Opinions on re-pop parts and imported bikes?

[Rustinkerer]

if you could get an American Schwinn or any of the other cool bikes made with the 30's 40' quality now you wouldn't be able to afford one,and you sure wouldnt be ratting it.

Yeah! The repop Phantom was what, $3000?? ~Adam

 

[two spot]

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to hear that the attitude is pretty relaxed around here. I guess that's why this is a funh hobby and RRB is a great place to hang out.

Regards,
Two Spot

 

[hoosierider]

I'm building a Kmart Huffy into something I think will really look cool right now, the frame was supposed to be back from the powdercoater today. I got it for $55 cause the chainguard, fenders, cranks and bars, etc. had rust on them from sitting outside for too long. I threw all that crap away, bought a chrome BMX style fork from the LBS, shined up some old parts I had laying around and I think this thing will be a really cool, unique ride for about $200 or so. The key is to be true to your vision, none of what we say matters, we're not riding the thing! Build what you want, what you like, then go ride it, I say. That seems to be the entire point of this whole community, from what I see.

 

[sensor]

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to hear that the attitude is pretty relaxed around here. I guess that's why this is a funh hobby and RRB is a great place to hang out.

Regards,
Two Spot

yeah it is :mrgreen: and we all have to make do with whatever we can(and in my $.01 thats why we have some great bikes!)...

 

[MadMick]

Since we were discussing steel I was talking to a farmer friend the other day who related the sorry state of British farming and how with the high scrap value of steel at the moment so many farmers these days are scrapping decades of historical and even fully working machinery because it pays more to empty out an old barn than to sow a field. He reckons that China is like a magnet for it right now with all their construction projects and increased manufacturing capacity and they are sucking all the high quality steel off the planet, melting it down and turning it into low grade steel for construction (and some of which to sell back to us in products).

Perhaps we rat rodders should, in addition to being the coolest cats on the planet, celebrate our undeniable environmental credentials. We are the ultimate recyclers!

 

[Gold Street Customs]

I like the cheap to free pricing the only gripe I have is plastic shifters,pedals and anything that breaks before its time.

 

[BrigmasterA]

There are a finite number of old bikes and the more popular our little corner of the cycling world gets the scarcer they will become, so although we all love the old iron I feel it would be wrong of any of us to think less of a bike because it wasn't made in Chicago. Or Nottingham. By rights we Rat Rodders should be the least snobby group of cyclists. And it's obvious to anyone looking through the gallery that being old or original is not a prerequisite for a great bike.

Amen to that brother! That's one of my favorite things about this site. No poseur attitudes, just a bunch of dudes(and dolls, not trying to be sexist here... :wink: ) doin what they want. Til I got my first SpaceLiner, I rolled a Huffy Cruiseway or something. A cantilever-framed 6 speed beach Cruiser. And it was way cool and comfy. Then I got tired of my wife stealing my bike cuz it was mo' comfier than her mountian bike. So we found an old bike. Paid $25 bucks for it. Turns out it is a pre-wwII hawthorne. Then I got tired of her having a cooler bike than me. So when I saw the chrome spaceliner, I HAD to have it. Since then, I've bought every cheap biek I could afford to buy that I could find. I even boutght a bike at walmart just for wheels and tires and bars and stuff. But the whole ratrod idea started with run what you brung, or wjat you got, however you wanna put it. Just make it yours. I would never have guessed your schwinn wasn't vintage. So there's my $.02.