Let go of my eggo !
Long BMXXX DONE!
- Thread starter GuitarlCarl
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I don't think I'm going to cut up the Nishiki. As long as the seat stays are, (that's what I want) they are pretty spindley. I can't use the headtube or the BB either so really I'd be just stealing tubing. It's too nice to do that. So it's stripped except the BB and going back into the stash...
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So, I also stripped the little BMX of it parts. Wheels, fork and splined crank will all be reused. But I'm not using any of it's frame. I did find a headtube that would fit the 1 1/8" fork cups from the BMX. On a funky old Kmart All Pro 10 speed that I'd cut up a couple years ago. So I cut it down some and I'll be pulling a black English built Sears out of the boneyard to cut up. I really like the old pool stick graphics on it, so I'll have to see what I can save.
The last few pics are my trashed garage work space. Always fun. How many past buildoff bikes do you see?
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The last few pics are my trashed garage work space. Always fun. How many past buildoff bikes do you see?
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Thanks brother! Often I look at what I have and re-imagine it where I want it to be. then I can get a visual of what I need to source. This type of build has been in my head for a while and here I started with a paint.net drawing just to rough it out. Gutting the X Games BMX bike gave me the running gear I needed, now I just need to fill in the blanks with the proper
(for my wants) frame to cut up. Long tubes and an American style BB.Carl.
Yeah, those seat stays would have been designed for some vertical compliance at that fairly steep angle, with it braced off the rear dropout / axle.I don't think I'm going to cut up the Nishiki. As long as the seat stays are, (that's what I want) they are pretty spindley. I can't use the headtube or the BB either so really I'd be just stealing tubing. It's too nice to do that. So it's stripped except the BB and going back into the stash...
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I assume you would have had them at a much flatter angle, spanning two points of contact. That would have been a pretty flexy part of your custom frame.
Yep. I'm guessing I may have to add a bit of vertical or z style "truss" work to the stays if the tubes are too spindley...
Carl.
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Carl.
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Stripped an old Free Spirit for the tubage. Laying some bits down for a visual.
The black Sears has an English BB so those cool poolstick graphics get to stay intact for another day...
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The black Sears has an English BB so those cool poolstick graphics get to stay intact for another day...
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Spent a few minutes cutting and tacking just to get a better feel for the front half and the angle between the down tube and the chain stays. Seat post need adjustment as do the seat stays.
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I've set myself a few parameters...
Nothing from the X Games BMX frame.
6' outside length, roughly 52" axle to axle. 12" frame height, maybe 14" and no or very little new tubing. Seat stays would be roughly 26" right now, I may reconfigure to 30" and shorten the front a bit. It's almost there but doesn't quite flow yet. So I'm still juggling tubes around...
Carl.
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Nothing from the X Games BMX frame.
6' outside length, roughly 52" axle to axle. 12" frame height, maybe 14" and no or very little new tubing. Seat stays would be roughly 26" right now, I may reconfigure to 30" and shorten the front a bit. It's almost there but doesn't quite flow yet. So I'm still juggling tubes around...
Carl.
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Got the front half tacked up and ran out of wire... 26" top tube, 27.75" down tube and a 12" seat tube from center of top tube to center of BB. So far all the joints are sleeved on the inside or lugged on the outside. All I have to weld with is a little Harbor Freight wire feeder so I'm going over everything to make sure it's strong enough for my 225 lbs to bounce on.
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Now that's cool! Stretch BMX. Nailed it so far.
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Gonna hafta git me a cheap 120v wire welder.
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6 feet, ya got me beat.
It's looking good, weld on brother.
It's looking good, weld on brother.
I think I paid like 90 bucks on sale at Harbor Freight. It's not a great welder but it is upgradeable with mods, according to some blogs I've seen. But you can tack and tack and tack with it all day as long as you have wire...
Carl.
It's not half of that yet...
I finished tack n' welding the front now and I'm thinking I might want a woman's twin tube to cut up to get an idea I had today into reality. That swing arm I talked about in another BMX thread isn't a bad idea either...
Carl.
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They had a portable Lincoln TIG welder in a pawn shop for about $300 that I strongly considered for a couple of seconds. But my 220/240v connections are limited.
Now I'm looking at the lower end options as something to get started with.
I still like the idea of buying a little better used one. But most of them seem to have broken or missing parts, and I'd prefer plug and play.
So I'm thinking about scale, I'm supposing that with a top tube 26" long (and that's from center of the steering tube to center of seat tube) that I'm looking for a chain stay of about 30" for that long stretched look. If I match the seat stays to the down tube at about 27.75, that should pull up the chain stays just a bit, imagining the top tube level. Hmm, do I want the chain stays level too? Grr. It's graph paper and pencil time. I'm fine with a bit of randomness, but I need to go measure the fork length...
Carl.
Carl.
