A couple of board tracker questions

[RestoRodSchwinn]

So, I'm pretty locked into the idea of building a board tracker. I love the style! I've never ridden one or even been around one, though, so I was wondering if they can be set up so they're moderately comfortable to ride? Any tips? Also, does anyone use Brooks saddles for their builds?

 

[DougC]

No board trackers are comfortable to ride. If you look at motorcycle photos from the same period, they NEVER used upside-down handlebars.

And some of the "normal" handlebars were not that great either.
I built a vintage-styled motorized bike that had long Shelby-style handlebars, I think they were about 26 inches long total. The dimensions were accurate; I took them from a page of an old catalog I found online.

The bike was comfortable to ride once you got underway, but the low-speed handling (like, at walking pace) was absolutely terrible. Making a tiny steering correction involved shifting the grips six inches left or right. I had to gun the engine when starting to get moving quickly, as fast as possible. I simply couldn't balance on the thing when riding at low speeds at all.

http://www.norcom2000.com/users/dcimper ... cycle.html

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I used a cheap bobber motorcycle seat for mine. It was very flat (with the upward bend at the back) and wasn't really very comfortable. Mine cost $65 but the better bobber seats are up around $200.
The problem I found was that the motorcycle seat could have been comfortable, if you could have located the footpegs correctly, but I couldn't do that because of the way that the whole frame ended up being built. The cranks were in the way, and so one of my legs was always forward, and one always back, and one leg was always uncomfortable due to the flat edge of the seat.

If you're building a frame from scratch, one thing I would presume from all this is that a motorcycle seat wasn't very comfortable for pedaling and I already knew that a bicycle seat isn't going to be very comfortable for just sitting on (while using the engine).... so you kinda need to decide what way you're going to move most of the time, and build the whole bike around that.

I don't have that bike anymore, I threw (most of) it out. I kept the engine and wheels.
I had a lot of fun building it but it had a lot of mistakes I made, I didn't have any metalworking equipment when I built it and it couldn't climb hills at all due to the engine's single-gear limitations. And finally, I lost the storage space I was keeping it in.

....I will probably build another one eventually, but don't have any idea when. I want to make the engine myself, since I don't like any of the ones available. They are all high-RPM, which means vibration and buzzing which was another aspect I hated. I want to do a cross-head type engine that will spin at much less RPM, and have much less noise and vibration. No company anywhere builds small engines of this type; if you want one you pretty much have to make it yourself or pay somebody to do it for you.

 

[CCR]

the more out of shape you are the more uncomfortable they are, im 6' and around 250# ... i usually end up knee'n myself in the gut trying to ride a flipped bar cruiser :lol:

 

[RestoRodSchwinn]

Hmmm. . . well, it's going to be non-motorized - at least at first. And, I'm using a Monarch frame and springer. I'm not quite ready to put together my own frame, yet. I'm thinking that if I don't drop the grips too far below seat level, and have the seat low, but not too far back, I may be able to roll it up to the Starbucks or around the neighborhood. I'm small, too - about 5'8" - so that's probably in my favor.

 

[herr_rudolf]

No board trackers are comfortable to ride. If you look at motorcycle photos from the same period, they NEVER used upside-down handlebars.

Hmmmmzz.... really??
What period are we talking about? I think everybody has their own opinion about how a boardtrack bycycle should look like. When I think about 'boardtrackers', I have the racers in mind. Not the bikes that pushed or 'pulled' the racers. A lot of them (if not ALL) had their bar-ends (grips) lower then the mountingpoint of the bars... Check out the vintage pics on:

http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2008/1 ... -film.html

...it LOOKS that a lot of them had flipped handlebars. Or bar-ends that are chopped and welded back on an even lower spot. I think a lot of the members, including me are thinking about these kind of bikes, when talking about boardtrackers.

End those were just the motorbikes. If you look at the boardtrack bycicles.... Didn't they start out with upside-down handlebars? Those upside-down bars developed into the well known dropped racingbars ala tour de france-bars. I could be wrong but that seems very logical to me...

People talk about flipped handlebars being not comfortable, but that just is not (entirely) true. The possistion of the seat is the formost reason a bike is ridable or not. Remember: Racebikes have their grip-position dropped even lower than flipped regular bars. And if we talk about making a bicycle comfortable to ride, we should start with bikes that are 'small' to begin with. 26" cruisers are for most grown ups too small to ride comfortably. I'm lucky enough not to be that tall. :|
(I think 28" beachcruiser would be a BIG hit commercially...)

But indeed you'll have to compromise when building/riding a boardtracker.
I love to ride. And I love to ride fast. That means low handlebars and a high seat. If I would build a serious boardtrack style bicycle out of a beachcruiser it will still be a mix between the vintage motorbike and vintage bicycle versions...

Edit: I have flipped bars on my roadbike and if there's one thing I don't like about them it is that the grips are not 'forward' enough. I mean, the possition would be a bit more comfortable if the grips sat slightly more in front of the pivotpoint...

 

[Skipton]

I ride all of these bike a lot! My commute to work is 10 to 20 miles a day depending which route I take
Sometimes I raise the seat on the white one...but it looks cooler slammed

I am six feet tall the seat so far back on the blue one makes it more comfortable :roll: :wink:

If practical was what we wanted....we would all be riding Trek Hybrid Bikes :mrgreen:

My other Monark with the same seat as above raised high

 

[rydr1]

Skipton, do you live in a hilly area or is it all flat?

I have been thinking of building a commuter bike, but there are hills here that go upward for over a 1/4 mile. I don't really want a dedicated road bike for this either.

 

[Skipton]

Skipton, do you live in a hilly area or is it all flat?

I have been thinking of building a commuter bike, but there are hills here that go upward for over a 1/4 mile. I don't really want a dedicated road bike for this either.

I live in the city of Chicago.....It is FLAT AS A BOARD!!!! :mrgreen: The Blue bike would be tough up hill :shock:

The Monarks if geared correctly would be OK

Maybe something like this would be best....My Schwinn with a 4 speed Nexus

 

[DougC]

No board trackers are comfortable to ride. If you look at [road-going] motorcycle photos from the same period, they NEVER used upside-down handlebars.

Hmmmmzz.... really??
What period are we talking about?

Well, there was only one period where board-track motorcycles existed at all. And my comparison was between board-track bicycles and motorcycles, and otherwise.

Road-going motorcycles and bicycles almost never used the low-slung "upside-down" handlebars that put the grips below the seat. Sorry, they just didn't. It's good for aerodynamics but terrible for riding comfort.
Period photos of people actually using them on real roads will plainly show this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/3444400840/
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3211?size=_original
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/2271286466/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/3290146446/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amphalon/1874491606/
http://www.nationalmcmuseum.org/machine ... ycles.aspx

If you're young and not going real far they can be okay, but upside-down handlebars are not going to be comfortable. You want the handlebar grips at least 3-4 inches above the seat, not below it.

What you can do is (if you are building your own frame) you can set the seat height you want (relative to the pedals) and then build the gas tank so that it sticks up 4-6 inches higher than the seat. That way you can have the handlebars at the same level as the top of the gas tank and it doesn't look like they're sticking up, but they're still a bit higher than the seat height. The first motorcycle pic on this page is an example of a cafe racer with the bars like this-
http://www.caferace.com/cafenews.html

 

[herr_rudolf]

ehm...
I don't want to get too deep into a discusion but doesn't the sentence 'the bikes actually used on the roads' take them out of the boardtrack-category instantly? Those bikes aren't boardtrackers... (...and therefor maybe not relevant in this topic..?) To me (and I think 99% of the members) a boardtracker is a (motor-)bike used on a boardtrack. Or a bike that is built with those in mind.

'Lowslung handlebars not being comfortable'. A boardtracker is meant to go fast. And if you want to 'go fast comfortably' lowslung handlebars are the only way to go. You can go all the way with 'extreme' low roadbike racingbars, or you can go less extreme and more comfortable with a mild drop using a flipped handlebar. Check out roadbike racing history tour-de-france style. Those extreme dropped handlebars are to this day almost 100 years the most comfortable for reaching high speeds.... On the boards as well as on the road.

Also, the dropped/flipped handlebars on a roadbike isn't just meant for aerodynamics... In that possition you're able to peal up to high speeds quicker and more comfartably than with regular bars. It really isn't that unlogic...

Comfort on a bike that is meant to go fast has less to do with the hight of the handlebars and much more with the overall geometry of the bike and your body. The fact that 'our' boardtrackers are uncomfortable to ride lies in the fact that we start off wrong: Using a childrens-sized bike (26" or even smaller...)

Really. If you want to build a tribute-boardtrackbike you have to have some kind of lowslung handlebars. The flipped ones are the most convincing, vintage looking, and comfortable way to go. Better yet: It's the cheapest way to go. If your bike is not comfortable, its because you've used a frame that is too small or a seat that's too low...

@ DougC
...but I really do like the bike from that link you've posted (popeye-stattue). you don't see those bars too often on a bicycle. Awesome and really daring to be different! 8)

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Unless your 13 and about 5'1(like me) it's uncomfortable :mrgreen:

 

[deorman]

While a velodrome bicycle from the "teens" would likely have a bar resembling a flipped "touring" bar, or even approximating a Maes bend, a board track motorcycle would tend to have a dedicated racing bar set-up, that not only pointed nearly straight down, (not very useful for pedaling) but were often completely different on opposite sides of the bike. :|

 

[herr_rudolf]

Unless your 13 and about 5'1(like me) it's uncomfortable :mrgreen:

If your body doesn't have childproportions, don't ride a 26" bike that has childproportions...
:mrgreen: :wink:

 

[gowjobs]

There's a bit of compromise needed to have a semi-comfortable boardtrack-style cruiser. The main one being that you need to have the seat up at a decent height - if you can stand flat footed on the ground while on the seat, it's going to be too low to ride comfortably with dropped bars. The trick to making it really rideable is to get the seating position close to that of a road bike with drop bars. Note that if your back starts to ache, holding the bars near the stem will get you into a more upright position.

 

[kram]

The easiest way is set it up however you want. Then take some cool pictures of it. When you go to ride it lift the seat up a bit and flip the bars around.

 

[caffeine7]

I put this one together last summer, it looked great and got lots of compliments but after about 10 miles of beach riding i realized it wasnt the best setup for my 6' build. It got changed to another setup soon after

 

[sensor]

i bet the guys who are saying that its uncomfortable havent set one up right(yeah there is a give some comfort to get the right look *for those that say its uncomfortable heres a car comparison* do you think its comfy riding in a heavily chopped/channeled car?!?).....
this is my most ridden bike and have put on hundreds of miles over the years(no im not just talking 2 block long rides....i mean miles on rides)

and yeah its ridden as it sits...bars and seat stay where they are(oh and its a fixie as well ).
this may contribute to it or may not. its a 28" wheel bike so it does give about 1/2-3/4" more leg room than a 26" but im not a short guy by any means(6') and have no problems riding it for hours.
as for hills....they suck since all my bikes are geared really tall but if you stand up it aint that bad...
if you want a boardtracker build it....if you dont like how it feels change it until its to your liking :wink:

 

[jerrykr]

I don't know if you consider this to be a "board tracker" or not.

It is basically set up the way gowjobs describes.

The combination of the CWC front springer, the repop hair pin seat (surprisingly flexible), and the light, yet soft Fat Franks, makes this bike pretty darned comfortable to ride. I find my 5'11" bod in just about the same position as most skinny tire road bikes. sit up straight once in awhile and I'm good. The ends of the flipped bars are in reach sitting up straight.

Bent over the bars, and in the tall 3rd Nexus gear, this puppy MOVES!

I have no problem following my wife on her modern hybred bike, cruising in 1st and 2nd, and she can't begin to keep up with me in go fast.

 

[SummitCoCycleWorks]

Jerry-

Love that bike!
Yours, along with this build has inspired me to build my own board tracker and after seeing these two I'm convinced that you can do anything you want with the handlebars but you've GOT to have the white Fat Franks!

Specifically though, what is the make of that frame and is the fork original? I'd love to find a similar fork in FOR SALE or on eBay...

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[g-ratter]

One of the things I notice about Jerrkr's bike is althought the handle bars are dropped they are still above the frame giving a more upright ride but still having the feel of a boardtracker to me. So maybe using a longer stem and moustache handlebars that curve forward but do not drop down would help with ride comfort.