handy shippers down the street about that one tomorrow and I can get pics to you.

Meanwhile, IT'S WELDED and I should have that rear rack he made from a piece of porcelain on steel from a clothes dryer (the rear is tapered and that's as close as I can get to a Schwinn 9-hole I never close manage to get on eBay)...$1 for the metal. Now I work for the Vetter windshield, fiberglass and powdercoating before I expire (not like the mother that died and had a headstone with a parking meter expired at it's 64+ year limit though).

meatwad

Ive got a lot of vintage cruisers I could measure for you. I can tell you though that the MTB evolved from the cruiser and the dimentions tend to be the same.

I put together a 50s monark super cruiser mtb and the wheelbase, tube lengths ,bottom bracket higth all were the same as my dads cheepo motiv mtb.

Your frame looks production in a good way.

Rollfast

Hey TFD/etc I just got that Vetter windshield but I can't hijack this thread or Patty Hearst will jab me (must hand money faster...wait, there's a jelly donut with sprinkles, D'OH! YES, MS. HEARST)!

I'm gonna have to summarize in another thread in this forum

East Hill

Are you sure about that? I've never seen a JELLY donut with sprinkles .

East Hill

Rollfast

I've heard of a place that uses Krispy Kreme glazed for burger buns

Theflyingdutch

Hi there meatwad..
I would really apreciate if you could measure your cruiser and post it or e-mail me.
Could you do that in cms rather than in inches?
Thanks

meatwad

Here ya go. This is the average between a 1940 elgin, a 50s monark supercruiser, a 40 columbia and a early 60s roadmaster middleweight. The variations were no more than 2 cms. Measured center to center.

Wheelbase 109
top tube 57
bottom tube 60
chainstay 47.5
seatstay 48
seat tube 47
headtube 13

brandonehansen

This isnt a great help, but it does give you dimensions for a rear triangle section.

https://www.masterlowrider.shoppingca...41/1290029.htm