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M

michfel

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Hi, I am new to this great forum.I have a love for old school cruiser bikes but live in Australia where our vintage bikes are very limited and new retro bikes from Electra or felt cost 3 times more than you guys pay for in the States.We get so ripped off in OZ for all our bikes and bike parts. What we did get in the 70's were lowrider,muscle bikes (we call them dragsters here).Most were all 20 inch and a little small for me ( I'm 6 foot),so I found a Malvern Star 20 inch longframe at a swap meet for $20 and have decided to fit 26inch wheels to it with a rat rod touch.
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Big W (like Walmart) had a cheapo 26 inch cruiser bike for $78.I will use the wheels and mod the frame for another project.I found an old mountain bike in a council clean up,I'll use the forks for my project.
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Now to make the rear wheel fit.I cut the fender mount and made some wheel extensions out of plate steel.
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I wanted to fit truss rods to this bike,so I welded up one using a cable bracket from the mountain bike and some plate steel.I just used some aluminium tubing from the hardware store which is easy to shape but still strong for the rods.I found some brass bolts in the shed which I will thread into the tubing to hold them in place.Total cost $5.50 (bike shop $65).
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I will use the handlebars from the mountain bike,I will try to curve them so they are not so straight.I also had these handlebar extension thingos,I will use one for the seat post.
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I will be using a 20inch crank set from an old girls clunker bike I had lying around so I can have the seat low and not knee myself in the face.I have a cool seat from another bike I might scavenge from. I will try and get it finished tomorrow!!!
 
The bike is now together,happy ,happy .Glad I used the frame ,it was just sitting there doing nothing for a long time! Time to enjoy it :D
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Good thing too it only cost me around $150 to build,thats including the bike I bought for $78 :wink:
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Now that cruiser frame I got from Big W. I've got some rusty 27 inch wheels in the shed.I might build a street skinny :D
 
Thanks mate! I'm happy how they turned out too! Looks like I will experiment with making other stuff :D
 
Great job. I was thinking about making a truss rod. Thanks for the tip. That bike came together nice. That tank is great. I need more tools. Lol Peace
 
Great looking bike. I hear ya about being tall. I'm over 6ft as well but converted a 26" big w special to 20". Where in Australia are you from ?
 

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