Calling this one done. I didn't do as much to it as I thought I would, but I went 4 or 5 miles on it today and it's a decent rider.
When I first got started back into old bikes 10 or 15 years ago, I loved the idea of finding Stingrays and Apollos and other 20-inchers like Huffys and Columbias and Murrays with banana seats to fix up and ride around. So I found a group to ride with and did it for a little while. Before long, the reality set in: though they were pretty cool to look at, having to ride more than a couple of blocks on a little 20-inch kids' bike is kind of a fun-killer in most cases.
Then I stumbled on a gold single-speed coaster 24-inch Spyder, and then I built a 24-inch Schwinn Speedster into a pseudo-Manta Ray, and I discovered that 24-inch muscle bikes do a good job of splitting the difference between outrageous muscle car styling and physical rideability. So I have always been on the lookout for more 24-inch bikes suitable for the banana seat and apes treatment.
So when this one turned up for cheap last year, I always knew that there was the possibility of building it up into another banana seat cruiser, but I never imagined I'd find anything close to the original parts for it. Turns out I lucked into a shifter and chain guard that I think are probably correct for this bike, and bars, seat, and sissy that look reasonably close.
I really like the lines of the frame and the overall stance. I tried a few different ways of routing the cables and always came back to what I have on there now. I kinda want to raise the seat a little to get my legs extended while pedaling, but if I start getting too crazy about that I might as well just grab a 26" Collegiate from the fleet and ride that. Looking forward to getting it on some group rides in the spring.
Here's the build thread.
When I first got started back into old bikes 10 or 15 years ago, I loved the idea of finding Stingrays and Apollos and other 20-inchers like Huffys and Columbias and Murrays with banana seats to fix up and ride around. So I found a group to ride with and did it for a little while. Before long, the reality set in: though they were pretty cool to look at, having to ride more than a couple of blocks on a little 20-inch kids' bike is kind of a fun-killer in most cases.
Then I stumbled on a gold single-speed coaster 24-inch Spyder, and then I built a 24-inch Schwinn Speedster into a pseudo-Manta Ray, and I discovered that 24-inch muscle bikes do a good job of splitting the difference between outrageous muscle car styling and physical rideability. So I have always been on the lookout for more 24-inch bikes suitable for the banana seat and apes treatment.
So when this one turned up for cheap last year, I always knew that there was the possibility of building it up into another banana seat cruiser, but I never imagined I'd find anything close to the original parts for it. Turns out I lucked into a shifter and chain guard that I think are probably correct for this bike, and bars, seat, and sissy that look reasonably close.
I really like the lines of the frame and the overall stance. I tried a few different ways of routing the cables and always came back to what I have on there now. I kinda want to raise the seat a little to get my legs extended while pedaling, but if I start getting too crazy about that I might as well just grab a 26" Collegiate from the fleet and ride that. Looking forward to getting it on some group rides in the spring.
Here's the build thread.
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