Little 500 Build Off Idea

[Road Master]

Hi! I was looking through a lot of the old posts and I came across one in the Gallery section by "minnphatts". His father had raced in the 1960 Little 500 here in Bloomington, IN and in his memory he was going to build a bike identical to the one his father had rode. He also included a pic from one of the earliest races and when I looked at it it hit a nerve. Apparantly Schwinns were used the first couple years starting in 1951 and then they switched to Roadmasters which was the predominant bike for quite awhile but Schwinns are being used currently. I got to thinking how cool would it be to reconstruct one of the oldest Little 500 Roadmasters for RRBBO6? I'm going to include links to his two Gallery posts so you can get an idea actually how different these bikes were in the early years and still are. Ballooners with drop handlebars? Maybe some of you other Roadmaster and Schwinn fans might be interested in replicating a Little 500 bike of your own from any era - straight bar, cantilever, ballooner, middle weight, light weight - they are all there. Thanks minnphats for the inspiration and the Roadmaster History Lesson!

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This Is The Style I Want To Build

 

[Buck Masterson]

I bet that guy has a VERY high singing voice! :shock:

 

[deorman]

Nah, that's about right for a 6-footer. That bar, however, looks like an instrument of the inquisition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uprjmoSMJ-o

 

[Markm]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I've got some old 1960's Schwinn drop bars like those if you need some. Let me know

 

[utilityart]

Got to love the guy rockin' the Chuck Taylors.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

^^laces tied in the back for aerodynamics.

 

[yoothgeye]

^^laces tied in the back for aerodynamics.

They use to come with "too long" strings, then later they started coming with "too short" strings (couldn't lace the top 2 eyelets) now they seem to have it just about right.

 

[Road Master]

I've got some old 1960's Schwinn drop bars like those if you need some. Let me know

Hi! I looked at all the photos in minnphatts album and noticed there were different types drop bars used. I'm going to keep the flavor of this era bike but I'm going to tweek a few things more to my liking. I'm not familiar with the Schwinn bars you are referring to but I see that most of the bars in the pics are straight across the top. In the pic below if you look at the second rider from the left you'll see his bars are curving down which I really like the looks of. To me they have a more flowing look. In the link at the bottom of this post off Chaingang Lowriders site is a pair of track bars that look more like what I'm interested in. If anyone has similar bars that they would part with let me know.

Another thing I want to adjust is the bend on the top of the seat post. The post in the picture looks like they stuck the end in something and then just torqued on it plus the shaft looks slightly curved. I want to make a long post but have the same angle on the end as a standard non-90 degree Lucky Seven you see on a lot of girls bikes. When you turn the end towards the handlebars the top of the post is parallel to the ground where the saddle attaches. I'm also going to reshape the number board a little. From pics I've seen no two bikes were identical each with it's own modifications to fit the individual rider.

I already have a lot of the parts needed to do this build but I definitely have a few expenses in the works, the biggest being a Brooks Saddle. This will be quite the contrast from last years build and I'm pretty excited about it. Can't wait till May.

http://www.chainganglowrider.com/Produc ... e=ASHB0122

 

[utilityart]

^^laces tied in the back for aerodynamics.

Hells Yeah! Is there any other way?

 

[core028]

Looking forward to seeing your build!

 

[cashman]

I've always been inspired by these bikes, Here is a tribute one I did a few years ago.

I used a Murray/Mercury frame.They ride great if your use to riding 10 speeds. I used smaller 26 X.175" tires. It would be great to get a crowd together like shown in your pictures nowdays!

 

[Road Master]

I've always been inspired by these bikes, Here is a tribute one I did a few years ago.

I used a Murray/Mercury frame.They ride great if your use to riding 10 speeds. I used smaller 26 X.175" tires. It would be great to get a crowd together like shown in your pictures nowdays!

Well, they do still get a crowd like that together every year at the same place. It kept growing and becoming more of a show with band concerts and the whole schmere but they started having problems with crowd control so they went back to just being bike races. It's just south of where I am in Bloomington, IN and I would really like to go someyear - this year maybe. Any local RRBers interested in getting together and attending? Could get some fantastic pics and videos also.

 

[core028]

Love that bike! I have a J.C. Higgins frame that looks just like that. I've been trying to decide on a build and I think you have given me an idea!

 

[Road Master]

Love that bike! I have a J.C. Higgins frame that looks just like that. I've been trying to decide on a build and I think you have given me an idea!

Sounds Great! If you are interested in making it to specs just google Little 500 and there's a bunch of sites that give you the specs on the present bikes. Other than the number of sprocket teeth (double what they were with skip tooth) very little has changed since the beginning. I intend to build mine to spec - maybe I can take it down there some year and get somebody to ride it around the track so I can get some action pics!

 

[outskirtscustoms]

These are the bars, They say Schwinn '67 in the middle under the stem if my memory serves me right, they are not original to this bike

I may have some of the other style I'll have to look.