TRADITIONAL Jumpy

[Jude Ephesus]

So….. here we go!

I’m looking to build a klunker out of an old straight bar frame.

The build is a little outside my usual as I build a lot of skinny tire bikes.

Also, I’ll be ditching my traditional patina salvage and putting some sharp red, white and blue paint on this guy.

As I built my ‘gray ghost’ which was basically a klunker, it was a ‘younger’ frame than this one and at first glance, an easier build.

-I’m open to input and ideas on the build.

I’d like to have gears, front and rear brakes and maybe a little bit of comfort!

I DO want to keep the original fork.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

And here is my donor bike. I’d mainly like to salvage the wheels. (rear in particular for the 3 speed)

If I can use the BB components, crank and maybe chainring…. That’d be a bonus for the budget.

Any input or recommendations, let me know!

 

[Jude Ephesus]

I got me this nice brown brooks saddle I scored off of Craigslist for cheap a few years ago…. I think this should work ok.

 

[twojs.bike]

I think those rear dropouts will work well with an internally geared hub. They should allow you to move the wheel back and forth to get the right chain tension.

Usually there is a special washer to prevent the axle from spinning in the dropouts. You might have to get creative there.

I don’t trust IGH with coaster brakes. It is possible to shift in between gears, like being in neutral. In which case you have no brakes. Although I am not familiar with the make of your hub. I would definitely add front brakes.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

And I got these bars off of 500 bike Bruce over the winter…. I was going to put them on FYA, but went with a rustier set for that bike as I thought it’d work better.

Should work good on the klunker

 

[Chad T]

Looks like some good fixin’s for a cool Klunker.

 

[One-eyed Sailor]

I think those rear dropouts will work well with an internally geared hub. They should allow you to move the wheel back and forth to get the right chain tension.

Usually there is a special washer to prevent the axle from spinning in the dropouts. You might have to get creative there.

I don’t trust IGH with coaster brakes. It is possible to shift in between gears, like being in neutral. In which case you have no brakes. Although I am not familiar with the make of your hub. I would definitely add front brakes.

taking notes...

 

[One-eyed Sailor]

Go Jude

 

[Jude Ephesus]

I think those rear dropouts will work well with an internally geared hub. They should allow you to move the wheel back and forth to get the right chain tension.

Usually there is a special washer to prevent the axle from spinning in the dropouts. You might have to get creative there.

I don’t trust IGH with coaster brakes. It is possible to shift in between gears, like being in neutral. In which case you have no brakes. Although I am not familiar with the make of your hub. I would definitely add front brakes.

Thanks! Yeah… I LOVE the frame, but those rear drops do have me concerned. I’ve been eyeing parts in my inventory for this bike for several months and as I have a lot of rear wheels and gear options, I think this is the easiest play.

The rear hub and thumb shifter is a Shimano 3S, which I know nothing about. It’s coming off of what I’m guessing is an 80’s Murray big-box bike.

It’s not a coaster brake….. I took the caliper brakes off this bike for another project.

 

[kingfish254]

Killer prewar "motobike" frame with a super nice truss fork.
I am pretty sure the BB stuff from the Murray Monterey will work, you'll just have to see if the bearing cups fit.
The 3 speed wheelset should work. Those hubs do not require any special lock washer like newer Nexus7 and 8s.
My only concern for you on the front and rear is how well caliper brakes will line up with the wheel once they are mounted. You may be better off with a coaster brake rear wheel.
The saddle and bars should look great with this frame

 

[OddJob]

Ditto KF on all of the above ^^. Of course, the knobbiest, gnarliest, nastiest tires you can fit in are de rigor for every true klunker build! That early motobike will have room as it came with 28" wheel/tire combo originally (we both have very similar frames). And I fit 700c wheels with 42mm wide tires into mine, with fenders!

Excited to watch you find the joy of klunker love on this one, Jude! Might be my favorite kind of build to do.

 

[JA331]

Sweet frame.

 

[Jude Ephesus]

Ditto KF on all of the above ^^. Of course, the knobbiest, gnarliest, nastiest tires you can fit in are de rigor for every true klunker build! That early motobike will have room as it came with 28" wheel/tire combo originally (we both have very similar frames). And I fit 700c wheels with 42mm wide tires into mine, with fenders!

Excited to watch you find the joy of klunker love on this one, Jude! Might be my favorite kind of build to do.

Hey OJ! I can find me some big crazy tires…. If I put them on, how can I get the thing to stop? I’d like to scab the wheels off the Murray in the pic above.

Will a regular set of calipers fit around something like this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1757606611...4XlZ60m3SGRFTZDrxiNtEjIXRqQQ|tkp:BFBMvu6Shuxj

 

[Wildcat]

That's going to be a great klunker! The Brooks with copper rivets is icing on the cake.

I used a Shimano 3CC hub for years, it held up, and the coaster brake worked well. No front brake.

I think it was SA who had a 3 speed with a neutral spot where the brakes weren't useable.

I used different shifters on the 3CC hub and they worked, even a nexus shifter. So I think shimano 3 speed shifters are interchangeable. The Murray has a good cable and shifter that can be transferred right over to the klunker. That's a 3 speed with a coaster brake for stopping. A new nexus hub shouldn't be too expensive, but I've found those hubs on women's beach cruisers on CL and gotten them with the wheels all ready to go.

The crankset from the Murray is probably the same size as the old frame. If the cups fit the frame there you go. But you might want to use one of those conversion kits that lets you go with a better 3 piece crankset. I used one on my 42 Hawthorne and it was a much better ride.

Caliper brakes would need some kind of bracket made up to fit your frame and fork, and they won't have very good stopping power, not as good as drum brakes.
The early klunkers used one speeds, but going offroad for me requires a nice low gear to drop down to, so gears are a must on a klunker. Other than the 3 speeds, 2 speed kickback and 5 speeds are out there too.

Have you measured the space between the stays for tire clearance? I think 3" would be about as big as you could go.

Whatever way you go with this will be good.

 

[OddJob]

Hey OJ! I can find me some big crazy tires…. If I put them on, how can I get the thing to stop? I’d like to scab the wheels off the Murray in the pic above.

Will a regular set of calipers fit around something like this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175760661165?epid=14042685671&itmmeta=01HXG64PWTPVWRVX5ZRPGHWZPH&hash=item28ec26daad:g:APIAAOSwnrVlzrNh&itmprp=enc:AQAJAAAA4OfecuGCcxl1TvPFQxgydzJq9ZXi6xAbXgMIgOWVRWV5Lzk77Mfw3mrIVPwPqh7RP+n8o6JDYSdTTw+hIxU4Y8c6WexLncD2WjLnYXsgU8OrGUpaRv1pyGfCcJsPyWvKfUHpOuo1AL75dr6f8mqZM9xGxxIiNeX+bFyNMS+o+6PgusW46Q/+xaH1faRjzhD/WnNGAKGrcJUWDpDoAbhLPw7VTgUtFswxsWdVHxqFa/awS7EWt0KKdyZI7cfDviTaVsOepJmj8tVV+YtL4XlZ60m3SGRFTZDrxiNtEjIXRqQQ|tkp:BFBMvu6Shuxj

Jude, that looks like a 'true fat bike' tire. You won't be running that on a traditional frame. That requires a fat bike frame or modified rear triangle.

CST has some great tires for cheap prices though. I ran the CST Cheyenne on my Desert Sky klunker build. They have a great tread, a full look when mounted on a standard width rim, and very gnarly mtb quality; all for around $27 a per tire. Hard to beat. Found one from a distributor in New Jersey, you should be able to get them in a couple of days or so.

I just noticed now that I ran a CST Rock Hawk on the front of this bike. Another grippy, very good mtb tire. I got it because it was slightly wider than the Cheyenne and I like a fatter tire in the front for float and steering grip. Found this pair at a rocking deal of $50 with free shipping! And I have had very good buying experiences from the seller, '365 cycles'.

Also with this tire mounted on a traditional 26" rim, you shouldn't have any brake mounting issues. I used an adaptor for the rear frame and mounted Avid BB7 cable actuated disc brake in the rear, because I had a disc ready wheel. In most klunking instances, a single rear brake was plenty of power, especially disc brakes.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I'm looking forward to seeing this progress.

 

[Pondo]

Great build, Jude! Klunkers are probably my favorite to build and ride. They're so cool, functional and just fun. That's a perfect frame and fork combo for it.

I’d like to have gears, front and rear brakes

The wheelset from that Murray should work pretty well. Then you won't be needing to spread the frame for a wider hub and messing with a derailleur. Although that is fun too. They make BMX brake calipers in different lengths to reach various rim combos so something will likely fit. They'll clear a fairly wide tire too.

and maybe a little bit of comfort!

Haha! J/K. That Brooks you've got should be just the ticket. I love those and they look the part too.

The crankset from the Murray is probably the same size as the old frame. If the cups fit the frame there you go. But you might want to use one of those conversion kits that lets you go with a better 3 piece crankset. I used one on my 42 Hawthorne and it was a much better ride.

Solid advice. If your terrain is pretty flat the Murray single chainring will do fine but if you have hills more gears would be desireable.

I ran the CST Cheyenne on my Desert Sky klunker build. They have a great tread, a full look when mounted on a standard width rim, and very gnarly mtb quality; all for around $27 a per tire. Hard to beat.

That price is hard to beat. The earliest klunkers had knobbie-ish cruiser tires since knobby mountain bike tires didn't exist yet. If you have some MTB tires that you like then those will work fine. I'd probably keep the width between 2.125 and 2.4. Narrower looks too skinny and wider might have issues interfering with the brakes.

Alan Bonds built a lot of klunkers back in the Repack days. His klunker page is a great resource for tips and inspiration.
http://clunkers.net/

Loco Joe has a great way to mount caliper brakes to frames that don't have mounts for them


Have fun, I'll be following this build with interest!

 

[kingfish254]

Double check the width of your frame for tires before you buy. While these frames were built for 28" tires, I've found that many of them will only accommodate normal or sometimes narrow tires.

 

[Wayne]

I think it was SA who had a 3 speed with a neutral spot where the brakes weren't useable.

You are correct, the early Sturmey coaster brake hubs, TWC had brake failure if the shift cable was miss adjusted. Replaced by a S3C model, braking independent of the gear change, it also had failures.

Replaced by the Sturmey AWC coaster hub, these 3 speeds are still current, and work very well. I presently have 2 in service.

 

[twojs.bike]

You are correct, the early Sturmey coaster brake hubs, TWC had brake failure if the shift cable was miss adjusted. Replaced by a S3C model, braking independent of the gear change, it also had failures.

Replaced by the Sturmey AWC coaster hub, these 3 speeds are still current, and work very well. I presently have 2 in service.

Yes, stay away from the old Sturmey Archers with coaster brakes. In fact, I sold a bike with a S3C about a year ago and the guy just brought it back because the “brakes don’t work.” I spent several hours last night rebuilding it. But it is just a bad design and I have decided to do the right thing and build him a new wheel with an AW.

Hope we haven’t hijacked Jude’s thread. Looking forward to this build!