If it costs too much, build your own

[RatRodDad]

I recently bought a new Firmstrong Chief cruiser - which has the "pedals forward" or "flat foot" designed frame (see photos below).

Steve came to town for a visit this weekend so I met him and brought along the Chief to let him ride it. My younger brother was there too and also took my bike for a ride.

My brother was really impressed with the comfortable layed back ride of the Chief and asked me where I got it. I told him that I bought it online and it cost me $200 delivered - but then I swapped out the single speed rear end for a Nexus 3 speed from my other cruiser.

Being the ingenious type, he figured he could build one and save some money, so he found a cruiser frame today and went to work on it. Here's a couple of shots of what he completed so far.

Here's my Chief ..

Here's how the seat post looks compared to the BB - giving it that pedals forward stance.

Here's the beginnings of something similar that my brother is creating - using an old Huffy cruiser frame ...

It will be interesting to see how it goes and how he likes the bike once it's done.

 

[socal_jack]

Or if you have a newer frame with a 7/8 or 1 inch seatpost get one of these. You can occasionally find a 13/16 but they are quite rare

 

[RatRodDad]

I see a lot of the bikes on the forum with those seat posts on them and that does put the seat position back some - plus they usually look good too.

The nice thing about moving the seat tube back from the pedals is that you can keep the seat low and still have ample leg room to pedal since the pedals are out in front of you.

It will be interesting to see how his bike turns out - assuming he eventually gets it put back together.

 

[Rat Rod]

Can't wait to see how it looks all built....I see a new side business here, ha ha.

I think he needs to kick the neck tube back a few degrees while he's at it.

Kind of give it that hot rod stance.

 

[xddorox]

Nice to see another Chief RRD. I'm thinking about making a tank plate for mine.

 

[Firewalker]

To me this design in bike realy makes sense! I too look forward to how it turns out. thanks for sharin! :mrgreen:

 

[RatRodDad]

He initially cut off the bottom bracket with the plan to reuse it, but it was pretty rusty - and flimsy, and he didn't think it would hold a weld that well. So he checked and found that the inside diameter was exactly the same as a 2 1/2" piece of water pipe, so he cut a piece of that and used it to build a new BB (see pic below).

He used a larger piece of pipe to make the top tube - since that's all he had laying around at the time. It was Sunday so the place he goes to buy metal when he needs it was closed. Otherwise, he would have used something a little smaller - to match the other tubes a little closer.

He said this was sort of a test build, since he had never messed with bikes before, and if it turned out okay then great, but if not, he would know a little more and do another one differently if he needed to.

He also said that he really needed some type of jig to hold the parts straight when he was welding things together but just didn't have room in his garage - or time - to build something. So he winged it on this one and hoped everything stayed pretty straight.

To me, though, it looks pretty good so far and it will be interesting to see how the rest goes.

 

[RatRodDad]

Well, my brother went back to the drawing board and redid the stretched frame today.

He found out the bottom bracket wasn't true on both sides - because he cut it with a band saw. So he cut another one with a pipe cutter to make sure it was true on each end.

Then he decided he didn't like the way the top bar looked, so he redid that using some square tubing - and threw in an extra brace.

Then he got something in his eye while doing some grinding - even though he had on safety glasses, so he said he thinks he's done with bike building now.

He told me to pick up the frame next time I was at his house and I could put it together with the parts from the Roland cruiser I just bought and see if it worked. If not, then it goes out in the next garbage pickup.

So it may have been a short lived bike frame building career. :lol:

Here's the updated look. Hopefully it will go together with my cruiser stuff and be rideable. Unfortunately he didn't have any decent wheels and tires to throw on it to see how it even looked or sat. I get to do that.

It should make a fairly radical looking bike if it works. Hey, where do I go to join the Freakbike Militia?? :lol:

 

[62Higgins]

"Hey, where do I go to join the Freakbike Militia?"

It's as easy as a trip to: http://www.freakbikenation.net !

A pilgrimage to Oakville, Ontario for Halloween is a good idea too. :wink:

 

[RatRodDad]

Thanks, 62. I will check out their web site when I have some time to browse. This stretched bike could be a good candidate.

When Steve and I lived in Michigan a pilgrimage to Ontario would have been an easy trip. From Texas it's a little different story. :lol: :lol:

 

[aka_locojoe]

I've also got a square and round tubed bike. I think mine fits into the "it's so ugly it's cute" category.

It ought to be fun building that bike up.

 

[Firewalker]

I like it! :mrgreen: that bike can come out many different ways!

 

[kingpin]

RatRodDad that frame is supa cool!!....
great mods but still nice and clean!

think i may have a crack at something like that


Brett

 

[RatRodDad]

Yeah, I'm anxious to get it from my brother and throw a fork and some wheels on it and at least roll it around to see how it feels.

I have a ladies cruiser I just bought this weekend so I can easily swap all of the parts from that one to this one to see how it rides.

Maybe I will get it this weekend if I can get by his place. Unfortunately he's on the exact opposite side of town from me - so 45 miles away. But it will be worth a trip over to get this crazy thing and see how it looks put together.

Randy, that square tube bike of yours is pretty wild too. Yeah, ugly enough to be cute.

 

[RatRodDad]

Well, my brother broke down and bought one of those Next bikes from WalMart that come with the 3 speed Nexus rear hub on them.

So he's been playing around with that one - removing the stickers, changing out the seat for one he felt was more comfortable, changing the handlebars, etc.

I mentioned that I wondered if the neck on the stretch bike was raked enough, so that got him wondering how it was going to sit. He said he tried to line it up exactly like it was to begin with.

So to find out, he put the front fork back on it and put it next to his new bike to see how the two of them compared.

The picture is somewhat deceiving because it makes the stretch bike look a lot longer than the one behind it, but in reality it will be 6 or 7 inches longer than stock.

So from the picture, at least, it looks like it may turn out okay and sit right. I plan to get it from him on Saturday and then put a set of wheels and tires on it along with the crank, handlebars, etc. and see how it rides.

Oh, by the way, check out the set back seat post he built today for his new cruiser. It's amazing what you can do with a little black gas pipe and some silver paint!

Like before, if it costs to much to buy one, build it yourself! :lol:

 

[Chainsaw]

R.R.'s Dad, you're always welcome to come over to the Freaky-side of bikedom! The bike looks like it has some great potential. Looking forward to seeing it come together!
You can post your build on our board and you can also send Gigs pics of the finished bike so she can put them in the gallery on the webste!
Tell your brother he's got to get in touch with his FreakBike-side more often!

Them Firmstrong Chiefs have a great look to them! Very cool ride!
Thanks for sharing the pics,
Chainsaw

 

[RatRodDad]

Thanks, Chainsaw. We got the bike going yesterday and I posted a whole new thread in the "Gallery" section. As you will see, though, my brother was acting silly on the paint job.

I will be getting it from him before long and when I do, I will put a decent paint job on it - maybe flat black, maybe a blue, not sure - and then I will take some new pictures of it and send those to you and Gigs.

 

[nogoodnic42]

RRD, your brother has a good eye for building bikes, this one has some really nice lines. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the gallery...Kelly

 

[RatRodDad]

Check it out - we got it going this weekend and it's in the Gallery under "Craftsman Bumblee Bee Stretch bike".

Once you see the paint job he threw on it you will understand the Bumble Bee part, and the top frame rail and chain came from a Craftsman garage door opener - so that's where the Craftsman part came from.

It rides pretty good and once I get it to my house I hope to shoot a video of me riding it and post that too.

Turned out to be a decent riding bike.

 

[kingfish254]

Fun to uncover the birth of @Uncle Stretch 's bike building. Especially with it being narrated by his brother, RRD.