Craigslist Cruiser turned RatBike

[TheIronDuke]

Picked up an old Solar cruiser on Craigslist today. Had a banana seat/sissy bar setup laying around, so I bought a bike to build, haha. Not bad at all for $40.00. Rides great.

Had this totally sweet stem from a bmx bike. It's way solid, much nicer than a typical cruiser stem.

Stripped it most of the way down and started sanding it, got it ready for primer and paint.

I also had a set of high rise handlebars that I swiped from my Genesis 29er cruiser. I just put the stock moon bars back on the Genesis.

And one of the Genesis.

I was gonna go with red paint on the rims but I really like the blue that was already on there. It came out pretty sweet for a one day project. A springer fork and some shorty chrome fenders will likely be going on the bike soon to "finish" (we all know they are never truly finished, lol) the project. Hope you guys enjoyed the pics! :mrgreen:

 

[ozzmonaut]

I like the blue rims too. Everybody goes with red/black/white (including me on one build). I try to do something very different on each of my builds now.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Looks great. The blue wheels are a nice touch.

 

[Carbon]

Looks pretty sweet, also likin the chrome and gold bowtie on the kitchen wall, nice touch. 8)

 

[TheIronDuke]

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the kind words. I'm definitely diggin the blue too, it really pops when it's out in the sunlight.

And hell yeah Carbon, this is a gm household for sure.

I'm probably going to order the springer fork and fenders on Thursday. I'll update with more pics soon.

 

[TheIronDuke]

Ordered a Nirve springer fork, new headset bearings, shorty "Torker" fenders, and some new whitewalls yesterday. Also grabbed some pedal adapters that will allow me to use some cool black alloy 9/16" pedals I have from my Trek 29er mtn bike on the cruiser's 1/2" crank. I have an interesting custom touch in mind for the fenders that should be pretty nice too.

I may also end up replacing the crank and chainring with something newer. I'm not sure how cool the rusty parts will look with the rusty fork and stem replaced by a nice shiny springer setup. I'll probably use a bmx crank and chainring just because of all the cool chainrings available. Is there anything I can do to upgrade the bottom bracket bearings? I have seen amny stock replacement setups, which I'll go with if need be, but I wanted to know if there was any "high performance" bearings out there... Eventually I wanna get a 3-speed hub for the bike and I was hoping to enhance this bikes already very smooth drivetrain.

 

[largek9]

looks cool ! It looks like it has a bigger/longer frame than the other Solar Cycles I've seen. From seat post to neck is longer .

 

[TheIronDuke]

So I did a little tinkering today and added a few small touches to the bike. I found a couple punk rock spiked bracelets from an old Halloween costume in my closet and noticed the spikes were screwed on to the bracelet. So off they came. I found a few suitable locations for them on the bike...

I even found that the spikes fit great on the mtn bike pedals I'm going to use once my adapters come. They do a great job of covering the holes where the reflectors used to mount. While I was in the mtn bike parts bin I snagged a nice alloy kickstand that is very sturdy and replaced the original, not so steady unit.

I just couldn't resist doing something with the bike while I wait for my parts to come. Stay tuned for more pics once things begin arriving! 8)

 

[TheIronDuke]

It looks like it has a bigger/longer frame than the other Solar Cycles I've seen.

I thought it seemed a bit longer than most as well. Especially next to the stubby Huffy frames that they are making today. I'm loving the extra stretch though since I'm a pretty tall fella. The high rise bars and way back seating position give the bike a long feel as well.

 

[TheIronDuke]

Freebie handlebars!

I spotted an old Spalding Blade Te sitting out for trash today and picked it up. It looked to have a decent frame and wasn't in terrible shape otherwise. I figured it might be a cool fixed wheel project or a commuter or something.

So I tore it down and set the frame aside for now. It'll need paint and stuff eventually, but my main focus is on the wheels for that bike. Either way, I prefer bullhorn bars for road bikes, so I decided to put the bars on the cruiser.

I think it looks pretty cool. I haven't ridden it yet because of crap weather, but the stance sitting on the banana seat it nice. The way it positions the seat more rearward gives it a nice low, long reach to the bars. I may or may not use them permanently on this frame though..

I have a nagging idea to put a cantilever style cruiser frame on mtn bike rims, set up as a single speed freewheel with some 26x1.25 100psi road tires. Kinda like a speed cruiser. I already have the mtn bike 26" wheelset ready to go. I may use these bars permanently on that setup once I find a frame for it and get it going.. :shock:

 

[TheIronDuke]

Fenders are here!

My fenders came the other day and I installed them already! They are a bit wide for the bike, but they fit and look pretty good. Definitely makes the bike look more complete. I'll post some pics later when I get home from work.. I would have em up already but I have been working on my other bike project more lately..

Now I'm just waiting on my springer fork, pedal adapters and new tires! I hope they come soon!

 

[TheIronDuke]

Pics..

Shot some pics of the fenders today. Hoping my other parts arrive today as well..

The only issue is that the front fender is quite wide. Well, really the front tire is very narrow, haha. The tires I am going to use should both be around the size of the rear tire. Good thing, because I think the rear looks alright.