ECHO

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Wow, that bike is beautiful! Also, and I know this is a small thing, but you got that brake housing sweep just right. So many bikes have housing run like an afterthought and it always makes my OCD twitch.

Do muscle bikes use really heavy gauge steel tubing? I've never had one.

Thanks. I was aiming to make the cable runs look as deliberate and clean as I could. As with anything though there's always some luck involved.

I know the Chicago Schwinns used some heavy gauge tubing. From the couple of Breeze / Suburban frames I've cut into I'd guess that they're at least a .065" (1.65mm / 16 gauge) wall. I'm assuming the Fastback & Stingray's, as well as other muscle bikes of the era, would be the same or close.

For this build and "Twist" I used a combination of both 16 gauge and .049" (1.24mm / 18 gauge). I also used some pretty thick 3/16" (just over 4.75mm) plate for the dropouts. Tubing wall and dropout thickness, as well as dropout size and tubing diameter are where I'll be looking to save some weight next time around. That thick rear 24" tire isn't exactly light weight either.
 
Dang dude... so ridiculously neat. I'm a sucker for the blended welds. Really love the handlebars as well. Like you mentioned the small orange / white details really spice things up. This is just all around tasteful and classy, even down to the hardware!!!!!!! I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks. I love the look of the blended welds too. Plus it hides the "quality" of my welds but, it feels like it takes sooooooooo long to do!
 
Is there a name for those 'style' handle bars? I know you made them yourself, but I've seen similar shaped bars on vintage muscle bikes. Not sure what to look up while searching for a set.

In general I've seen them referred to as high rise or ape hangers. Inspiration for these came from early Fastback bars. They had more of a turn down than back towards the rider. There's other muscle bikes that had similar too.
 

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