First Bike!

[BeachBum504]

Bought this on craigslist for 50 bucks...

Then saw a great Felt cruiser I really liked and thought it would be a cool direction to head...

...took it apart, and began to learn how a bike even goes together, and learned how I was going to paint it. Turns out...it would have been easier if I took the spokes out first.

but, after painting some parts, and sanding down the rims to RE-PAINT them, I was waiting on some parts in the mail, so i went to a bike-shop and bought a re-assembled bike for 40 bucks just for the tires and wheels and put them on my bike...

I also kept the handle bars and stem. So far, I repainted the fork the seat stem, and the pedal cranks. But the frame is the only thing I haven't changed at all. This is what I've got so far. Waiting on the vinyl decals i made to come in....

I know some of you hate it, but I really like the flipped handle bar look. Thiss is what it looks like as of now. I'll show you more when I get the rest. I painted the old chain guard flat black. And i'm waiting on my decals still! Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated as this is my first time attempting a project of this kind ever!

 

[ruddigger]

I like the flipped bar look, I just like them a little lower. ;-) still a cool bike for the money. Ride it and have fun.

 

[wheelbender6]

Well done!

 

[Rat Rod]

Looks like a great start to me

Did those wheels come off of a 3G cruiser by chance?

 

[sensor]

Looks like a great start to me

+1

 

[BeachBum504]

Looks like a great start to me

Did those wheels come off of a 3G cruiser by chance?

Nope, they are the same silver wheels that came on the second bike I bought for parts and the tires too believe it or not! I saw the 3G wheels on this website, and went to HomeDepot and bought Copper, and metallic black paint. Very carefully taped every individual spoke, grinded them down with a dremmel, primed them, and then painted them Copper. Then I did the same thing to the spokes, only painted them metallic black. The rest of the bike's look was inspired by the Felt Revolver. I just don't like the One white-wall. The only things on the bike that aren't used is the seat and grips. Everything else was old parts.

 

[BeachBum504]

The first time I painted the rims, I took a poor approach and used a copper-like spray paint called "Golde-Sierra" or something like that. That's why they look more orange in the first pic. After I grinded all of that off, I bought a Rust-O-Leum Copper, and they look much more like the 3G rims now.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Cool looking bike, loving the amount of black and white bikes popping up recently.

Luke.

 

[Lheffe]

Looking good BeachBum, keep up the good work!

If you are anywhere close to 6 feet tall (like me), then I suggest the addition of a layback seatpost as a very worthwhile and inexpensive modification.
As a former hobbyist frame builder, I can vouch for this mod really improving the comfort level by creating a more "pedal forward" type of riding position.

RatRod topic link to info for custom layback seatposts:
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=59700

Some cruiser bike manufacturers (like Phat) build extended "pedal forward" dimensions directly into some of their frames. This positions the center of the crank considerably forward of the seatpost. Exactly how much forward varies between bike frames, but a minimum of 4-6 inches seems to be a popular starting point.