swedish "gripen" 3 bar klunker

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riverstream.se

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because there´s almost nothing near a 3 bar clunkier frame in Sweden i have to custom build me a klunker. i was thinking of selling this bike but i changed my mind and now i´m looking for the right parts to build my own klunker. the plan is to weld in a third bar, clean up the frame and get it powder coated in a basic color, bmx stem, mx handlebar and some cool cranks. cool things that´s already is sitting on the bike is my old magic d521 with twisted spokes on the rear :) this is no quick project as i want it to look right so please give me your input ;)

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can someone post a pic on this thread of a klunker with a rack and / or a light? Never have seen that on a classic "klunker". From an accessories standpoint, I've only seen a large bell to alert other riders on the fireroads / trails. I could be wrong - you learn something new everyday! :)

Here is the source most use as the encyclopedia for authentic Klunkers. clunkers.net

Just want to be sure that we're all giving riverstream.se the right advice. :) :) :)
 
i have started to clean up the frame from brackets like for the chain guard, the frame is going to get a real sandblast and powder coating when the frame is ready. biggest problem so far is getting the right type of fork, emailed a seller on e-bay and now i´m waiting for shipping costs ;)
 
shipping way to expensive, have to look over in Denmark and Germany for right type of fork. but i´m pretty sure i will find my parts luckily i´m not in a hurry -yet :)
 
i have just won an auction on "tradera" it´s like e-bay but in sweden. now i can look for some cool old-school cranks.

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Robertk said:
can someone post a pic on this thread of a klunker with a rack and / or a light? Never have seen that on a classic "klunker". From an accessories standpoint, I've only seen a large bell to alert other riders on the fireroads / trails. I could be wrong - you learn something new everyday! :)

Here is the source most use as the encyclopedia for authentic Klunkers. clunkers.net

Just want to be sure that we're all giving riverstream.se the right advice. :) :) :)
Click to expand...

I was thinking the exact same thing. I will say that, in the 70s, Steve Potts was klunking with full touring racks and bags, but he was more like the original adventure tourist/bikepacker from BITD. Most of those proto-mtb guys were stripping off everything that didn't help them ride fast offroad, and adding only things that would make them go faster (eg, gears, better brakes, etc...) If this red bike is to be klunked-out, the last things it needs are a rack and a headlight. What it needs most is for the chainguard to be removed.

Look at a klunker project like a sculptor looks at a piece of marble: remove everything that is NOT a klunker. If you add stuff, it should be upgrades to improve trailworthiness. (Although, TBH, I rode my commuter cruiser offroad around midnight a few weeks back, and I'm hooked--- I need a good dynamo and lights on a klunker in the near future. Night rides + trails + good lights + coaster brakes = AWESOME.) But I'm thinking more Busch & Muller Luxos than vintage incandescent boat anchor....
 
I run LCDs on most all of my bikes. I have a number of road bikes as will as mountain bikes, they all have lights. When I suggest a headlight was think more in line with the 50's-60's lights that you see with LCDs in them. Most of my riding is done in urban area now and dynamo is not trust worthy you stop riding the light goes out unless you have some thing between it like a capator(I know my spelling is wrong). Trail riding best served by a mt. bike or cyclo-cross bike but hardly ever with a bike with coaster brake IMHO.
 
alistair clark said:
I run LCDs on most all of my bikes. I have a number of road bikes as will as mountain bikes, they all have lights. When I suggest a headlight was think more in line with the 50's-60's lights that you see with LCDs in them. Most of my riding is done in urban area now and dynamo is not trust worthy you stop riding the light goes out unless you have some thing between it like a capator(I know my spelling is wrong). Trail riding best served by a mt. bike or cyclo-cross bike but hardly ever with a bike with coaster brake IMHO.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to see where all the miscommunication came from.... Check out these videos...



And, of course, Alan Bonds's incredibly informative site:
http://clunkers.net/
(There's a huuuuge pile of klunker info on the internet, with a decent amount right here in the RRB forums...)

A klunker is a balloon-tired cruiser, modified to varying degrees, for use on trails. (There's a lot of secondary terms for'm as well, such as "bomber" and "hybrid"; mostly to do with what kind of brakes you're running, and if you've added derailers or not. Some conjecture exists as to what exactly defines a klunker vs a bomber vs a hybrid....)

The guys from the Transition video are rockin' late-model industrial bikes (but they've since been selling their own production neo-klunker, a model they creatively call "the Klunker", for the past couple of years.... http://transitionbikes.com/2015/Bik...207235257-D4F74D67-FCC6-3044-3B3870B204DCE2B3 --that's right, a 2015MY cruiser with a singlespeed and coaster only , designed for mtb use by a company that only sells mtbs and cyclocross bikes...) The other videos show the guys out in Cali who, back in the 70s, went on to pioneer mountainbiking. Before they started fabricating their own frames, they were modifying and trail-riding some old Schwinns, Columbias, etc. It seems like folks on RRB go either route: vintage cruisers OR re-purposed industrial bikes. I've been a confirmed industrial-klunk guy for awhile now, mostly b/c i like that the frames are cheap and easy to replace, but a lot of folks prefer "authentic" klunkers, typically using prewar frames and the "state-of-the-art" era-correct 70s components that the Repack riders used.

Yeah, you can go faster on trails on a mtb or a cx bike, but you can have a lot of fun klunking.... On many less-challenging trails, in my opinion, the klunker is far more fun....

As for the lights, I gave up on batteries ages ago. Too much hassle, juggling batteries, dealing with dim lights as the juice runs out, trying to remember to charge'm. The hub "dynamo" produces wattage on-demand, and the lights I use all have built-in capacitors. The tail light I put on my wife's bike stays lit for a full ten minutes after the bike stops rolling. :grin:
 
I really don't have a problem with you or anyone doing what they please with their bikes. But it seems to me to run a klunker on anything more then a dirt road is not using the bike as it was designed for. Many of the bikes that you mention are being defined as industrial bikes they were designed for running on the flats . To run a single spd up a hill isn't much fun What goes down must go up. I suppose you could use them for "Mountain Bikes". Give me the gears so I can climb those paths at a nice rate of speed. Efficiency is what matters, efficiency over having "fun" any day. (from 1976-1990 I raced bikes so you might be seeing where I'm coming from)

Times have changed.

Good one about the dynamos glad to hear you are running caps. A lot of times that small detail is forgotten. juggling batteries, keeping light batteries charged up is not an issue here if I have to keep a laptop and a tablets up I can keep light batteries up too. If your batteries aren't changed or not charged your not riding to bad so sad. Dynamos are not that efficient you are causing drag. I assume you are running them off of the tires, right? That's the only way, right. I had a tour bike with dynamo but it was replaced with LCDs the Dynamo was heavy. I do have dynamos here they are used as paper weights.I gave up on dynamos years ago. Efficiency in riding is the most important thing. Efficiency gives you pleasure.



I do have fun on a bike, why do you think I have Spaceliner, thats my hang out bike. It just to bad that's it's slow and heavy.
 
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Yeah, I'm all for doing what makes you happy... i wouldn't bring a klunk to a regular mtb race, but they got klunker races nowadays, and more "modern" bikes are DQ'd. I've run semi-modern modern SS mtbs, geared mtbs, and various klunkers. They're all fun in their own way, and I guess we all can choose what makes us happiest...

The reason I linked those videos and sites wasn't to convert you to klunkerism; i'm just trying to explain why some of us were scratching our heads about folks suggesting a rack and light for the OP's klunker build. Racks and lights are cool, but they aren't all that "klunk." Clunker with a "C" might mean different things to different ppl, but Klunkers are indeed understood by most to be offroadin' cruisers. There's not much to "agree to disagree" about, as far as that goes. :D You might not think they're fun, but my basic philosophy on stuff like that is "don't knock it til you've tried it.":rockout:
 
PS- Transition has sold out of the Klunker model quite early in the model year, every year, so far. It's still a niche market, and they probably don't order a ton of them, but they make them in a few different colors each year, and they sell them all long before riding season is over.
 
I tried in the 1970's-1980's then again in 3 years ago. It wasn't fun back in the 1970's and certainly wasn't fun 3 years ago. So don't give the haven't tried it line. Give me mtb, xbike or even the new gravel grinders at least give something that I can sprint on and shift gears. These over weight bikes you call klunkers are no fun to sprint on nor are the ones spelt with a "C".

Sorry for the misunderstanding about "C" and "K" in the English language. Looks like it about the same as when I use the words Culture and Kulture?

I'll just leave and shut up.
 
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