1st project - Lime Chopper

[gumby_mac]

I've been lurking on here for a few weeks now, and I'm ready to make the jump... I wanna Rat my bike out! I built my first bike from several 20" & 24" bikes I scored at yard sales. It's a chopper style bike, and as you can see from my pictures, has some interesting features (problem areas).

I took the rear "triangle" from a 24" MTB (seat tube to chain and seat stays) as the base, and welded on the bottom bracket and down tube from a 20" BMX. For the top tube, I welded together two down tubes from what was left of the two 20" BMX bikes I had laying around.

I was originally going with the the big wheel/little wheel chopper look, but it looked kinda funny to me. I've decided to switch out to a 24" front wheel and after finding this forum, I decided I also wanted to change the colors and appearance.

Here's what I'd like to end up with:

I don't want to post 15 paragraphs of questions, so I'll start small...

...I don't know what to do for rims. After deciding to switch to a 24" front wheel, I threw an old 36 spoke MTB tire with a whitewall tire up front and I really dug the look. I think it'll look even better with a red rim, so I'll probably pull the spokes and paint the rim. However for the rear, will I have to switch to a coaster brake? I'd love to keep freewheel back there, but I don't see how without the shoes rubbing the paint off.

If I switch to a coaster brake, I could move the 68-spoke freewheel up front, install a disc brake, and order a 68-spoke coaster wheel. Of course, I could also just paint the existing 36-spoke front wheel red, and order a 36-spoke coaster rear wheel and paint it to match. :roll: Decisions, decisions, decisions...

What do you guys favor, freewheel or coaster, and why?

 

[necessaryevil]

It really depends on what you prefer, function before fashion, or fashion before function. If you like disc brakes and their stopping ability then go with it, I personally would just run a coaster brake rear wheel and no front brake. Keep it clean with no brake or shift cables. Your frame design is definitely different, but that's what I like to see from time to time. Just have fun and do what you want, there are no rules here

 

[Foybles]

Nice color, I am using the same Lime in my "Simplosion" build. I paired it with satin black on the wheels, chainring and gooseneck. Very cool plans for the chopper. I like coaster brakes purely for the simplicity. Less cables looks better in my opinion. You can always innovate a disc brake set up that is rat worthy though. I can't wait to see what you decide to do.
http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8368

 

[GodHatesCleveland]

With the frame coming from BMX and MTB donor bikes, that bike should be around for a long time!

If it was my bike, I'd keep the lime color, paint the bottom 2/3rds of the front forks to match, and go with black rims and spokes, provided it had a coaster or disc brake so the paint wouldn't rub off on the rims. And a banana seat. Gotta get one of those............

But it's not my bike, and that's the beauty of it. You'll probably think up something nobody else would. For a first build, that's a pretty impressive effort. I've done four and I'm nowhere near ready for a chopper yet.

 

[gumby_mac]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will probably order a matching coaster wheel and put it on the rear. I'll take the current rear off, slap my disc brake rotor adapter on it, and put it on the front. I picked up some rattle bomb paint at lunch today, gloss red and an awesome metallic charcoal. I do like the lime green, but lime green, black, and red don't go together. :shock: I think so as not to lose any cycling time, I'll run the chromed 68-spokes, and work on some red rimmed wheels. I might paint the frame over a weekend, just for something different.

The other problem I've been having with my build is what to do with the middle bottom bracket. I didn't cut it off during the build because I didn't want to weaken the frame and it seemed like a spot to weld on the new front bottom bracket and, um, drive-train tube. I've tried a double chain-ring in the middle, but to me it seems to over-complicate the drive train. I've tried two loops of chain, but without an eccentric bottom bracket, I can't get the front loop tight. The loop to the rear sprocket also didn't work because pedaling up a hill caused the small inner chain ring to spin on the axle. I'd need to tack weld that to do it. In order to keep things simple and clean, I'll just remove the middle chainring. Any ideas what I should do with the bracket? Weld small round plates over it?

Anyway, enough rambling. I just got back from a great ride on the chopper and here's what it looks like so far.

Hmmm... the bike sure looks a lot smaller in this picture, but it's very comfortable. I LOVE the low seating position! There's nothing better than cruising to a stop and just resting your feet on the ground. I've got a gel seat on there now, and I'm thinking a banana seat would be a good addition, as long as it was comfortable.

 

[gumby_mac]

:shock: Flamethrower? That'd be AWESOME! The supply pipe would have to be mounted much higher though. :wink: How about some chrome exhausts coming out and flowing down along the chain stays? I'm not sure how I'd do that, but I'm sure it'd look pretty sweet.

 

[gumby_mac]

Yeah, maybe. Something like this?

I also changed the rims to my 68-spokers and painted them red.

Flame on! :lol: