WHY

Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
From this

e2y6ezez.jpg


To this
3e4yvugu.jpg
 
Because people made these guys' terrible motorcycles relevant.

images
 
I thought the first version of those was kind of cool, if I had been elementary to middle school aged I would have wanted one. The later versions like the OCC with the high steering head and nearly vertical forks, blech. Ugly, strip for parts.
 
deorman said:
I thought the first version of those was kind of cool, if I had been elementary to middle school aged I would have wanted one. The later versions like the OCC with the high steering head and nearly vertical forks, blech. Ugly, strip for parts.

x2 Your right deorman ! I always wondered why both the OCC and the Westcaost Chopper bikes both had the almost zero rake , when there supposed to be motorcycle looking bicycles. With name sake of "chopper motorcycles builders ". :?
 
I don't mind either of those, first more than second.

But generally I prefer a bicycle that's trying to be an awesome bicycle.
Rather than a bicycle that's pretending to be a motorbike.

Bicyles are great enough being bicycles.

The important diference in these two bikes
Is the first is "inspired by..."
The second is "pretending to be..."

2c
 
Products must change with the times and trends. Old music never sells as rapidly as new, current music. Schwinn was ahead of the curve when they first offered the OCC stingray. Chopper bikes are common now. If a company makes the same unchanged products, year after year, many of their customers will go elsewhere. I agree that smart bike makers should offer a balance of proven favorites and the latest trends.
 
I should have got one of those chopper bikes at Big Lots back when they came out but now I would rather have a great Murray King Kat instead.
 
largek9 said:
deorman said:
I thought the first version of those was kind of cool, if I had been elementary to middle school aged I would have wanted one. The later versions like the OCC with the high steering head and nearly vertical forks, blech. Ugly, strip for parts.

x2 Your right deorman ! I always wondered why both the OCC and the Westcaost Chopper bikes both had the almost zero rake , when there supposed to be motorcycle looking bicycles. With name sake of "chopper motorcycles builders ". :?
That was probably a marketing decision to make it easier for kids to ride. Not that those bricks actually ride that we'll to begin with. :roll: I still think they should have kept the original lines and look. I did like the manta rays though.
 
I love Schwinn Sting-Rays. Had a Cotton Picker as a kid and have two '68's right now, at 50. I also have ridden motorcycles for nearly forty years. So here's my two cents:

Any Sting-Ray less than thirty years old ain't a Sting-Ray, and OCC doesn't build, they assemble.

Wouldn't be caught dead on either.

furyus
 
As much as I love the old Schwinns, I don't see any point in complaining about how much "better" they were compared to the OCC bikes. The designers of the old Stingrays took their cue from custom motorcycles. So did the designers of the OCC Stingrays. Compared to a Typhoon, or a Varsity, the old Stingrays were impractical. No one was going to play BMX with a Krate, and you wouldn't pick a Stingray if you had to ride any serious distance. Style definitely took precedence over substance. Same with the OCC. The OCC falls short when you compare it to a BMX, or MTB style bike- neither of which was invented when the Krate was on the market. The choppers are strictly for cruising, and kids like to ride hard, jump curbs, and play in the dirt. The only area I would fault the OCC is the overall quality of the components, and construction. The old Schwinn bike was mid-century American engineering at it finest. It was built to withstand serious abuse. That's why you can bring a fifty year old Schwinn anything back to life with an overhaul and some fresh grease. On the other hand, the vast majority of bicycle owners, adult or child- then as well as now, don't wear out their first set of tires before the bike is garaged, forgotten, or sold.
The Chinese built OCC is, for all its cool factor, adequate, but does not exceed the task for which it was intended, which is cruising the neighborhood.

JWM
 
I think Felt has done a good job of balancing their product line. They sell competitive road bikes, tri bikes and mountain bikes. Instead of simply offering a beach cruiser, they offer innovative, unique beach cruisers that combine nastalgia and modern components.
 
Back
Top