BO15 Camelback: 26" BMX (Scrambler XL)

[ParkRNDL]

Since I got back into tinkering with old bikes several years ago, I've had a thing for Schwinn camelback frames from the '60s and '70s. I have rounded up a few Collegiates and Speedsters in this style, and I love them as riders just the way Schwinn built them. The first one I ever got, a black '67 Speedster, was pretty beat when I dragged it home. I didn't think to take a before pic, but this was what was in the Craigslist ad.

I cobbled it into a faux Collegiate with lots of non-Schwinn parts and it was a rider for a while.

It worked great till I got a REAL Collegiate or three, and then it ended up being scavenged for parts, which is where we are now.

Lately, this frame style done as a 26" BMX cruiser has really been getting my attention. These pics, shamelessly stolen from Instagram, show what I am shooting for with this build.

I hav rounded up a cheap set of Sunlite 26" BMX forks, a decent stem, a used set of bars, some old Bear Trap knockoffs... we shall see where this takes us.

 

[ParkRNDL]

I also have two side projects going on, both of which I considered using for the build-off. In the end I decided that one wasn't much of a build, just a frame swap, and the other is a big unknown entity that I don't really have a clear vision for. (Maybe that'd be the way to go...)

Frame swap: take last year's Murray JetCruiser entry...

and swap everything over onto a Schwinn frame (I believe it's a '75 Typhoon) to give it an air of legitimacy.

Uncharted territory project: take this Murray beach cruiser frame, which is spaced for a 5-speed...

and put a set of 26x1 3/8 Collegiate-type wheels on it, kinda like in this thread here. If my Speedster plans don't pan out for whatever reason, this may be my Plan B.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'm in for the Camelback. Someday, I plan a build on the Specialized version of it, the Crossroads

 

[kingfish254]

Those camelback frames are smooth looking.

 

[furyus]

Love the idea of a camelback BMX. Saw your inspiration pics and the disease kicked in - sell everything and go find a Speedster. Fortunately, I remembered that just for today, I can live without hunting for obscure bicycle parts. Good luck with the build, dude.

furyus

 

[OddJob]

Some great inspiration there! Lots of options, and no real bad ones either.
Get some!
RaT oN~!

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Looking forward to watching this one!

I dig the Camelbacks as well, doing a custom job on this one about six years ago. Such clean lines, classy.

 

[ParkRNDL]

Looking forward to watching this one!

I dig the Camelbacks as well, doing a custom job on this one about six years ago. Such clean lines, classy.

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love that! Are they 700C wheels?

I currently have camelback Collegiate 5-speeds in Campus Green and Flamboyant Red, pretty much stock with chrome fenders. Love the ride; the green one is one of my go-tos. I also have a Ross Compact which started as a drop-bar 10-speed, but I added the North Road type bars and some generic chrome fenders and made it a Speedster clone.

A few months ago I picked up a beat-up yellow Speedster 3-speed which I figured I'd also just clean up... but today, while I was mocking up my build-off bike, my son got to looking at it and said he'd like one like that. So the yellow one may become another BMX/strandie build.

 

[ParkRNDL]

Got to mocking stuff up today. I have a set of 26" MTB wheels that I converted to a single-speed freewheel and used for a little while. They're junky, and I'm not crazy about them because the rear wheel is dished wrong and the spacers throw off the chain line, but they will work to get a feel for where I'm headed. I figure if I like the way it shapes up, I will have to shell out the cash for a set of big-boy 26" BMX cruiser wheels set up properly for a single-speed freewheel.

Starting with the rear wheel, it became clear that the brakes had to go. I knew that going in; I have a set of 1080s that I hope will work out for the rear.

Next was the fork. I fought with it for a while trying to get a crown race on it off another Schwinn junker fork. I stumbled on the PVC pipe trick online, and figured that would solve my problems. It did, eventually, but I had to try a couple other crown races to find one that liked the new fork. Also, I had forgotten till I started taking it apart that when I got this bike, I had to shim the lower headset cup in the frame to tighten it up. Yeah, I won't be messing with that one; it's staying where it is through this build. In the pic with the bottom of the headbadge, you can just see the tin can in the seam between the head tube and the bearing cup.

I gotta thank whoever it was here on RRB that suggested the trick to me a couple years ago where you use two old headset top races to guide the hacksaw when cutting down a new fork. I was dreading having to cut the fork because I can NEVER get anything cut straight, but after I marked it and started threading stuff down to clean up the threads after cutting, I looked at all these junk races I had around and remembered the trick. Worked like a charm.

And I gotta say, just looking at the fork on the frame was kinda exciting. Like whoa, this is gonna be cool. (Yeah my garage is a dump at the moment)

So the fork is on, the front wheel is on, and I grabbed a little junker BMX bars and stem that I had sitting here and bolted it up.

WOW. I love the way this is looking already.

 

[ParkRNDL]

side note: stuck the 5-speed wheels and stuff on the Murray cruiser frame and bolted up a set of drop bars just for giggles. it looks weird.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

love that! Are they 700C wheels?

ISO 630/27, Chrome Arayas, DT Champion spokes, rear OE SA AW w/shifter, front hub was also OE Schwinn.

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Lot of pizza out there...camelbacks are great.

 

[ParkRNDL]

y'know when you SAY you're done for the day, but then you hear the bike calling you from the garage?

Kinda stoked that this was all whacked together with stuff I had laying around here. I actually rode it a whole lap around the block, so it's a legitimate rider. However, we have a long way to go. The wheels, as mentioned before, are junk. The tires are 26 x 1.90, and the rear would juuuust clear if the wheel was straight. But it has a wobble and a flat spot, so it's got that dzzp dzzp dzzp sound effect going on. Also, the chain occasionally does a little "pop" thing, I think because the chain line is wacky. And the brakes are extremely weak. So pretty much everything on the bike except the frame and fork is subject to an upgrade over the next 4 months.

One of the first upgrades will be the bars. I bought these at the Westminster, MD Stop Swap and Save event in February with a build like this in mind.

And I picked this generic-looking stem up at a swap last year. Not sure if I like it better than the generic piston-looking thing that's on there now.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Lot of pizza out there...camelbacks are great.

Yeah, a bike rack, a shelf of supplies, a work table, and "NEARLY TWO FEET OF DIPPABLE PIZZA!"
That garage looks right to me!

 

[SkyknightJohn]

(* I'm also diggin the bike build.)

 

[ParkRNDL]

well I done gone ahead and pulled the trigger

 

[SoulGarageOH]

Ahh. We might have very similar builds. I have a Racer camelback frame that I might use to make one of those cool "strandie" bikes.

 

[kingfish254]

I like that fork on there

 

[ParkRNDL]

Ahh. We might have very similar builds. I have a Racer camelback frame that I might use to make one of those cool "strandie" bikes.

And if this one comes out good, I'm thinking of building another on a yellow Speedster I have hanging in the shed waiting for some attention...

 

[SoulGarageOH]

And if this one comes out good, I'm thinking of building another on a yellow Speedster I have hanging in the shed waiting for some attention...

I love those frames. Two of my past build off entries have been racer camelback frames, including last years. You have good taste, my friend.


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