This build is going to be a reminiscence of the Redline BMX I built up when I was in junior high and rode all through high school. I can't revive my original bike since it was stolen in the early '90s. My original was an '82 (I'm fairly sure) frame that I bought new at the time and built up with parts from the Free Spirit I had been riding. The frame would have looked like this though this was not my actual bike:
I had it built up with some cheapo parts, like the generic forks and handlebars I had, and over time upgraded to better parts, like the Tuff Neck goose neck and CW style bars. I can't find any pics of my old bike so the details on what parts I had on there are a bit fuzzy. With the prices of old school BMX parts these days, trying to replicate my bike with all old school parts is pretty much out of the question. I don't mind spending a few hundred on this project but using old school original parts would probably cost over $2k. So last year sometime I bought a beater '90 Redline that had originally been chrome like mine, but had been spray bombed black by some overly enthusiastic kid.
Just painted the whole bike, tires chain and all. I was hoping that they hadn't sanded the frame so that the chrome would still be ok. But when I stripped the paint I found that was not the case. They sanded this thing half to death. It's completely scratched so I'm calling this build Scratchy. The frame and forks had also previously been painted white and red before the white. Technically I think '90 would be considered mid school but this frame is almost exactly the same as the one I had. Some of the details around the dropouts might be different but otherwise pretty much the same. The fork is definitely mid school style.
When I found the extent of damaged chrome the project kind of stopped there. I've been looking for a replacement frame but the prices are just too high for me. So I came up with a new strategy for the build and the ORBO gave me the nudge to get it going. I've decided the destroyed chrome just means I don't really need to take care of this bike so I can thrash it off road or at the skate park and not worry about it, just like back in the day. Probably won't appeal that much to would be thiefs either. I just won't be spending $50 on an original sticker kit like mine had which was the original plan. I'm going to build it up as if I had still had my original Redline for the last 30 years and continued to thrash on it and upgrade components periodically. It's probably what I would have actually done if it hadn't gotten stolen. Here's the parts I'll be using from the spray bombed parts bike:
Frame, forks, '90 Redline goose neck (Tuff Necks go for bank these days!), Diamond Back pedals, Redline seatpost clamp and rear wheel from a mid 2000s K2 Sesh. I'll ultimately upgrade everything but the frame and forks as I find better stuff. I'd really like to find a better back wheel I can afford. But it is black like the one I had back in the '80s. I'd like to find an affordable Tuff Neck at some point and some bear traps that I like. Here's some parts that I've already gotten for it:
The vintage Wald bars look and feel just like I remember and came with some cool '80s vintage grips. I had a Tuff Wheel front wheel and laced rear wheel originally so a new repro front Tuff Wheel was in order. I ran blue gumwall tires (which my buddy hated) so these blue camo tires looked cool to me as a modern 'upgrade'. Plus Scott will still hate them. I still need to get the rest of the parts so if you have anything to sell hit me up. I won't start building it up until I get some more parts but this is the starting point. I'm really looking forward to this one. It's been a long time since I last rode my trusty Redline!
I had it built up with some cheapo parts, like the generic forks and handlebars I had, and over time upgraded to better parts, like the Tuff Neck goose neck and CW style bars. I can't find any pics of my old bike so the details on what parts I had on there are a bit fuzzy. With the prices of old school BMX parts these days, trying to replicate my bike with all old school parts is pretty much out of the question. I don't mind spending a few hundred on this project but using old school original parts would probably cost over $2k. So last year sometime I bought a beater '90 Redline that had originally been chrome like mine, but had been spray bombed black by some overly enthusiastic kid.
Just painted the whole bike, tires chain and all. I was hoping that they hadn't sanded the frame so that the chrome would still be ok. But when I stripped the paint I found that was not the case. They sanded this thing half to death. It's completely scratched so I'm calling this build Scratchy. The frame and forks had also previously been painted white and red before the white. Technically I think '90 would be considered mid school but this frame is almost exactly the same as the one I had. Some of the details around the dropouts might be different but otherwise pretty much the same. The fork is definitely mid school style.
When I found the extent of damaged chrome the project kind of stopped there. I've been looking for a replacement frame but the prices are just too high for me. So I came up with a new strategy for the build and the ORBO gave me the nudge to get it going. I've decided the destroyed chrome just means I don't really need to take care of this bike so I can thrash it off road or at the skate park and not worry about it, just like back in the day. Probably won't appeal that much to would be thiefs either. I just won't be spending $50 on an original sticker kit like mine had which was the original plan. I'm going to build it up as if I had still had my original Redline for the last 30 years and continued to thrash on it and upgrade components periodically. It's probably what I would have actually done if it hadn't gotten stolen. Here's the parts I'll be using from the spray bombed parts bike:
Frame, forks, '90 Redline goose neck (Tuff Necks go for bank these days!), Diamond Back pedals, Redline seatpost clamp and rear wheel from a mid 2000s K2 Sesh. I'll ultimately upgrade everything but the frame and forks as I find better stuff. I'd really like to find a better back wheel I can afford. But it is black like the one I had back in the '80s. I'd like to find an affordable Tuff Neck at some point and some bear traps that I like. Here's some parts that I've already gotten for it:
The vintage Wald bars look and feel just like I remember and came with some cool '80s vintage grips. I had a Tuff Wheel front wheel and laced rear wheel originally so a new repro front Tuff Wheel was in order. I ran blue gumwall tires (which my buddy hated) so these blue camo tires looked cool to me as a modern 'upgrade'. Plus Scott will still hate them. I still need to get the rest of the parts so if you have anything to sell hit me up. I won't start building it up until I get some more parts but this is the starting point. I'm really looking forward to this one. It's been a long time since I last rode my trusty Redline!