buildup blunders

[heartlandcruisers]

ok im not sure if this has been discussed yet or not but i figured i would start a thread just because we all see how great these bikes look an they all look awesome
however what we don't see is the mistakes we all make i have done quite a few
anything from parts breaking things not working th way they should
let's talk about them maybe we could all earn from someone else s mishaps as well as just a fun topic to hear mistakes we have all learned from
i have in the past wrecked a bmx sting ray by forgetting to tighten brakes
i have had my tire pop on my sting ray rat because i didn't adjust the frame
my recent was i had a stretch frame snap because it wasn't properly welded
i make alot of mistakes during trial and error so don't be afraid
we all had them i sure
thanks
Sean

 

[kingfish254]

Great thread idea. Especially as we are all gearing up for the build off (2 months away).

One problem that I have seen multiple times on builds here, is people doing all of their paint before they have finished a full fit mockup. Tires too wide, fenders don't line up, chainguard doesn't fit, wrong seatpost, tank doesn't fit, etc.......

Work out all of the kinks and fitting issues before painting a single item!!!!!! Don't go through an entire build assuming that your big fat tires are gonna fit, or that new Nexus 7 hub will fit between your dropouts. Get all of the engineering and dirty work done to your bike before you rush into the pretty stuff.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

so true kingfish
i never paint anything until all the fab work has been done and everything fits
i ave had pretty much all the issues you have mentioned happen to me at one point or another
my worse one was just the past day when my stretch snapped
luckily i didn't paint it and it can be repaired i just need to make some reinforcements on the welded areas and maybe get a more powerful welder
my lil wire feed arc doesn't seem to have the umph to get the major jobs done
definitely good advice to never paint anything until you know for sure its gonna work and you have made all adjustments and mockup work is done.
thanks and good luck with that seat btw
sean

 

[Rockit!]

There was that one time I royally screwed up a bike rack.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[heartlandcruisers]

haha rockit
i have done that once at the train station i locked my bike up and when i went to unlock it the entire rack came off along with 7 other bikes
oh shoot moment for sure lol
thanks for posting
Sean

 

[Ichoptop]

you are right on the full mock up. Before we even think about P&P our bikes get ridden for at least a few days to work out any bugs.

Another thing is changing parts mid build. After your initial plan is final stick to it otherwise you end up with a lot of parts extra. Recently we did a build that was planned with a long chopper fork. Mid build it gets changed to a 26" springer. Then the pedals hit the ground, it was uncomfortable to ride because of the pressure on your wrists, looked nose heavy, and the front tire and wheel we purchased for the project would not have been usable. Thankfully we were able to talk the customer back to his original design and it saved him money for parts and us a bunch of time cutting a brand new frame apart and redoing it to keep the original geometry but use a much shorter fork.

 

[kingfish254]

That looks like one of those MC Escher Bike Racks!

 

[jerrykr]

There was that one time I royally screwed up a bike rack.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm calling Photoshop on 'ya! still a funny picture!

nobody's getting that frame for sure

 

[Sinner4]

Build up blunder #1, new paint, final assembly, The wheels are on, holding bike up, it slips and falls on to another bike. Half of top tubes paint is scratched off. Dang.....

Take final pictures from opposite side and just ride it.

Another blunder, not a build up, my daughters Schwinn MTB stolen from the north end of town. U Lock on a bike rack. The Dirty Buggers had a U Lock key that fit hers. Bike and U lock gone.

 

[kingfish254]

Build up blunder #1, new paint, final assembly, The wheels are on, holding bike up, it slips and falls on to another bike. Half of top tubes paint is scratched off. Dang.....

Take final pictures from opposite side and just ride it.

Another blunder, not a build up, my daughters Schwinn MTB stolen from the north end of town. U Lock on a bike rack. The Dirty Buggers had a U Lock key that fit hers. Bike and U lock gone.

But now she has a key that fits THEIR lock!!!!! :wink:

 

[Sinner4]

Build up blunder #1, new paint, final assembly, The wheels are on, holding bike up, it slips and falls on to another bike. Half of top tubes paint is scratched off. Dang.....

Take final pictures from opposite side and just ride it.

Another blunder, not a build up, my daughters Schwinn MTB stolen from the north end of town. U Lock on a bike rack. The Dirty Buggers had a U Lock key that fit hers. Bike and U lock gone.

But now she has a key that fits THEIR lock!!!!! :wink:

The thing is, she would get in trouble for stealing it back. She got smart and removed the saddle and seat post. But I'm sure it got parted out. Its kind of funny, the same time a big bike and parts seller started up in the same area where it got stolen.

I might have to pay them a visit sometime.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I have had a few, one of my biggest was when I bought my welder I thought I could do anything and I cut in half two identical girl's sears bikes (one with tank) and tried to make a stretch cruiser. Ended up getting it all mocked up then the welder went down. :roll: I never did finish it and I ended up parting it out.

 

[dragnusa]

Caught myself before Ive done this. Shortening a chain to much.
learned my lesson on doing full mock up before painting last year with my wifes bike, had it all painted and looking pretty, then went to put the rear tire on the bike and it was to wide so I had to spread the and then sand and repaint.

 

[heartlandcruisers]

ouch outskirtcustoms
im actually having a similar problem my welder isnt making a strong enough weld to hold my stretch together i ended up using smaller tubing as connectors and sealing it together
it sux when bikes get stolen i had quite a few stolen in my days
i never knew the u locks had similar keys
that's good to know
whenever i get a bike in my shop i always run the serial number with local pd and i require a photo id and valid phone number just to be sure its not stolen
i am actually beginning a program where kids can build their own bikes out of my shop and they keep the bikes all free and one thing im gonna teach them is securing a bike properly and to avoid using u locks.
thanks for that heads up and sorry for you're daughters loss
if y'all were near me id say bring her over and she could build one out of my parts i got
thanks for posting
Sean

 

[RichL]

Good thread. I am new to the bike building biz it appears every step I make is a mistake lol followed by pulling things apart, correcting mistakes and than moving on to the next.
I am guilty of everything from bad welds, fully welding parts before checking other parts for alignment yet to be installed, rushing to get something critical done, only to spend hours or days redoing what I did Painting and priming too soon. Not doing the proper research to verify that my ideas or parts will work. Proper planning on paper is important but so is it important to mock up everything before you can be certain that your ideas will work.
Maybe the worst thing for me, I work in the construction industry, you learn early to get it done as quickly as possible, keep moving, keep working, just get it done. That works alot in construction, it does not work often in bike building. I have to make the conscious effort to make sure I have thought thru all the possibilities, things that you guys know so well and take for granted I have to learn from scratch, not always as easy as it sounds

Rich

 

[alistairSH]

This was on a new mixte build for my wife... bought Shimano Tiagra 10spd rear derailleur and Shimano 10spd SLX shifter. Got them mounted, ran the cable, spent 90 minutes trying to get the darn thing to shift properly. Turns out Shimano 10spd road and 10spd mountain groups are NOT compatible. Their 9spd parts were/are, but they changed the pull ratio on the new mountain groups. FML.

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Biting off more than you can chew, I did this last year, just didn't have enough money to do what I wanted to do with this one ,mainly buying the stainless spokes, getting parts chromed and pricey paint, just ran out of buildoff time, so I built another bike instead, yes I still have it ,and no its not done somehow I end up with more projects than time or money

 

[heartlandcruisers]

heya richl
welcome to the world of custom bicycle building
it's a fun hobby
actually the way ive learned is thru trial and error its kinda tough to pick something up immediately
alot of construction knowledge is actually quite helpful in bicycle building especially in frames and parts where you realize the importance of strength and building it to last
also similar to using blueprints as well it does help if you draw everything up first but sometimes you will see it on paper but realze it wont work on the ctual buildup
so changes are made and then you are back to square one again
it is fun but yeah alot of planning is needed
thanks for posting
sean

 

[heartlandcruisers]

heya alistarsh
i didn't know that either that's actually a good piece of info we can all use
i always thought they were all compatible
yeah it's always best to do paint and beautification after everything is finalized other wise you waste alot of time and paint and sanding and have to do it all over again
good advice there as well
thanks for posting
Sean

 

[heartlandcruisers]

heya gold street customs
yeah i know the feeling i have about 7 buildups being done i kinda took off a bit more then i could chew with them
i kinda ran outta funds myself that's why i end up selling some of them if i can find the heart to part with the
that bike don't look half bad if the wheels are free rolling and throw a chain on it looks like it might be rideable but i like ratty looks so to each their own
thanks for posting
Sean