ORBO Step-Thru Klunker

[Bike from the Dead]

View attachment 257363Be careful with those forks, I built a klunker out of a 53 scwhinn women’s bike (we added a top tube tho) in the same color for my son. These bent fairly easily and he’s 140lbs.

Thanks for the advice. It shouldn't be a problem for me though, as I have no plans to ride this bike "hard and fast." This bike's just supposed to help me get used to riding on level dirt and gravel trails, so I'll be taking it easy on this bike. That said, I might consider throwing a springer fork on it to help smooth out any bumps I experience along the way.

 

[68z27]

To All, I am not sure where I messed up. Please disregard my measurements in frame #8 of this thread (this frame). It looks like the seat post dia. is in the order of 13/16" NOT 1" which seems more reasonable. Tomorrow when I return from physical therapy, I will measure the top of the seat tube versus near the bottom of the seat tube to see if there is any difference. My initial thought is I didn't zero out my calipers completely prior to taking measurements!! Sorry.......

 

[GeePig]

To All, I am not sure where I messed up. Please disregard my measurements in frame #8 of this thread (this frame). It looks like the seat post dia. is in the order of 13/16" NOT 1" which seems more reasonable. Tomorrow when I return from physical therapy, I will measure the top of the seat tube versus near the bottom of the seat tube to see if there is any difference. My initial thought is I didn't zero out my calipers completely prior to taking measurements!! Sorry.......

Ah, the Classic Caliper Catastrophe, I think we have all been somewhere in that town, some time

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Just picked up a few parts out of storage to mock up on this blue Schwinn tomorrow. Didn't get any photos today, but I'll hopefully have a bigger update tomorrow.

 

[last_v8]

Thanks!
Always fun to learn more about bike history and culture from around the world! Those 2 German bikes you have are nice, especially the one where the top tube transitions into the dropouts. Given where you live and the fact you ride your bikes daily, it makes total sense to have a bike that's sturdy, comfortable, reliable, and overall practical for everyday use. It's sort of like cars here in the U.S.; if you plan to use it on a daily basis, it needs to be something you can use on a daily basis. Chevy Camaros and Ford F-150s are cool and all, but they're not the most practical vehicles for everyday use.

Not going to lie, between @GeePig's, @MattiThundrrr's and your replies, I'm genuinely worried I might have unintentionally rubbed some folks the wrong way just for calling step-thru bikes "girls'/women's" bikes. I don't call them that because I think that only women should ride step-thrus, I only call them that because they're literally sold as "girls'/women's" bikes, and that's what most folks around here call them anyways, whether they're into bikes or not. Heck, I just looked at step-thru bikes on Wal-Mart's website, and they're all labeled as "girls'/women's bikes." Like I said earlier, I only learned about the term "step-thru" after joining the bike forums a few years ago, so I'm still not quite used to calling them that.

Well, basically, what I meant was: don't stick to the labels, just try it out and see for yourselves! I used to ride a foldable bike (first as a kid a16", later 20", 24"), city bikes, MTBs 26" and 28" and in fact all of them surprised me to some extent. It turned out that a small foldable bike can be pretty handy on muddy forest roads/trails, 26" MTB makes a great city daily-beater and a 28" ATB a great grocery-getter. Finally, in my opinion, it all comes to the riding position. As long as competition is not involved, you can make ANY kind of bike suit your needs by adjusting/swapping the bars, stems, seats.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Found a scrap seat post that I could use to stick inside the frame to help add a little extra rigidity where the top tube meets the seat tube. It had a couple burrs on it, but I sanded those off earlier this morning.

I had planned to mock up a few different chainrings yesterday, but I spent most of the day just cleaning up my workspace.
The Monark chainring up top has 52 teeth, the middle chainrings are both 48t, and the bottom Schwinn "sweetheart" is a 46t, like the other Schwinn chainrings in my collection. I'm not sure which chainring I'll go with just yet, but I can worry about that later.

One other thing I mocked up yesterday was a rear basket. I can't say I like how it looks on there, but maybe I could bolt it on for long trips or something.

I was thinking about how the early klunker riders used to carry tools with them as they rode, and it just so happened that I had this small(ish) toolbox that's almost the same shade of blue as the Schwinn! It fits in the basket nicely, and it looks pretty good next to the bike. However, the bike's already pretty heavy as it is, and the basket and toolbox easily add at least 10 more pounds. In fact, I think the toolbox is at least twice as heavy as the basket. Plus it's honestly just too big for what I need. A small tool pouch on the seat or handlebars would be enough for what I need. So, I think the toolbox and basket aren't making the final cut.

Overall, I really think that less is more with this bike. I think I've got a solid plan for how I ultimately want to build this bike, all that's left to do is finish it.

Thing is, I need to put the bike projects on hold for a bit. I've got a commercial art project I need to finish by March 1st, well before the ORBO ends, and frankly, that needs to take priority over the bikes. If I can focus on getting this project for the next couple of weeks, I should be able to knock it out and get back on the bikes before February ends. I'll just have to see.

 

[GeePig]

I would like to see that tool case on its side, on a plain rack, or even mounted on its side at the front. I am also not sure it is going to suit the look you are going for with this bike, but it might be a good option for the future.

 

[Pondo]

the early klunker riders used to carry tools with them

The early klunker riders tended to carry vice grips clamped to the seatpost bolt. The original multi-tool.

Here's some cool drop tube klunkers I came across earlier

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I would like to see that tool case on its side, on a plain rack, or even mounted on its side at the front. I am also not sure it is going to suit the look you are going for with this bike, but it might be a good option for the future.

I actually tried most of those ideas before, but as nice as it would be to have a color-matched toolbox, this one is just too big and heavy. Maybe it could work on another bike, but not this one unfortunately.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

The early klunker riders tended to carry vice grips clamped to the seatpost bolt. The original multi-tool.

Ha! That's cool!

Here's some cool drop tube klunkers I came across earlier
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Awesome! Where did you find those? I tried searching for step-thru klunker photos on Google earlier, but I couldn't seen to find any.

Those are all super cool! Makes me feel that much more confident in my choice to turn this step-thru Schwinn into a klunker!

 

[BartRidesEternal]

The early klunker riders tended to carry vice grips clamped to the seatpost bolt. The original multi-tool.

Here's some cool drop tube klunkers I came across earlier
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All of those ladies look sexy!

 

[Pondo]

Ha! That's cool!

Awesome! Where did you find those? I tried searching for step-thru klunker photos on Google earlier, but I couldn't seen to find any.

Those are all super cool! Makes me feel that much more confident in my choice to turn this step-thru Schwinn into a klunker!

I searched 'ladies frame klunker'. There's not a lot but some are really cool. There's one I had come across years ago that was really awesome but I haven't been able to find it. It may be on the Cabe.

 

[Pondo]

Found a couple more over on the CABE

 

[Pondo]

And another. I think these old drop tube frames make great klunkers.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

View attachment 258013
And another. I think these old drop tube frames make great klunkers.

I agree! Thanks for sharing those with me Pondo! Those are awesome!

 

[68z27]

pm sent

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Well, my month-long break from working on bikes did NOT go as I had hoped. Instead of focusing on my coloring book project, I could hardly bring myself to focus on ANYTHING AT ALL. It didn't help that a lot more happened in February than I had anticipated, with family visiting from out-of-state, house-cleaning, car trouble, joining a welding class on short notice (which I DO NOT regret,) and a bunch of other life stuff on top of it all. Overall, the past month has been very exhausting and over-stimulating, especially since I spent a sizeable chunk of it spinning my wheels and getting nowhere.

With that said, I feel like working on my bikes again might restore the creative drive I need to make progress on my commercial art. Also, the weather these past few weeks has been unseasonably warm, and I'd like to have at least one more bike to ride while the weather feels this good outside.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can finish both of my ORBO bikes by the March 31st deadline, but I am confident I could get this step-thru klunker riding with time to spare. So, I'm going to bust this thread out of the "page 2 slacker status" and get busy building this old Schwinn. More updates with photos coming soon!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

While I didn't make any progress on my bike builds this past month, I did check out a couple mountain bike trails around Tulsa.

The first trail I looked at was the Lubell Park Trail near Turkey Mountain. According to multiple websites, this trail is supposed to be one of the easiest mountain bike loops to ride.

After actually seeing the trail, I can only guess it's "easy" for experienced riders! Seriously, this trail's as "entry-level" as the entire graphic design job market right now! I'd need at least a half-decent full-suspension mountain bike and tons of practice just to handle all the large rocks, steep grades, tight turns, vertical drops and whatever else this trail's got just to make one lap around this thing! My phone camera can't even do justice for the sharp drop/climb pictured below! There's no way I or any of my bikes could handle this trail!

I tried riding Shoestring on what "smooth" portions of the trail there were, but there just wasn't much trail I felt comfortable riding on.

Even this small paved loop wasn't worth the long drive. I rode a couple laps on it, but after that, I was done. The Lubell Park Trail might be great for folks who know how to ride off-road, but it's not great for beginners like me.

Fortunately, I found a much better trail much closer to home, one that had hid right under my nose this whole time...

 

[Lowe Beau]

I did some more mockups of the Schwinn earlier today, and I think I've figured out the general appearance of it.
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I had this idea to run a set of truss rods through the middle of some BMX handlebars for a while now, and I think this is the right bike to use that idea. Unfortunately, one of the axle tabs has broken off the truss rods, but I bet that could be an easy fix. I got these bars for free last year along with some other stuff, and while the camera says otherwise, they're a shade of blue similar to what's on the frame and even the mismatched fork. I mounted them low, mostly for the look, but also because I don't need them up so high, especially when I prefer to ride with the seat as low as it'll go.
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Since the handlebars are about the same shade of blue as the frame, I figured I should add some grips that match the white scallops as closely as possible. I started with these white grips I got for another project, but I think they're too white.
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Next I tried these yellowed grips I pulled from my first klunker build. I like these much better, but I'm not sure how they'll look with a black seat and black pedals. Details for later...
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I don't have a ton of good mountain bike tires in stock, but luckily I had 2 that were good enough for this project.
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I'll still need to dig through my parts stash to see if I have a decent set of pedals I can use for this bike, but I did spot this pair of off-white pedals in my workstation that might do the trick. They spin freely, but they're very wobbly, which might disqualify them from getting used. I can test them out later.
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Another idea I might play with later: right now the Schwinn has a standard 46-tooth Schwinn chainring installed, but I should have enough room to fit this 52-tooth Monark chainring onto the bike if I want. Once I decide on the rear gear and calculate the gear ratios, I'll have a better idea of which one to use.
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Here are some other ideas I mocked up today. I may revisit the white seat, but it might not be the best option for a klunker bike that's bound to get dirty.
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I also mocked up a set of Wal-Mart whitewalls I had laying around. While they look alright with the white scallops, seat and grips, I felt they were better suited for street use than off-road use.
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I've got to say, I'm pretty happy with how this Schwinn's shaping up. It has the spirit of those original klunkers, especially in that it was built using mostly parts I got for free or dirt cheap. I even managed to throw some parts on it that I've had laying around for years now! I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of Schwinn's cruiser frames, especially the step-through frames, but with the right parts, even a stickler like me can appreciate them for what they are!

I'm still thinking of a better name for this bike, but for now I'll just call it what it is: a Step-Thru Klunker.

Love the handlebar setup…

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Just last week, I was planning out a trip on Google Maps, when I noticed something about my favorite nearby trail I hadn't seen (or at least remembered) before. There seemed to be a larger gravel trail just north of the paved trail that surrounds one of my old college campuses.

Here's the mile-long "2nd Century Trail" I've lapped my bikes around for the past 5 years:

And here's the trail just to the north of that one.

I wasn't sure this path I found was accessible to the public or if it was a leftover trail for road maintenance crews or something, but I wanted to check it out.

Turns out this public trail had been right in front of me this whole time, and not once was I curious enough to check it out! I just saw this gravel path next to the trail I rode leading to what I assumed was just a small disc golf course, but it turns out goes way beyond that! I guess the "no fishing" sign should've been a hint.

I could've just walked the trail first to see what it was like, but I decided to be daring and ride Shoestring on it my first time out. Now, Shoestring's not built to go off-road, but I figured, "what the heck?" From what I could see, the trail looked smooth enough that Shoestring could take it, and it'd help me decide if Shoestring's 2.42 gear ratio could work for casual off-roading. Turned out to be one of my best decisions!

Not only was the trail easy enough for me to ride most of the way, but Shoestring also proved once more why it's my favorite bike to ride! The 46-tooth chainring and 19-tooth sprocket proved to be just fine for this trail, climbing the gentle grades with ease and helping me get enough speed to climb the one steep grade I had on the way back to the parking lot. The trail, while as bumpy as you might expect a gravel trail to be, was tightly packed to the point it was smooth enough for my seat springs to soak up the bumps and make for a comfortable ride. The trail was quite scenic and felt bigger than it actually is, making for a fun, relaxing ride. Odds are it'll look even better once everything blooms to life! Best of all, even with the stock fork, road tires, and lack of suspension, old Shoestring handled the trail like a champ! In conclusion, if this rusty old Murray can handle this trail, so could this Schwinn I'm working on!

This trail also has a few shortcuts that were pretty fun to ride through!

There were a few spots I had to watch out for, like this pothole and the steep drop pictured below, but thankfully they're fairly easy to navigate now that I know what to expect.

There were a number of small ponds and even a creek near the trail that made it all the more pleasant to experience.

It was a little too late in the day for me to check out the full loop, but now that I have an idea of what to expect, I plan to ride this old Schwinn the full length once I get it done!