this little number showed up at my door yesterday. although it had a couple serious ailments, i gave the guy the $40 he wanted for the bike.
forks are bent, chunks outta the frame, cranks been butchered and it needed bearings,chain, tubes etc.
now i've decided to call it destiny for a couple reasons (which i'll get into as we go) however this puppy has fought me every step of the way.
figured i'd throw new rubber on it, a cheap walmart seat, give it a tune up and call it a done deal. i wish things where that easy. lol
it all started with the neck. after 4 hours of trying to remove it from the bent forks i ended up cutting the fork tube just below the bottom bearing (forks where loose and i had a couple inches of play. ) from there i used my angle grinder and a sanding disk to split the remainding piece of fork tube still on the neck.(end to end) managed to remove it without any trace of damage to the neck.
i have 1 extra set of forks in the house, an old 50's ccm fork that had been repainted blue years ago. heres where the destiny came in, not only was the fork a perfect fit for the bike (bearings,tube length everything) but there a very similar color blue. they did cause some problems with the fender (fender strut was too short) but i managed to find an old ccm balloon tire fender with the perfect length struts (might have even been from this fork)
mounted a couple kenda tires on the rims. the rear fender wouldn't fit around the 3"x24 so i cut it.
and the front wheel looks too small with the fender.
i have 3 options.
1 add a 3"x24 to the front, but i would probably have to cut the front fender.
2 i could remove the fender all together
3. add a 26" wheel to the front.
i think i'm gonna go with option 3. it just so happens (another reason for the destiny name) i have a 26" rim that matches the front 24 on the bike (2 different rims on the bike, a newer shimano rim on the rear)
this is the newer rim on the back
(front rim) not only does the 24" rim have an identical profile to the 1950's ccm 26" rim in my basement, but the silver spray paint on the rim almost matches the hammer tone silver i used to paint my 26" months ago.
i'll relace the rear hub on the front rim (using the black spokes/green nipples) and add the 26" matching rim to the front.
so here it is with the 24 on the front
and heres the 26 in front (probably use a smaller tire)
i bought a cheap bell cruiser seat, but i gotta be honest. i hate it on this bike. even though brown is a neutral color it seems to clash and i dont plan on painting this bike for a while (got lots of other things i have to get to first)
it needs an old pan seat and laid back seat post.
i'm really digging this bike, but i cant get over how compact this thing is. (even with the new forks moving the front axle forward 1.5".
the crank is in rough shape, so i'm gonna replace it completely.
forks are bent, chunks outta the frame, cranks been butchered and it needed bearings,chain, tubes etc.
now i've decided to call it destiny for a couple reasons (which i'll get into as we go) however this puppy has fought me every step of the way.
figured i'd throw new rubber on it, a cheap walmart seat, give it a tune up and call it a done deal. i wish things where that easy. lol
it all started with the neck. after 4 hours of trying to remove it from the bent forks i ended up cutting the fork tube just below the bottom bearing (forks where loose and i had a couple inches of play. ) from there i used my angle grinder and a sanding disk to split the remainding piece of fork tube still on the neck.(end to end) managed to remove it without any trace of damage to the neck.
i have 1 extra set of forks in the house, an old 50's ccm fork that had been repainted blue years ago. heres where the destiny came in, not only was the fork a perfect fit for the bike (bearings,tube length everything) but there a very similar color blue. they did cause some problems with the fender (fender strut was too short) but i managed to find an old ccm balloon tire fender with the perfect length struts (might have even been from this fork)
mounted a couple kenda tires on the rims. the rear fender wouldn't fit around the 3"x24 so i cut it.
and the front wheel looks too small with the fender.
i have 3 options.
1 add a 3"x24 to the front, but i would probably have to cut the front fender.
2 i could remove the fender all together
3. add a 26" wheel to the front.
i think i'm gonna go with option 3. it just so happens (another reason for the destiny name) i have a 26" rim that matches the front 24 on the bike (2 different rims on the bike, a newer shimano rim on the rear)
this is the newer rim on the back
(front rim) not only does the 24" rim have an identical profile to the 1950's ccm 26" rim in my basement, but the silver spray paint on the rim almost matches the hammer tone silver i used to paint my 26" months ago.
i'll relace the rear hub on the front rim (using the black spokes/green nipples) and add the 26" matching rim to the front.
so here it is with the 24 on the front
and heres the 26 in front (probably use a smaller tire)
i bought a cheap bell cruiser seat, but i gotta be honest. i hate it on this bike. even though brown is a neutral color it seems to clash and i dont plan on painting this bike for a while (got lots of other things i have to get to first)
it needs an old pan seat and laid back seat post.
i'm really digging this bike, but i cant get over how compact this thing is. (even with the new forks moving the front axle forward 1.5".
the crank is in rough shape, so i'm gonna replace it completely.
