Earth Rat Cruiser

[ssdjoey]

thats a pretty rad bike

 

[Bicycle808]

I'm not a big fan of the wide pointing up bars either but these are the origenal bars and I have to say they feel pretty comfortable.

What if you just rotate the bars back, so the grips become more horizontal?

If that were my bike, and my stem, I'd keep those bars or go with the Wald 828 bars.

 

[Araya51]

By any chance you have a pic of them Wald bars.?
Your saying change the stm also.?

 

[Bicycle808]

Heck, no.... don't change that stem. The stem is rad, but it's got a 7/8" clamp, so you it limits the choices for the bars. A 828 is basically their basic 3" rise beach cruiser bar, but it's 7/8" straight accross, even at the clamp.
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=52833&category=1678
Not the best picture. It'd give you the same basic look, but less rise so you'll be a little more "aero" on it, lol. The way I always looked at it, the Earth Cruiser was a beach bike with some strand/bmx cruiser flair, whereas the Boss Cruiser was more BMX-ish.

FWIW, I'm gonna run the Wald 828s with a Wald 3-bolt BMX stem and a BMX fork on my newly acquired Emory.... Prolly full-length foam grips on the bars, too.... It'll be my beachiest cruiser build yet, which ain't sayin' much.
Wald 3-Bolt stem:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMX-STEM-US...395?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c36f9fdd3

 

[Araya51]

Phone wont let me open the link (Pic).. I'll google it.. haha

 

[Nagant]

Just my opinion but the original bars you have on it now look good. I would probably try what 808 mentioned about rotating the bars down so they are a bit more horizontal and see how they feel and look. This is a canti framed bike and those bars being original seem the best choice to me. In the end we are just giving our opinions. It's your bike, run the bars that you like and make you happy with the bike. By the way it's a very very cool vintage bike. I think I've said that already but never hurts to say it again.

 

[Bicycle808]

Phone wont let me open the link (Pic).. I'll google it.. haha

Yeah, they were the types of pictures i can't embed, so they're just links anyways.....

 

[Araya51]

I like to hear what others think about my build(s).. It makes me think that there's room for inprovement in my project(s) that I didn't catch.. Opinions are more than welcome..

 

[Araya51]

thats a pretty rad bike

Thanks Joey.!!

 

[Bicycle808]

I like to hear what others think about my build(s).. It makes me think that there's room for inprovement in my project(s) that I didn't catch.. Opinions are more than welcome..

Well, in my opinion, I'd like to see pics of your JEC with the handlebar angle changed so the grips are closer to horizontal....

 

[Araya51]

I have plans on changing the angle on the bars, just had no time lately. Been moving out of my storage and been beat tired. I'll try to make it happen here real soon. It's been bugging me also to see what it would look like with the adjustment on the bars.

 

[Bicycle808]

I just put the Wald 828 bars on my Emory. There's so much backsweep, i ended up angling'm up in the air, much like the bars on your Jamis. Prolly gonna get moto bars for it, but it looks super beachy with the big, backswept 7/8" bars, vintage bmx stem, and full-length foam grips....

 

[Araya51]

Need to check them out.. It looks wierd with the bars facing upwords but when you get on to ride it, it feels confortable in that possition.. Make sense.?

 

[Bicycle808]

Need to check them out.. It looks wierd with the bars facing upwords but when you get on to ride it, it feels confortable in that possition.. Make sense.?

That absolutely makes sense. I had'm roughly horizontal, and they looked bad-A, but maybe a bit too far back--- rode up the block with'm like that, and it felt like I was a gymnast on the parallel bars, rather than a fat guy on a cruiser. (For some reason, i prefer the latter-- I guess it's comfortable to go with what ya know...)... so, I loosened up the ol' Wald 3-bolt stem, pointed the grips to the sky, and happily rode off into the sunset. (I re-tightened the stem first, off course. Ha.)

I'll prolly palp these bars for a bit, but I'm not sure what I'll do, long-term...

 

[Araya51]

I felt like my knees where going to hit the bars when I pedaled so that's why I pointed them just a bit more up for a better ride..
I'm waiting for some cruiser bmx cross bars to see how they would look and feel.. Got them of the museum..
Just waiting patiently.. But I think I might put them new bars on my 52 Schwinn cruiser that I'm also building.. I'll post pix of it later as I gather more parts for it.. The run down in parts that I already have.
52 Schwinn frame
Tange chrome forks
Ashtabula stem (stamped)
Ashtabula cranks ( stamed)
3 arrow sprocket
Misc other parts..

 

[Bicycle808]

I hear ya about the knees hitting, but thankfully, the Walds are way wider than my knees. But I felt like my wrists were right at my hips while I was riding.... didn't feel right. They were actually a good ways in front of my hips, though....

 

[Bicycle808]

I felt like my knees where going to hit the bars when I peddle so that's I pointed the just a bit more up for a better ride..
I'm waiting for some cruiser bmx cross bars to see how they would look and feel.. Got them of the museum..
Just waiting patiently.. But I think I might put them new bars on my 52 Schwinn cruiser that I'm also building.. I'll post pix of it later as I gather more parts for it.. The run down in parts that I already have.
52 Schwinn frame
Tange chrome forks
Ashtabula stem (stamped)
Ashtabula cranks ( stamed)
3 arrow sprocket
Misc other parts..

PS- nice parts list!

 

[Araya51]

PS- nice parts list!

Thanks..
I want to build this with some attitude and Kool Old Skool flavor..

 

[Araya51]

Definitely going to be following this thread.... this is bound to be an awesome bike, at the end. Post up some pics of your wife's step-thru Earth Cruiser.... maybe use the other rims on hers, if the color won't clash too much? FWIW, Weinmann AS7x are still in production; finding blue painted ones won't be hard, and Atomic Paul sometimes sells anodized versions thru the www.genuinebicycleproducts.com store.

Here is the picture of my wife's step-thru Earth Cruiser as requested.. This will be the next project to tackle and to get it ready to cruise with the wife..

 

[Araya51]

Here is my wife's EC with origenal forks, seat, stem, bars and chain guard. I just resently bought some Gold Araya's on some gum wall Duro's.. Still need to add the cranks and sproket and chain.. or I might just go with some polished silver Araya's 7x with blue anno high flange Shimano front hub and Bendix coaster brake rear hub with SS spokes with blue anno nipples..