Thanks! I'm not planning on doing anything that adventurous, but that's a good idea if I decide I want to do some more serious off-roading in the future.
Kasual Klunker
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Cool looking bike. Love the simplicity.
Thanks!
It seems every bike has its own unique challenges. This Schwinn is no different.
I know the bike's a rider now, and if I just stuck to my original "get it riding as quickly and cheaply as possible" goal, I'd be done, but I just can't stop at that now. I love the whole classic klunker vibe this bike has now, but as it is, it feels like I've seen this bike before. I want to add some personal touches to make this bike my own, but the challenge for me is how to add those personal touches without overdoing it. That's kind of challenging for me, because as much as I like the simple, functional look this bike has, I still feel like it needs a few elements to help it stand out amongst the other klunkers and BMX conversions I've seen. Most old school klunkers I've seen were built purely for function, so they didn't have a ton of custom parts other than what made the bike ride harder and faster than it originally could. Custom paint jobs and decals seemed to be nonexistent on those early klunkers, and even on the klunkers I've seen built recently, the paint jobs and decals are usually minimalistic, and all for good reason: those bikes are build to be ridden hard, so you don't want to spend a lot of time and money on paint, decals, and custom parts like tanks and fenders only for all that work to get scratched, scuffed, dented and dinged.
That said, since this is more of what I'd like to call an "entry-level" off road bike, I think I can get away with adding a few small custom touches without going overkill on the mods. I already mentioned painting the wheels to match the frame, but there are a few other small things I'd like to do on top of that. I want to add a bell to alert any pedestrians that I need room to pass, as I've had that issue on multiple occasions riding my other bikes on trails. I've got a bell that should work just fine, but I'd like to paint it to match the bike using the same paint for the wheels. I might also see about getting a seat-mounted tool bag that closely matches the seat or paint colors. I also want to take a page out of the vintage BMX playbook and make a custom number plate to mount to the handlebars.
Here are a few sketches of some ideas I had in mind. I want to make use of the clear plexiglass I have in stock, and I think a nice transparent number plate would make a great custom touch to this bike. I'd love to try my idea on the top-right at some point, but I don't think this is the bike for that. I also had an idea for a plexiglass tank with a "floating" design in the middle, but I don't think I'm going that direction at this time. I think the only things I need on this number plate are the number, (52 for the year this bike was made,) the bike's name, and either my actual name or my username. I've never cut plexiglass before, so this could be a fun new challenge for me. Thankfully, jigsaw blades for this material aren't too pricey, and I have plenty of material to work with in case I mess up.
So that's where I'm at with my build right now. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to paint my wheels despite the cold winter weather, but we'll see. I'll have to reach out to some of my local friends to see what they think I should do there.
I know the bike's a rider now, and if I just stuck to my original "get it riding as quickly and cheaply as possible" goal, I'd be done, but I just can't stop at that now. I love the whole classic klunker vibe this bike has now, but as it is, it feels like I've seen this bike before. I want to add some personal touches to make this bike my own, but the challenge for me is how to add those personal touches without overdoing it. That's kind of challenging for me, because as much as I like the simple, functional look this bike has, I still feel like it needs a few elements to help it stand out amongst the other klunkers and BMX conversions I've seen. Most old school klunkers I've seen were built purely for function, so they didn't have a ton of custom parts other than what made the bike ride harder and faster than it originally could. Custom paint jobs and decals seemed to be nonexistent on those early klunkers, and even on the klunkers I've seen built recently, the paint jobs and decals are usually minimalistic, and all for good reason: those bikes are build to be ridden hard, so you don't want to spend a lot of time and money on paint, decals, and custom parts like tanks and fenders only for all that work to get scratched, scuffed, dented and dinged.
That said, since this is more of what I'd like to call an "entry-level" off road bike, I think I can get away with adding a few small custom touches without going overkill on the mods. I already mentioned painting the wheels to match the frame, but there are a few other small things I'd like to do on top of that. I want to add a bell to alert any pedestrians that I need room to pass, as I've had that issue on multiple occasions riding my other bikes on trails. I've got a bell that should work just fine, but I'd like to paint it to match the bike using the same paint for the wheels. I might also see about getting a seat-mounted tool bag that closely matches the seat or paint colors. I also want to take a page out of the vintage BMX playbook and make a custom number plate to mount to the handlebars.
Here are a few sketches of some ideas I had in mind. I want to make use of the clear plexiglass I have in stock, and I think a nice transparent number plate would make a great custom touch to this bike. I'd love to try my idea on the top-right at some point, but I don't think this is the bike for that. I also had an idea for a plexiglass tank with a "floating" design in the middle, but I don't think I'm going that direction at this time. I think the only things I need on this number plate are the number, (52 for the year this bike was made,) the bike's name, and either my actual name or my username. I've never cut plexiglass before, so this could be a fun new challenge for me. Thankfully, jigsaw blades for this material aren't too pricey, and I have plenty of material to work with in case I mess up.
So that's where I'm at with my build right now. I'm hoping I can figure out a way to paint my wheels despite the cold winter weather, but we'll see. I'll have to reach out to some of my local friends to see what they think I should do there.
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Looking awesome
Thank you!
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When and where were these photos shot? I've never seen them before!
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HOLLAND 1950'S
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in Holland BX (Bicycle Cross) got off the ground in the mid 1950's and also because of youngsters imitating the at the time, motorsport moto-cross stars from Holland and Belgium.
Cool! That explains why I hadn't seen them before. I was looking at photos from the Repack events held in California around the 1970s and 1980s. Not surprising to know that even before "klunkers" became a thing here in the U.S., there were already folks racing their old bikes through the dirt! Thanks for sharing!
The biggest thing that happened with Repack and other NorCal klunker events is that a group of framebuilders got involved with better frames and forks for the klunker riders. A new bicycle market was born and someone noticed it and started building for that market. We were riding off road in the 50's and 60's on old fat tire Colombia and Schwinn's etc. which morphed into klunkers which morphed into what became MTB bikes. Boomers have always been enthusiastic bicyclists, much more so than our parents and this helped also.
This klunker is turning out so nice. Good job on this build so far.
Thank you!
I finally took the Kasual Klunker out for both my and its first off road test ride around a local water reservoir today. And I've got to say, it did not go like I expected it to. Nothing came loose or apart thankfully, but even before I made it a third of the way around the 2.6 miles of gravel surrounding the reservoir, I could tell this bike has some issues that need fixing.
By the time I pulled off to the side of the trail and shot these photos, I was worn out. I don't know if it's the gear ratio, the terrain, the tires, the untouched coaster brake hub, the rider, or all the above, but this bike is a pain to pedal! I even noticed how after test riding it around the neighborhood roads earlier this week that it's harder to pedal this Schwinn than most of my other bikes. Even on my last build, Shoestring, I could ride the full loop around the neighborhood and still have plenty of energy to keep riding for quite a bit longer. This Schwinn, however, is tough to keep riding even after just traveling to the front entrance of my neighborhood and back! And before you make the (fair) assumption that it's just the rider, just last month I rode about 10 miles, the furthest I've ever ridden a bike in one trip, on another trail in Missouri on my grandma's 1965 Schwinn Hollywood, with baskets and water bottles adding a little extra weight. And that trail wasn't as level as I thought it would be. There were more than a few points where I was riding uphill!
Another issue I couldn't ignore while riding the Schwinn today: the seat I have on there, while nice in appearance, is about as comfortable as sitting on a bare metal seat pan, and even then I'd bet there are bare metal seat pans more comfortable than this seat! It has virtually no padding or cushion at all! Fortunately, I have a few other seats I could try on this bike. Unfortunately, none of them look as nice as the one I currently have on the bike.
As for the other issues I experienced while riding this Hornet today, I'm not quite sure what to do yet. I'm sure repacking the coaster brake hub might help, and even swapping to a bigger or smaller rear gear could help too, but I want to try a couple things before I risk messing up another coaster brake hub. The weather's going to get ugly for a little bit, but come Monday and Tuesday next week, it should get back into the mid-to-high 50s. I want to take some of my other bikes out to the same trail I rode on today, and just see if it's any easier riding those bikes around this trail compared to this Schwinn. If it turns out my other bikes can handle the trail better than this Schwinn, despite the fact that none of my other bikes have off road tires, then that might help me figure out what's going on. I also might try switching to street tires on this Schwinn just to see if that makes a difference. I want this to be a good entry-level off road bike, but right now, it can't seem to handle even a level trail of gravel right now. Hopefully I'll be able to remedy that soon.
I did get a video of today's ride, but I need to get it all spliced together and edited before I can post it. I should have that done and ready to share soon.
By the time I pulled off to the side of the trail and shot these photos, I was worn out. I don't know if it's the gear ratio, the terrain, the tires, the untouched coaster brake hub, the rider, or all the above, but this bike is a pain to pedal! I even noticed how after test riding it around the neighborhood roads earlier this week that it's harder to pedal this Schwinn than most of my other bikes. Even on my last build, Shoestring, I could ride the full loop around the neighborhood and still have plenty of energy to keep riding for quite a bit longer. This Schwinn, however, is tough to keep riding even after just traveling to the front entrance of my neighborhood and back! And before you make the (fair) assumption that it's just the rider, just last month I rode about 10 miles, the furthest I've ever ridden a bike in one trip, on another trail in Missouri on my grandma's 1965 Schwinn Hollywood, with baskets and water bottles adding a little extra weight. And that trail wasn't as level as I thought it would be. There were more than a few points where I was riding uphill!
Another issue I couldn't ignore while riding the Schwinn today: the seat I have on there, while nice in appearance, is about as comfortable as sitting on a bare metal seat pan, and even then I'd bet there are bare metal seat pans more comfortable than this seat! It has virtually no padding or cushion at all! Fortunately, I have a few other seats I could try on this bike. Unfortunately, none of them look as nice as the one I currently have on the bike.
As for the other issues I experienced while riding this Hornet today, I'm not quite sure what to do yet. I'm sure repacking the coaster brake hub might help, and even swapping to a bigger or smaller rear gear could help too, but I want to try a couple things before I risk messing up another coaster brake hub. The weather's going to get ugly for a little bit, but come Monday and Tuesday next week, it should get back into the mid-to-high 50s. I want to take some of my other bikes out to the same trail I rode on today, and just see if it's any easier riding those bikes around this trail compared to this Schwinn. If it turns out my other bikes can handle the trail better than this Schwinn, despite the fact that none of my other bikes have off road tires, then that might help me figure out what's going on. I also might try switching to street tires on this Schwinn just to see if that makes a difference. I want this to be a good entry-level off road bike, but right now, it can't seem to handle even a level trail of gravel right now. Hopefully I'll be able to remedy that soon.
I did get a video of today's ride, but I need to get it all spliced together and edited before I can post it. I should have that done and ready to share soon.
Your coaster looked like it was fine in your video. Does your crank spin nice and free without the chain? Do the pedals spin freely. How is the front hub? If all of your bearings are working well then we get to spoke tension and tires. If spokes are loose then the wheel will not roll efficiently. Big knobby tires can be energy sucks. I don't use knobbys anymore because I've found most off road riding is just fine on street tires of the same size. When I MTB raced I used 1.75" small knobby tires at 70psi. It vibrated terribly and was very fast. I've run lower pressure 2.125" knobby tires and they were slow. Very slow. I believe you need to be careful when putting tires on your bikes because some can be very slow. Another area is your overall gear ratio. If you are geared too high and can only spin the crank slowly while going pretty fast then maybe you should think about gearing your bike down. This doesn't necessarily mean you will go slower. It means your cranks will spin faster for the same speed which oddly can feel like you are using less power.
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Lots of good points raised above. Knobby tires, particularly those old style low pressure ones like your front tire waste a heap of energy. The other point is your seat position. I’m not sure how tall you are but I’m 6’2 and need the seat up a much higher than yours on almost every bike I own or I get sore knees and feel worn out after a long ride. My rides are usually 16-20 miles. Check out how high I need the seat on Freeliner which I’m currently building. BTW the heavy, slow 40psi knobby tires I had on the bike on the test ride are getting replaced by a set of 80psi Maxxis DTH I pulled from a parts bike.
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Good looking klunker. Plenty of gearing and brakes. Two things that really help when off road. I'm 6'5" and the seatpost on your bike would be out even further for me. I use really large frames to get away from bent seatposts and broken seatpost tubes on 18"-20" frames. I've had both happen to me.
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Thanks. I’ve discovered mild steel posts bend very quickly and now use solid alloy or thick wall cr-mo posts. Freeliner will be getting a lay back cr-mo post from Paul at Atomic cycles @rev106.
My other build off bike, Outcast is a 24” Suburban. This is the biggest bike I have ridden and suits me almost perfectly with the exception of clearance at the top tube.
I'll have to get the Schwinn back up on the work stand and test all that stuff out. I thought I had the crank dialed, and the pedals spun freely enough to me, but maybe something unadjusted while test riding. Front hub should be good with new grease in it and all, but I can check that too. I think spoke tension is fine, but I can check that too. I thought about swapping out the tires to the same 2.35" street tires I mocked up before to see if there's any difference, so that might help me narrow it down. The last bike I rode with knobby tires was my old mountain bike I had back when I was a kid, but that bike rarely saw anything besides neighborhood paved roads. It's been so long since I rode that bike, I don't remember how those tires felt. I can also try the gear ratio thing and see if putting a bigger or smaller gear on the rear wheel might help at all. Thanks for the tips and pointers! I'll be sure to look into it soon.
