Felt Classic, The Black Sheep

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Bought a felt classic for 30E yesterday:
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Starting the breakdown, stem comes loose normally for a change..
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Time for a break.
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Now for the exciting part, will the stuck seatpost removal tool i thought up yesterday function?
IMG_20210729_142941.jpg

At first the stem started rotating, so i tightened it stronger and to my surprise the seatpost started rotating rather easily. Then i wriggled it out, moving back and forth. Should have thought of this before . Leverage is my friend.
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Now i got a brand new canvas! The fun part can start!
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Smart stuff with that seatpost Karl!

And I see the same type fork as I used for the Electra klunker bike.

What direction are you going? Paint?
Fat tires? 26x2.6? :thumbsup:

Can't wait for more. Let me know if you are searching for parts.
 
This bike is gonna be matte black all over, with a touch of matte black..
I,ll be using the felt thick bricks 26x2.125 that came with it cause i am a cheapskate..
i saw this video:

The fork dropouts on the bike gave me an idea how to extend a 20 inch bmx fork into a 26..
no welding required.
Screenshot_2021-08-05_02-50-11.png
 
Washed and sanded all the parts, the original paint appeared from under the crappy paintjob:
IMG_20210804_145753.jpg

Roughed up the chrome parts with a metalbrush, a steelwoolpad and a file before painting with 3 or 4 layers of matte black acrylic 2.50E a can. Result looks pretty good:
IMG_20210805_165238.jpg

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Everything painted, masked of the logo,s.
Nice to work with all clean parts for a change.
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Lots of grease later:
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IMG_20210805_193209.jpg

Got a black freewheel wheelset upstairs i will probably use in combination with an old-school handbrake.
The seat is still a work in progress, i stripped an electra seat and used a hacksaw to cut it down:
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Torture seat:
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Bought a cheap saddle cover 3E a piece, nice and comfy:
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The seatpan is still too big for the cover, so i am gonna trace the outline of the top of the cover on the seat, and cut of some more, maybe use leather on top. We,ll see where it goes.
Cheers!
 
Awesome bike karl!

How did you obtain the 'offset' chainring? I am looking for one. Just ordered something at an online shop, but they never mention the width and offset etcetera.... only the number of teeth.

Chainline challenges are harder than french kissing a cobra :43:

Again, great bike! Are you keeping it or selling it?
 
Thanx Bart, the chainring came with the bike, but i indeed did notice the subtle difference with other similar chainrings.

I am selling the bike, if i would keep all the bikes i,ve built i,d have no place to live..
Unfortunately klunkers don,t sell as well as ¨singlespeed style¨ bikes, they sell like hotdogs.

But personally, i think people don,t get the concept. I,d rather ride a klunker in the city than a singlespeed, they are as fast if not faster then a flimsy frame with narrow tires.

People are habitual species, once we do something a certain way, we continue doing it that way
because we are convinced that is the best way of doing it. Thereby hindering our own progress,
because it is hard for people to conceive other possibilities.

An example is the ¨diamond frame¨. Because this is the regulated geometry for official racing,
people believe it is the fastest frame geometry. And because it is the regulated geometry, any research into other frame design is effectively blocked.It is a closed circle.

So the collective vision on what a bicycle should look like is based on preconceptions, not on reason science and research, as with so many human inventions...

Another problem i observe in diamond frames is energy loss due to sideway movements while accelerating. In contrast, my stretched cruiser accelerates almost completely vertical, allowing me to drive in a straight line forward.

I have raced my stretched cruiser against ¨professional racers¨, e-bikes, scooters, leaving crushed ego,s behind and not even cars or motorbikes can keep up with me in the city.

It kinda makes sense in my eyes, a longer wheel distance equals more momentum, and a lower weight position reduces air resistance and instability.

As a stagetechnician one can observe this effect on flightcases: a small flightcase will travel a few metres with a push, but a longer flightcase will travel 3 or 4 time that distance with the same push.
The only difference is the distance between the wheels..Any increase in height equals a significant loss in momentum due to increased instability and air resistance.

I even get confronted with my own preconceptions, at first i thought 26inch would be faster on a stretched, because almost everyone rides 26, but now i am leaning toward 24.

One of my ambitions is to try and make the fastest stretched race-bike possible.
But i got side-tracked here .. cheers!
 
Thanx Bart, the chainring came with the bike, but i indeed did notice the subtle difference with other similar chainrings.

I am selling the bike, if i would keep all the bikes i,ve built i,d have no place to live..
Unfortunately klunkers don,t sell as well as ¨singlespeed style¨ bikes, they sell like hotdogs.

But personally, i think people don,t get the concept. I,d rather ride a klunker in the city than a singlespeed, they are as fast if not faster then a flimsy frame with narrow tires.

People are habitual species, once we do something a certain way, we continue doing it that way
because we are convinced that is the best way of doing it. Thereby hindering our own progress,
because it is hard for people to conceive other possibilities.

An example is the ¨diamond frame¨. Because this is the regulated geometry for official racing,
people believe it is the fastest frame geometry. And because it is the regulated geometry, any research into other frame design is effectively blocked.It is a closed circle.

So the collective vision on what a bicycle should look like is based on preconceptions, not on reason science and research, as with so many human inventions...

Another problem i observe in diamond frames is energy loss due to sideway movements while accelerating. In contrast, my stretched cruiser accelerates almost completely vertical, allowing me to drive in a straight line forward.

I have raced my stretched cruiser against ¨professional racers¨, e-bikes, scooters, leaving crushed ego,s behind and not even cars or motorbikes can keep up with me in the city.

It kinda makes sense in my eyes, a longer wheel distance equals more momentum, and a lower weight position reduces air resistance and instability.

As a stagetechnician one can observe this effect on flightcases: a small flightcase will travel a few metres with a push, but a longer flightcase will travel 3 or 4 time that distance with the same push.
The only difference is the distance between the wheels..Any increase in height equals a significant loss in momentum due to increased instability and air resistance.

I even get confronted with my own preconceptions, at first i thought 26inch would be faster on a stretched, because almost everyone rides 26, but now i am leaning toward 24.

One of my ambitions is to try and make the fastest stretched race-bike possible.
But i got side-tracked here .. cheers!
Karl,

I see the same thing in the Netherlands. Everyone buys the same type of mountainbikes (can't judge that), but can't think outside this "all parts must be a certain brand or weight" thing.
You can turn a granny bike into a gravelracer and have lots of fun if you want to.

When I show up with my cheap klunker bike for a 50km organized tour. People always get in technical discussions, it is very amusing to watch and listen:
24 inch wheels are too small to be fast. Said someone in a mountainbiking magazine.
I have seen that crank on my kids bike... thats too heavy said someone on pinkbike.
That looks like fun, but singlespeed would deflate and kill my legs.
That guy should act normal.

I don't mind, I am the one having loads of fun.
Can't decide for other people, but in my view, a bit of hardship (because singlespeed, or heavy bike) gives a ride just that little extra. Seems close to real life! Especially fun when overtaking people on 10k+ expensive mountainbikes :21:
But again: I try not to judge, everyone has their own history, views and path they must take.
I love philosophy by the way!

Before covid, I cycled every day to my work in Hengelo. Rain, snow, ice, sun, hail and wind. Only i'd stop for thunder.
Me and my collegues had a great vibe going, more and more people started going to work on a bicycle, fortunately not on a electric bike.
"Fietsmaatjes" (earn money by cycling to work) added even more people.
Then the race started, the people going fastest on average on a bike got all kinds of credits on strava etcetera.
I cycled a singlespeed coasterbrake bike, with an average of 29/30km/u (18mph) when the wind was absent.
That was a great time, after 3 years my cycling condition was great, mountainbikers could'nt keep up with my scrap klunker bike when hitting the trails haha (I enjoyed that).

Another problem i observe in diamond frames is energy loss due to sideway movements while accelerating. In contrast, my stretched cruiser accelerates almost completely vertical, allowing me to drive in a straight line forward.
Is your cruiser more of an "recumbent" bike? Do you have a picture?

The diamond frame is the most stiff frame, making use of "Eulers Buckling Equation". In other words: a tube is most rigid in its own length.
Tubes are also used on a frame because a 'closed' or boxed tube has the highest torsion stiffness.

The sideways movements do have energy loss indeed. Also because of the steering system and long fork design. I made some designs on a more rigid steering mechanism (not saying that it works, it does on paper).
I guess in theory, smaller wheels are more rigid to the whole: Smaller wheels = shorter spokes = shorter fork 'arm'.

One of my ambitions is to try and make the fastest stretched race-bike possible.
What is your concept of stretched? A recumbent? Or a cruiser/chopper type?

I will gladly help you with ideas and equations if the time arises :thumbsup:

I want the fastest too, but then the theoretical design is ugly and my inner artist kicks me in the balls and creates something cool looking :21:
 
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There are so many factors that determine how fast a bike will go, how fast it will accelerate, how long it will sustain the speed before it starts slowing down...
Tires, seating position, seat height, gearing ratio, handlebars width even.
The truth is most people don't know much about bikes. RRB has 24000 members (some of them international) which is a tiny percentage of the 50 million cyclists in the US alone.
Ratrods are usually considered inferior bikes, by outsiders, because we often misuse, misappropriate or improvise parts, and not only bike parts. They fear that if you don't use the "right" parts the bike will somehow fall apart on you.
Even on a forum that is about custom work I was laughed at for removing material from the rear of a seat tube and told I should throw the frame away. They didn't even notice that a piece was purposefully cut out, they thought that the layback seat post tore the metal.
Even most people who do their own bike work won't think outside of the box.
 
A guy at the nightshop told me about this preconception blowing clip:

What is interesting is that the priest seems to gain more momentum with a shorter wheelbase and smaller wheels, but maybe it,s the hat and suit that does it? Or faith itself?
Anyway, that,s a hardcore priest, respect!
He also told me about converted bmx drifting bikes on Aruba:


¨What is your concept of stretched? A recumbent? Or a cruiser/chopper type?¨

This is my latest design, i tried to keep it as light and minimal as possible and hope to get it built in either aluminium or cro-mo, I know a guy over here who is passionately into soldering cro-mo.
FSS20.jpg

FSS20.2.jpg

The seat-stays go all to the front, minimizing joints, and pieces. The geometry is based on my leadsled:
IMG_20200720_192805.jpg
 
Interesting thread. I get tired of seeing diamond framed bikes. I prefer the curves of a cruiser to all the straight lines of a diamond frame. Even though stretched cruisers have long straight lines, they are still more interesting to look at than the average road or mountain bike.
I have found the laid back geometry of the cruiser feels more comfortable to me to ride than the diamonds as well. Especially with a little stretch between seat tube and BB shell. Modern geometry with a more vertical seat tube makes me feel like I'm pedaling a barstool. LOL
 
Another problem i observe in diamond frames is energy loss due to sideway movements while accelerating.
Sounds more like a rider technique or tubeset integrity issue to me. If I had a dollar for every dingbat I see around Boulder County, CO with turdesque technique (most often caused by a seatpost that is too high), I'd be a rich man.

Showing up at an event on something not "normal" to the cycling automatons and killing the game is always fun. The negative comments from the "seriousos" make it even more fun.
gravel.jpg
 
Sounds more like a rider technique or tubeset integrity issue to me. If I had a dollar for every dingbat I see around Boulder County, CO with turdesque technique (most often caused by a seatpost that is too high), I'd be a rich man.

Showing up at an event on something not "normal" to the cycling automatons and killing the game is always fun. The negative comments from the "seriousos" make it even more fun.
View attachment 167703
They are fun I had one I built after seeing one in popular mechanics magazine back in 1958.
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