The Craftsman Bumblebee Stretch bike - Video added 10/20/07

[RatRodDad]

Okay, the name is a little weird - and a little long - but it has a meaning.

My brother liked the feel of my new Chief bike - with the crank forward design, so he decided to see if he could build something similar using an old Huffy cruiser frame he had laying around and stretching it to get the pedals out front.

Here's some pics of the build ...

First attempt - using some pipe for the top bar.

He made the new bottom bracket from some 2 1/2" water pipe since that would be stronger and easier to weld to than the original. He also learned that he should use a pipe cutter to cut the piece of pipe so that the ends would be perfectly straight and hold the bearing cups at correct right angles to each other.

He didn't like the looks of the round pipe on the top bar because it was a larger diameter than the other tubes, so he redid it using a piece of T channel left over from a Craftsman garage door opener.

From these pictures he sent me I thought he made the top bar out of square tubing, but in later photos you can see that's it's actually T channel.

He was checking out the stance of the modified frame compared to his other bike ..

He worked on it and got it to the point that he was tired of messing with it and ready to pass it along to me to play with - and then he decided to paint it some awful color combination so that the colors on it would drive me crazy once he gave it to me. Ended up looking lika a bumble bee.

I went to his house today and we took the wheels from the Roland ladies cruiser I bought last weekend and an extra crank and sprocket I had laying around and we threw it together as a single speed to see how it rode. Check out the "bumble bee" paint job ..

The other "Craftsman" part we used was the chain from the same "donor" garage door opener. With the bike stretched, we needed an extra long chain and it turned out that the chain from the door opener was the same size as a single speed bicycle chain. The piece he had from the door opener was 10' long, so we cut it down to the size we needed and that worked out great.

The bike actually rides pretty good too and felt somewhat like my Chief - only lower.

So it was a fun experiment and he may take a shot at another one sometime in the future once he forgets what a pain this one was to build. :lol: :lol:

 

[xddorox]

That is so cool. Great experiment, I am glad to hear that it came to a perfect conclusion.

 

[ACD]

I like it (not the colors) it's simple and efficient. Cool bike!

 

[mastershake916]

Very nice!
I think I might have to borrow the design of the first mock-up. :wink:

 

[RatRodDad]

When I finally get the bike to my place I will repaint it - and maybe put it back together as a multispeed. It was a Huffy Breeze originally and so it had a single front sprocket and either 5 or 6 rear gears.

Now that we got that one to a rideable state and he could see that it felt pretty comfortable to ride, he's already thinking about the next one and how he will build it. So we'll see what he comes up with next.

This one is nice in that it's similar to my Chief or a Townie - where you can keep the seat low, put your feet down when you stop, but still have them fit the pedals correctly while you are riding. About the only thing I would change on it - besides going back to a multispeed setup - is to get a taller neck for it so that the handlebars sit up higher.

 

[giggles13]

Yellow and Black is a perfect color Scheme!!!!! 8)


Looks good!

 

[RatRodDad]

It even has a few spots of the original turquoise here and there too.

Kind of like an amateur painter's first project!! :lol: :lol:

 

[iRide Custom Bicycles]

Nice Bike!

 

[kingpin]

hate the colours lol!!!
nice looking otherwise tho.....oh and wheres the ridin pix?


brett

 

[RatRodDad]

Once I get the bike back to my house I plan on repainting it. Not sure if I will go with flat black - my first thought - or possbly some other color. Still thinking about that.

My brother kept the original rear wheel, derailer setup, brakes, brake handles, etc. that came on it, so I may switch it back to a multispeed rear end and then put the single speed stuff back on the ladies cruiser that I stole it from. That would give me two rideable bikes instead of just one.

And I will try to come up with a riding video - either as it is now, or maybe once I get it redone.

 

[RatRodDad]

I shot a quick video of me on the bike. I had to use a tripod since no one was around to man the camera.

Before you ask, I'm not pregnant. It's Steve's wife that's pregnant. I just eat well.

I tried to get a shot of me sitting on the bike - and standing pretty much flat footed on the ground at the same time. Then doing some basic riding within the limits of the camrea range.

The bike rides pretty well - just about like any other single speed - but in a little more laid back pedaling position.

Me hesitating at the first of the video was because a car was coming and I wasn't sure if it was coming my way or not. They turned, though, so that's when I began my ride.

And yes, I had to hold back from chasing down those Harleys that came by while I was doing my filming.

One last note. Lengthening the frame and keeping things aligned with the rear frame section ended up lowering the bottom bracket a bit, so if you are pedaling and turing fairly sharply at the same time, you become a bumble bee "scraper" bike. Only on sharp turns, though, where the pedal is on the down stroke. Otherwise, no problem.

Enjoy the video ..

 

[Rat Rod]

Looks like it rides pretty well...probably even nicer with a 3 speed.

Fun project anyway.