I'll start. It's not my bike, but I bought it for my nephew for christmas '04 because it was on his christmas list. It was a crazy cool bike. I can't wait to go riding with him!

I almost got one for myself. I'm 35, and was asking me wife if she'd buy me that "Schwinn from Kmart". She liked it too, so it would have been a sure thing, but they left very little room for any kind of custom mods. I love the back wheel, but it can't be laced to any other hub. Little kids don't care, but to a big kid, it was kind of a letdown. I'll have to build a few myself instead.

Your nephew is lucky to have such a cool aunty.

If you go to https://www.jbimporters.com you can find custom accessories as well as replacement parts for Schwinn Stingrays. I bought one last year to add to my collection. Not very comfortable to ride especially for an adult. They are supposed to be coming out with a full size version. Also check out the Stilletto athttps://www.giantbicycle.com and all the bikes at www.electrabike.com . P.S.--I posted a couple of my bikes in a thread below.

Here's my chopper. I call it "Dewey" (spelled D-U-I). I've had it for about 5 years now and it hasn't broken yet (knock on wood), but don't worry I still ride it like it could break at any time. You can't really see it clear in the pics, but I glued on an Oregon Ducks patch on as a headbadge. It adds a bit of color to the black primer look.

Nice chopper. Where'd you get that fork, or did you make it?

peace,
sam

I am a cool aunty... thanks!

I couldn't believe it was on his christmas list- so I badgered my sister-in-law until she drove me to the Target, then I got the bike and threw it in her car, then we got it home that night and hid it. The next night, I put it together, and in the morning, he was so excited to have it that we took it outside and he rode it in the parking garage. Alas, I heard he hasn't ridden since I left (inactive parents), so when I get back there, we're going to do some serious riding.

I know some folks don't like this bike, but for kids, I think it's a great bike for them to have. It's so retro cool, I think.

Koffee

Made it. The bike was an afternoon project a buddy and I did. It went well enough that we built another one after this one. We cut the original fork in half, stuck each end in a long pieces of steel scrap, and welded around each seam. The fork legs sleeve about 6 inches into the extra metal. The only weak spot seems to be the crown, but that's more Huffy's fault than mine. We also lengthened the downtube to slacken the head angle.

Nice work, phattTyre. The weak fork crown seems to be a very common problem, and probably the most common place for chopper failure... I'm trying to figure out some easy ways to do a triple tree configuration, so the fork blades will be supported at the top and the bottom of the headset.

What sort of welding process did you use? We've been doing MIG since it's easy and relatively inexpensive. Someday I'd like to get into TIG, but so far we haven't needed it. (though the all-aluminum full-suspension tall bike isn't going to get finished without a TIG machine that we can borrow..).

peace,
sam

Wow! Aunt Koffee, can I be your nephew too?

As long as I don't have to birth ya.

Koffee

Get that kid on his bike! And get him a little jar of Mother's polish, so he can keep it shiny.

That's the plan. He was almost in tears when he was telling me he hasn't been able to ride. I understand, though. Both parents work, both are tired when they get home, and mom works at least 50 hours a week. I'll be there to pick up the slack and I'll get those kids on their bikes. I didn't get everyone in the household bikes for nuthin!

Koffee

Echo?

Never hurts to hear it again.

I love those kids to death!

Koffee

I'm looking forward to moving back to the states so I can see my little nieces and nephews. Luckily, my brother and sister are into bikes in a bog way, so the kids should have that interest too.

I've witnessed Koffee's love for her nephews, and she is being very humble in what she's saying.

Spotted on Duke University's East Campus:

enlarge enlarge

Now those are some nice bikes!

Koffee

From last years Halloween Critical Mass.

The Black Labels were out at Palmer's the othe night :



The other shot I took that had the mutant recumbant and another tallbike in the background locked to a tree didn't really turn out...

I saw one of these for the first time this past Sunday. All I could think was wtf is that..

I always thought that swing bikes where pretty cool. I’d like to see someone make and ride a tall-swing-bike bike. Attatched image is from:

[url]https://raleigh-chopper-net.tripod.com/SWing_Bike_Gallery.htm

cool bike

Here's my chopper. It's some old BMX frame that I extended the wheelbase on by bolting on pieces from the rear triangle of a junky mountain bike. One day a week, my mother-in-law babysits my one-year-old, so I have to drive to her house in the morning to drop him off. I built this ride over the weekend so I could keep it locked up near her place (which is only about a ten-minute ride to work), park my car in her garage, and then tool over to the office. Yesterday was the inaugural ride and I got plenty of funny looks while cruising through downtown Boston in my work clothes. It helps that I'm 6'4", so I look especially absurd on this thing, even though it's pretty comfortable to ride. (As you can perhaps tell, the emphasis in this build was on keeping costs and attractiveness down, since the bike has to be locked outside most of the time. Most of the parts were from the garbage, but I had to buy the copper pipe, er, I mean the seat post at Home Dep-- the LBS, and the wheels, fork, and saddle came from a cheap kids' bike from Target. Total cost: $40.)

here's one in Iowa City:

Double Tall - scroll down a little.

https://media.collegepublisher.com/me...s/43u58v0n.jpg

There's a full story about this in today's DI (have to register, but it's free) - from the photo page, click back to home, then click on Abandon All Spokes, Ye Who Enter Here (under 80 Hours).