"Orange County Rat Chop-Suey" Update 9-12

[FunkyStickman]

Much thanks, crew... hard to think of a 24x3" tire as "skinny" but yes, it looks better than even I thought it would. I'm working on getting funds to rebuild the wheels, until then I'm rocking the junk ones. As soon as I get it ridable, I'll post up some vid of me rocking it down the street!

[stretch]

man, the thick brick doesnt look so thick on a bike built for a 4" tire with 5 or 6" of tread.

[FunkyStickman]

man, the thick brick doesnt look so thick on a bike built for a 4" tire with 5 or 6" of tread.

True, the rear stays have over 6" clearance on the inside... you could stuff a ridiculous amount of tire in there. Two 24x3 tires side by side. You could put a 24x4" with no problems.

[ratina]

Much thanks, crew... hard to think of a 24x3" tire as "skinny" but yes, it looks better than even I thought it would. I'm working on getting funds to rebuild the wheels, until then I'm rocking the junk ones. As soon as I get it ridable, I'll post up some vid of me rocking it down the street!

I should have said "skinnier" than stock. And they do have tons of room, I have an actual motorcycle tire on mine

[FunkyStickman]

Horrible video of me riding the bike today. I put about 5 miles on it, still no brakes or gears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fjGYJJfiOo

[FunkyStickman]

Well, looking at the calendar, I've realized there's no way I'm going to get the money in time to build up some nice multi-speed wheels for the Chop-suey.

So. While I'm working on making nice wheels for it, it's time to get ratty! I've got two complete sets of wheels, a 24" front and rear, and a 26" front and rear. The trick will be rebuilding the wheels I have without buying new spokes. I think the coaster hub would lace right in the 24", but the 26" wheels have rusted ruined spokes and nipples. I might be able to get a high-flange front hub, unlace the 24" wheel with good spokes, and use them on the 26" if they're close enough. A few mm too long won't hurt.

I'll have to do some measuring, but you know, rat rodding is all about using what you have... and this would definitely fit the bill.

[FunkyStickman]

Man, it's been awfully quiet in the RRBBO4 forums... I hope that means everybody's building!

I've managed to land two small computer jobs on the side (for friends) and it looks like I'll be able to build the 8-speed rear wheel after all!!!! Now for the mad dash to order the parts and build the wheels in time!!

And as for the suicide brake/shifter idea, I've come up with an idea, but you'll have to wait to see it...

[FunkyStickman]

Ordered the front hub, ordering the rear 8-speed hub today with new nipples to re-use the stainless spokes I have.

So I un-laced the spare wheels I have last night, going to sand and paint the 24" and 26" rims red. I'll start on building the front wheel until the rear hub comes in. I am pretty sure I'm going to make it under the deadline. Yay!!

Still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the seat. I can't really afford a new one, but I haven't found the right material to re-cover it, either. I'll keep looking.

[FunkyStickman]

Ordered the Sturmey-Archer 8-speed rear hub with drum brake. I'll start posting pics of the wheel build tonight!

[FunkyStickman]

Man, cutting it close! Eleven nights left to the deadline, and I'm still waiting on hubs.

Good news, I got the rims painted last night (first few coats), and have unlaced a few wheels for the stainless spokes. I'm going to have to start working on the "shifter" idea before I actually get the hub, but if I get in a pinch, I can mount the brake and shifter on the handlebars. Lame, I know, but we'll see. I took pics of the rims last night too, but it's just bare rims painted red... not much to see. Expect lots of pics when I start building the wheels in the next few days.

At least I won't be the only guy building wheels at the last minute! Right, stretch?

[onelesspedestrian]

there are lots of us cutting it close, so I don't feel so bad! I have 1 of 2 wheels built right now. it's the watching paint dry that really slows you down. I'm just trying to coordinate paint with other non-paint related things I need done so I can keep working.

if you've got all the proper pieces, you can build a wheel in like half an hour, although I have built hoards of wheels so I'm fast .

time to get off the computer and go throw some paint at mine.

[FunkyStickman]

Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I know a bunch of people are lurking in this thread, waiting for the butterfly to emerge. So am I!!

I started practicing threading spokes tonight, with much success. Took some of the junky UCP spokes I wasn't going to use, cut them, and re-threaded the ends with a 2-56 die. Then I threaded a nipple onto it, and grabbed it with some pliers and put as much weight on it as I could... no signs of stress, slippage, or breaking! Took all of my 200 pounds plus some yanking, no sweat. Think about that, just one nipple, only 10mm of threads holding more than my entire weight!! I am now 100% confident in building wheels with re-threaded spokes. No need for a $150 Hozan spoke threader for me.

As soon as the hubs get here, it's on like Donkey Kong!

(EDIT)
Shot of the painted hoops:

[FunkyStickman]

Name change, couldn't resist!

[onelesspedestrian]

I started practicing threading spokes tonight, with much success. Took some of the junky UCP spokes I wasn't going to use, cut them, and re-threaded the ends with a 2-56 die. Then I threaded a nipple onto it, and grabbed it with some pliers and put as much weight on it as I could... no signs of stress, slippage, or breaking! Took all of my 200 pounds plus some yanking, no sweat. Think about that, just one nipple, only 10mm of threads holding more than my entire weight!! I am now 100% confident in building wheels with re-threaded spokes. No need for a $150 Hozan spoke threader for me.

hmm.... I was not aware that could be done. I could be wrong, but I think the reason for the Hozan spoke threader is that it rolls the thread on ( just squishes the metal, no cut). The advantage to that is that it maintains a nice grain structure in the steel, which is more tolerant to the repeated stress cycles that a spoke sees. Your cut spokes will probably fail earlier than ones with rolled threads would, but then again, you are not touring across the country are you? you may never put enough miles on to have this issue come up. the trick is to have a multitude of bikes, so they all stay kinda low mileage.
spokes will have about 100lbs tension (each) when built into a wheel (just sitting there). when you ride, that tension fluctuates up and down the whole time. Wheels are an amazing structure when you stop an think about it.

[FunkyStickman]

They should be plenty strong enough for what I'm doing with it. And yes, the Hozan roller expands the metal very slightly, so the resulting threads are a hair bigger than the rest of the spoke. However, I'm going to use 16mm nipples, and they should give me enough thread to make up for it. The threads are still very strong, and I'm not planning on off-roading it. I'd be surprised if I broke one, but time will tell. That's the beauty of making your own wheels, you can just fix 'em. More likely, they'll be suceptible to going out of true if a nipple skips a thread... I'm definitely going to test them before I go on any long tours with it.

Trust me, I wasn't going easy on the test spoke... I think they'll hold up fine. With the size of the front hub and rim, I might not even have to cut and re-thread the front spokes. I won't know for sure until I get the hub in, though. Both have shipped, now I'm at the mercy of delivery.