New member, saved an Uncle Stretch from a scrap pile...

[bckwoodz]

Howdy hello, I saw what I didn't know at the time, an Uncle Stretch bike sitting on top of a scrap pile of a guy who buys abandoned storage units at auction and had to save it. The frame, forks, crank, pedals, and rear wheel and tire were there, sitting on top of what looked like 7-11 store shelves and old empty oxygen and acetylene tanks. I'm a bmx dude (same username on the bmx museum forum if you want to see those builds), but saw this beautiful creation and had to make it ridable again. Thanks to the Google Lens app, it brought me to a post on this very forum of Uncle Stretch posting his builds and that's how I learned what I had. I feel lucky to have this masterpiece in my collection, it rides so beautifully and gets so much love from young and old alike. Thank you Uncle Stretch!!!

 

[bckwoodz]

The following is a cut and paste of the description from my post on the bmx museum forum...

Custom built rat rod running a 29 up front with a 26 in the rear​

Custom built frame (Uncle Stretch Custom Bikes). I added everything aside from the frame, forks, crank, and pedals​

GT Smoothie tires
GT bmx seat
Triple tree forks
Dia Compe seat post clamp
Wheels are takeoffs from 29 and 26 inch bmx cruisers
Handlebars are takeoffs from a 29 inch bmx cruiser, (I'm using a 22mm to 25.4mm adapter to run the bmx handlebars)
46 tooth sprocket on the one piece crank with a 22 tooth freewheel on the rear, no brakes
Headlight from Amazon
The chain is made up of 2 chains that I took off 2 29 inch bmx cruisers
The bike is super low, 8 feet long, with awesome riding geometry
I had a 29 inch wheel and tire in the rear before I got the GT Smoothie tires, but you can only squeeze a 29 inch wheel on the back running a 29x2.1 inch tire max...
The rear looks like it could accept a 26x4 fat wheel/tire and that's something I'm considering...

 

[kingfish254]

Awesome recovery and rebuild!

 

[bckwoodz]

I appreciate your kind words, many thanks!

 

[Couch tater]

Super nice build and parts selection!

 

[Tallbikeman]

Really good lines on this frame. Uncle Stretch did it right. Your build is great. Good to see such a nice frame and fork put back to work in a beautiful way.

 

[kingfish254]

Fun digging through the RRB treasure trove to find pics from Uncle Stretch

https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-builds.65257/
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-one.63989/
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-scratch-built-bikes.62628/

 

[kingfish254]

Here you go. I tracked down the build. @Uncle Stretch called that one "Anuthern" and built it back in 2012.

https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/anuthern-painted.61784/

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Thanks for saving that. Beautiful results.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I remember that one. You're a lucky person to have that.

 

[bckwoodz]

Fun digging through the RRB treasure trove to find pics from Uncle Stretch

https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-builds.65257/
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-one.63989/
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/my-scratch-built-bikes.62628/

I can't thank you enough for digging and finding those links! I can't wait to go through them all today, really appreciate you![/URL]

 

[kingfish254]

The video no longer works, but there is a thumbnail of UncleStretch riding the bike.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

I built quite a few and with the exception Of Chuck there are very few owned by anybody else. That was
one of my favorites and I let a guy that ran a vape shop here in Pearland talk me into selling it. He moved to Dallas and then the place shut down. That one was was in the $800 range and not sure what you paid ,but
there are people on RRB that would really be happy to buy it from you. Good luck and glad you saved it.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

there are people on RRB that would really be happy to buy it from you.

Major understatement!

 

[Uncle Stretch]

You should go back and look again. He has/had a bike I built called Can't Wait. Might be in the pile too.

 

[twojs.bike]

This is an amazing story!

 

[kingfish254]

You should go back and look again. He has/had a bike I built called Can't Wait. Might be in the pile too.

@bckwoodz , you should definitely check back with the guy you got "Anuthern" from.

Here is the "Can't Wait" build that @Uncle Stretch says that the same guy had.

https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/cant-wait.71371/
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/cant-wait-ah-now-with-paint.70936/

 

[bckwoodz]

I built quite a few and with the exception Of Chuck there are very few owned by anybody else. That was
one of my favorites and I let a guy that ran a vape shop here in Pearland talk me into selling it. He moved to Dallas and then the place shut down. That one was was in the $800 range and not sure what you paid ,but
there are people on RRB that would really be happy to buy it from you. Good luck and glad you saved it.

Many thanks for the background Uncle Stretch. I'm genuinely honored to own your creation and frankly I'm a simple dude living a simple life so unless you desperately wanted to buy it back personally, I would have no interest in selling the bike to anyone for any amount of money. I'm hopeful that I'll be pedaling this bad boy around still when I'm a dusty old bag of bones... The background makes complete sense though as the gentleman I purchased it from obtained the storage unit this came out of via an auction from a "small" town north of Dallas called Denton. I did ask he if remembered what all came out of the unit the bike was in and he did mention it was a lot of retail store shelving and tobacco/vape products. I'll have to reach back out to him to see if he remembers another bike being in the unit as well....

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Dillon got it from me and he ran the vape place here and was moved back to Dallas to run it there where they had the main office. Guess when it folded he lost his job and maybe forgot to pay his storage. I am an old bag of bones at 72 have no need for a bike. I did keep three of my best(what I thought were) and they hang sadly in
my garage. I think of them more as artwork and probably will never sell them. There are a couple more there that are just hanging around and a grill to my wifes Gladiator.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I think @thatismytruck here in CT still has an Unc Stretch. Not sure if he ever built it up.