tk1971

Saw a vintage Dahon in pretty bad shape on ebay. Frame looks like it could be cleaned up, so I put in a pretty lowball bid (considering shipping was free). Received it Friday.

As I sat around looking at all the bikes my kids outgrew, I figure I can convert this into a single speed with coaster brakes. No cables, shifters, etc. A nice and simple beater to chase my kids around the neighborhood with.

I'll keep the 3-speed hub in the parts bin, but the wheels are pretty far gone. The rear fender is broken. That hideously large bar stool for a saddle has to go. Here are the auction pics.









Got the frame cleaned up. All the rust came off with Ed's Red and a wire brush. Had to use a steering wheel puller to pull the cranks (no threads to accept a crank puller). Put in the Sugino crankset with a single 42T sprocket pulled from a Nishiki. Had to use the Nishiki's bottom bracket as well because the Sugino JIS cranks are too big for the original Dahon BB squared taper. Jazzed it up with some gold colored Wellgos. Here it is now:













Rides fairly well. Another one in the collection.

Special mention is needed to acknowledge the donor bike:

metanon

Very nice. Saw this bike on evay as well. Too far for me to get though.

If this thing is ridden a lot, the chainring will grow bigger and fill out the frame.

Dynocoaster 

Looks good. Tried to buy a stainless steel model last year to upgrade.
Check out these
https://www.flickr.com/photos/number...n/photostream/

tk1971

Wow, the stainless version is gorgeous. There are a few that turn up for sale locally at Craigslist, but there are better ways to spend $650.

tk1971

Sure enough... after a couple of rides I couldn't take it. I now have a 53T chain ring up front.

smallwheeler

next, you'll need to ditch those kid's bmx tires and get a pair of primo comets.