So the wheel is built and good to go, so only parts I need now are the tubes and bolt for the seat tube. I ordered the 2 speed SRAM automatix back in September, but due to a Europe wide drought on these hubs and self imposed budget constraints, I had to wait until late December for it to arrive.
To give a slightly more detailed description of the project, I basically want a straight-bar cruiser type bike that'll take me along dirt and potholed gravel tracks with the odd short punchy hill, I don't need it for any mountain climbing. I also want it to be comparatively light weight compared to other cruisers without spending much cash on parts.
The frame is an early 90s 17inch claud butler Reynolds 653 MTB frame, the optimum size for the sissy bar banana seat combo. 1 1/8 headset with light 90s MTB quill stem. The reach is a lot longer than I'd ideally like, but itll work and I'm giving it a try to stay within budget. Handlebars are black stingray bars, which I'll be shimming to fit the stem. Black bmx front brake lever which I already had and rear coaster brake.
Rims are plain aluminium from the original bike, with a SRAM automatix 2 speed coaster hub built into the rear wheel. Tyres will be cream wall DMR super moto jump tyres, which are super light and have a really nice medium tread.
Apart from that it'll have 38t front chain ring with 19t rear, red half link chain, silver bear trap pedals, 20inch banana seat, black sissy bar and led front bullet light. The only difficulty so far was finding the right lenght 30mm alloy seat post, so I'm going for a 25.4mm post with a 25.4 - 30mm alloy seat post shim.
The automatic gears should change up at about 12mph to 126% of direct drive to give a nice turbo boost, but I'll have to wait and see how good it is for my knees.
And today I've put some of it together, nothing tightened, but just to get an idea of how it'll look. Tyres and frame looking good, and its one tall bike. I feel like the sissy bar is a bit too high, but was always going to be an experimental project. I'll also definitely swap out the stem for something with a shorter reach after a few good rides.
