keep or part out?

[roadmaster]

back in march, i bought an 09' huffy cranbrook cruiser off thr rack for like $80. i needed a cheap cruiser bike to ride to work on that i wouldnt care if someone accidently rolled the dumpster into and crunch a fender or scratch the paint. it is totally stock (silver with beish fenders and guard) and i've put about 400 miles on it. i hate its geometry and leaning back towards my us built older cruisers that don't rattle so much (hate the fenders but need fenders for commuting) or feel so... cheap.

i have had the urge to pull off the new alloy wheels and use them for my 82' columbia clipper that was my first rat build back in like 01', the forks on this and the bars on something else and so on. i like it cuz it looks old but is brand new and besides rattling fenders, it works good, but its got parts id like on my other, older bikes. i am just having a hard time parting out something almost new and having this new, shiney (although chinese built, and poorly) frame laying around. hmmm... maybe i can slap on some shwagg wheels/tires and replace puled parts and sell it cheap at work.

i can't decide... keep (and maybe buy new fenders), or donate its new parts to rebuilding my 82' columbia clipper... which can also have fenders and be used as my commuter. what would you do?

 

[Rat Rod]

I'd part it out....you'll probably only get $50 for it if you sold it as is.

Would be tough to buy wheels and tires for $50.

 

[roadmaster]

im really leanin that way, building up the 82' columbia clipper would make up a better bike than that 09' cranbrook is... right? at least i think the columbia is american made vs the chinese huffy. now just to think of a good color for the clipper to be repainted. and who knows, maybe i can put the old 3speed wheels from the columbia onto the huffy, just swapping the wheels from one to the other and look elsewhere for another front fork to use. other than drowning all the fender squeeks in spray silicon... this could be a great compermise. havent rode my clipper in awhile and this could really breathe in new life.

id rather commute on the 82' columbia than the 09' cranbrook. would'nt you agree? save the cranbrook for the really nasty, wet, dirty commute days.

 

[Schwinnspastic]

parts is parts...coaster wheel set $60.00 + shiping, tires, rim strips and tubes $30.00 stem and bars $25.00
saddle $15.00 fenders $25.00 a like new riding vintage bike....priceless :mrgreen:

 

[kemmer]

I bought a couple of those types of bikes on CL to use the parts on older bikes. It's a great way to get a vintage steed back on the road while saving the world from having to look at a pacific bike corp heap.

 

[roadmaster]

have an extra pair of araya alloy rims around, so i think i will convert the cranbrook to a 6speed and then try to trade it to a coworker who has a black 06' cranbrook with chrome fenders (since she wants something with gears on it anyways). now i can't wait to grab my columbia and do the swap and get it back on the road. this will leave me with the 3speed wheels on the clipper now.

 

[GTCOMA]

I am just shocked that you managed to get 400 miles on a huffy cranbrook. those things are cheap!

 

[deorman]

It's always good practice to check the bearings w/ any new or being swapped in wheel. With current cheap bikes, the balls and races are usually OK if someone didn't inadvertently over tighten them, but the ball carrier("Cage")is really cheap and not always bent right. I'm inclined to swap any bad ones w/saved ones from older bikes, but you can also run them cage-less and add a ball or 2 which reduces individual ball loading. It really can make the difference in longevity. The lighter rotating mass of modern wheels compared to old chromy's is transformative, when your axle is working right. :wink:

 

[roadmaster]

I am just shocked that you managed to get 400 miles on a huffy cranbrook. those things are cheap!

yeah, that makes two of us. :lol: i have rebuilt the bottom bracket and both wheels one allready and keep up on it really well. i just have my old columbia clipper (an 82' i guess, give or take a few years with standard suntour coaster brakes and a unicrown fork) that is my first project rat back in 01' with a 3speed conversion, but with center drop rims and sidepull calipers= poor brakes and i wanna make it a daily rider again.

as for the huffy, i got a good set of araya alloy wheels with 6speed freewheel and all the brakes, cables, shifter, new chain and narrow chainring to do a good 6speed conversion... and i already worked out a straight across trade for a coworkers 06' cranbrook in black with chrome fenders vs my cranbrooks silver with beish fenders. looks like a win (columbia reborn), win (coworker finally gets a multispeed cruiser, shes been wanting, win (i get her 06') situation. :mrgreen: