stuartmalone

Hello all!

I posted in the WTB section and realized I hadn't properly introduced myself. I've been getting back into cycling the past couple of years now that my kids are old enough to ride. I forgot how much fun it is to just hop on a bike and go. My son and daughter love going on the Trolley Trail in KC with the old man. I first tried riding my 1985 Cannondale ST500 (owned since new) with them, but that was a disaster. Getting on and off the thing with the toe clips to help pick up / get started / stabalize / find something dropped by, two kids wasn't fun. I purchased a $99 Wal-mart Ocean Pacific cruiser and found it to be an absolute blast, but not very durable. I traded it for an old small frame 26" wheel mountain bike that the previous owner had started to convert to a single speed. I finished the work and gave it a new paint job. It's got the bmx cruiser look going. This really got me going with the kids, but I still wanted something more multi-use. I bought a new Redline Monocog 29er this spring and have been enjoying it. First thing I did was upgrade the rim brakes to mechanical discs. Having found the single speed a bit limiting, I took off all the brakes and built up a rear wheel with a Sturmey-Archer kickback two speed with coaster brake. Oh what fun! However, the coaster brake was impractical for all terrain and long downhills. I put the original single speed rear back on, cut off all the rim brake lugs to clean up the looks of the bike, and re-installed the discs. Right now, I am in the process of building another set of wheels with a shimano alfine 8 speed internal rear hub. I think I will finally have the comfort/trail/street/commuter/beach/balloon tire multi-use bike I've been aiming for.

Can you tell I like tinkering?

My next project will be restoring my old Schwinn Continental I bought new before getting the Cannondale. Then, I need something I can use the Sturmey Archer wheel set on. I'm thinking bamboo frame with straight wooden handlebar.....

Ride on.

Stuart Malone

10 Wheels

Zephyr11

Welcome! Sounds like you'll fit in well here!

stuartmalone

Took me forever, but I got some pics and wrote up a bit about each.

Since I was a wee lad, I wanted an all black bike. I mean all black, top to bottom, front to back. My attempt to turn a yellow Huffy 20" with ape hangers and a banana seat into a black bmx bike when I was a kid was moderately successful. Far less so with a schwinn continental a couple of years later. I think I've gotten what I was looking for with the Monocog 29er. It's been a labor of love this summer. First task was ditching the plastic pedals and putting on some black VP1s. I then got rid of the rim brakes in favor of mountain Avid BB7s. I removed and smoothed the rim brake lugs front and back. I built a set of wheels with a Alfine 8 rear hub and Surly new-new front hub (both 36H for strength, in black) rolling on Velocity Halos (blacked out the logos) with wheelsmith spokes and nipples (both black of course). I transferred the discs over and put on some Serfas Drifter tires. The final touches were a brooks saddle and ergon grips. Along the way, I did build a set of wheels with a Sturmey-Archer two speed kickback rear with coaster brake and a Surly new-new front on Alex rims. It was fun, but not quite as versatile as the Alfine 8. I'm saving those wheels for my next build. Anyway, the Monocog is now an 8 speed and the most utilitarian bike I've ever ridden; sidewalks, street, trails, goat paths, whatever. And I'm most proud to say, I did all the work myself. I especially enjoyed building the wheelsets. The only drawback has been coasting. The Alfine adds considerable weight and doesn't freewheel as nicely as the stock single. However, I'll gladly take that tradeoff for what it can do and where it can go now!













The Cannondale is almost stock. I ditched the duopar sometime in the early 90s for a shimano, but one of our fine members here was able to sell me a replacement duopar, so now it's back to almost original if you excuse the brooks saddle. It still rides great.





This Green BMX cruiser was done in the summer of 2010. I found this bike in a used bike store. Someone had already started converting it over to a single speed, so all I had to do was clean it up and paint it. It was a hodge podge of original purple/pink rattle canned over the top with metallic blue/silver. My guess is it was a women's mountain bike when it started life. I figured it was perfect for what I wanted to do. I took it completely apart, took the finish down to bare metal, removed the front rim brake lugs, rear derailer hanger, and front and rear derailer cable lugs. I painted the frame with several coats of Dodge Sublime and a whole bunch of coats of white on the forks. I then oversprayed with Lincoln tan flake. You can't see it in the pics, but in full sunlight it has like a matte to semi-gloss multi-colored sparkle effect. It is a great bike to ride with small kids. I planned on building a new set of wheels and get a new saddle, but, the kids grew to fast and are more bike capable, so this one doesn't get ridden much anymore. I borrowed the planet bikes ergo grips off it for the Monocog until I got the Ergon CS1s on the Redline. I haven't put the grips back on the cruiser yet.







I posted all of these in a gallery here: https://www.bikeforums.net/album.php?albumid=301

Thanks for looking!

Stuart

10 Wheels

I like the Green One.

stuartmalone

Thanks 10 Wheels! Unfortunately, I found out why bikes are powder coated these days. The rubber coated wall hangers have messed up the paint pretty bad. Ugh!

Stuart