Blue Streak

[jaba13]

I started this mid-may but it seemed like everyting around my house broke down this summer My truck, the computer, the fridge, the garage door opener, a bunch of shingles from the roof. now I am temporarilly caught up with the must do list I'll see if I can get done before the deadline. I'm starting out with a Schwinn Varsity 10 speed. The wheels were trash. The paint was only slightly scatched. My goal is to make a faster than normal cruiser.

I trued up some 700cm wheels from a Bianchi project that I couldn't seem to finish. I bought some continental 28x175 tires that i guessed were the biggest ones that would fit in the frame. They were folded up to the size of a wallet and shipped in a tiny box. With some work they did return to round.

 

[herr_rudolf]

That's a very cool bike! I love the curve in that upper tube. Can't wait to see your touch on it...
Good luck!

 

[jaba13]

I have a bunch of progress pics of handle bar, fender and sprocket mock-ups and the tab that I welded on to hold the rear deraileaur. For some reason no matter what picture I try to post it turns up the last picture of the bike or image void. I'm going to get some new shots in its current state. Hopefully they will work

 

[jaba13]

Crisis averted. My wife just gave me a tutorial on right click, left click and how they are not the same. Let's not speak of this again. Here is a picture of my big fat tires I want to try and squeeze in.

Space is at a premium at the rear dropout. So I had to find a new place to hang the rear deraileaur. At first, I drilled a hole in the rear dropout, but that looked way too flimsy. I ended up cutting a chunk off another dropout and welding it onto mine for strength. I have the camera on the wrong setting for these next pictures, or maybe I needed to right click.

After grinding, primer and paint, here is the result.

 

[37fleetwood]

Hi, I was just going throught the posts and noticed you are using the same frame as I am! I can't wait to see what you are going to do with it :mrgreen:
Mines called Subterfuge.

 

[roadmaster]

yeah, that curve in the top tube is cool. lookn forward to see where you go with it.

 

[jaba13]

Here are some mock up shots with different handle bars

 

[jaba13]

Here is the working model with most of the finall parts salvaged: Seat, grips, bmx brake levers, Trek sprocket. I bought a conversion kit to go to a three piece crank. I really liked the big ol' mag wheel sprocket but it seemed out of proportion with this bike. This baby rides super smooth. With a few more gears it could be awesome. I have been cruising this one quite a lot with my eight year old at nearby Tower Grove Park. I had put on a bobbed fender on the rear that looked great. It had about a 1/16 clearance and needed to be adjusted every 50 feet. Took it off for sanities sake.

I want to get the cables routed through the bars. Put some paint details on the top and head tube. Make a plate tank and install a headlight. Of course two big projects at work are drawing to a close and our annual float trip is the first weekend in August. If I don't sleep it will all get done on time.

 

[tatrat]

That looks sharp!

 

[jaba13]

I didn't make the deadline for the build off but herr are some pictures of how it turned out.

 

[37fleetwood]

turned out nice didn't it? thanks for posting the finished photos!

 

[jaba13]

Thank you. It really rides nice and is very manuverable. I wish I had a bike like this when we used to play Zeke (bike tag) back in school. I'm thinking about taking the crank down to a single gear. I usually take this out to ride with my nine year old. no need to go too fast.