My buddy's beast arrived today via Fedex. The plan is to build an off road trail bike, nothing too serious, but still fun. Eventual plan is to have hand brakes, multiple gears, and 40lbs or less...
Out of the box the damage wasnt too bad. Here is the worst of it:
The bearings were totally dry and wayyyy to tight. We totally disassembled it, packed and adjusted the bearings, and put it back together.
Stock weight is 48.4 lbs.
So, on with the mods:
First order of business was the gearing. Since its going to be an off road bike, we wanted it to be able to climb. We put a 23tooth gear on the back, and a 36 on the front. We used a set of cheapie cranks and a gear I had laying around. I didnt have short enough chain ring bolts for a single ring, so I put 2 rings the same size on. That will change soon. We also ditched the chain guard. With this gearing its easy to pedal, but you run out of gear on flat cement, on hills though, its pretty good. Multiple gears are definitely needed.
Weight after the gear/crank change 46.4 lbs. We saved over 2 pounds just changing cranks and gears.
Heres some pics:
Next was some different bars and taking off the kick stand. I had a stem that fit, and some bars and bar ends. They are all steel, but will be good for now:
weight after bar swap 45.0lbs. Total weight saved so far is 3.4 pounds
And finally here is something I did as a joke... Fat training wheels!!
I am still trying to decide if I'm going to order one of these bad boys, its pretty cool...
Out of the box the damage wasnt too bad. Here is the worst of it:
The bearings were totally dry and wayyyy to tight. We totally disassembled it, packed and adjusted the bearings, and put it back together.
Stock weight is 48.4 lbs.
So, on with the mods:
First order of business was the gearing. Since its going to be an off road bike, we wanted it to be able to climb. We put a 23tooth gear on the back, and a 36 on the front. We used a set of cheapie cranks and a gear I had laying around. I didnt have short enough chain ring bolts for a single ring, so I put 2 rings the same size on. That will change soon. We also ditched the chain guard. With this gearing its easy to pedal, but you run out of gear on flat cement, on hills though, its pretty good. Multiple gears are definitely needed.
Weight after the gear/crank change 46.4 lbs. We saved over 2 pounds just changing cranks and gears.
Heres some pics:
Next was some different bars and taking off the kick stand. I had a stem that fit, and some bars and bar ends. They are all steel, but will be good for now:
weight after bar swap 45.0lbs. Total weight saved so far is 3.4 pounds
And finally here is something I did as a joke... Fat training wheels!!
I am still trying to decide if I'm going to order one of these bad boys, its pretty cool...