The next build off? Plans for the future

[Captain Awesome]

Wow. I just got caught up on this thread and have to say I'm decidedly less pumped on this build off than I was a week ago. This forum specifically caters to custom built bikes right? What I really enjoyed about the last build off (my 1st) was the camaraderie and the excitement of seeing the creative ways people build their bikes. I found all of the builds to be cool, unique and enjoyable. Originality is cool but I prefer custom builds, it gives me a creative outlet.

Here's my ideas for the builds I might engage in this time:

Off-road:
Far and away my favorite category bar none. I'm a mountain biker and have been since before mountain bikes formally existed. Klunker research is how I found this uber cool forum. I've been building my own bikes since I was in the single digits because my family couldn't afford a BMX bike for me so I built my own out of what was available. It was nothing special but it got me in the dirt [heavy 20" Free Spirit frame that I bought from a guy who said I had to paint it {I now know that meant it was stolen, I was 6 so maybe I get a pass?}, Tough mags, Ashtabula fork, cheap bmx bars and a gooseneck my dad made from scratch]. I've enjoyed rolling my own ever since. So I'll be Klunking this category. It's just a matter of choosing a frame and parts group. Derailleur & gears? Probably. Drum brakes? Maybe. Vintage? Most likely. Fun to build and ride off road? Absolutely. Maybe I'll build up one of my Shelby frames or my American Flyer:
View attachment 210223View attachment 210224View attachment 210225

Muscle bike:
The category I understand the least. I think they do make really cool custom builds and I've seen some really amazing ones on this forum. I wasn't into them when they were still on the streets and they don't do much for me now. My buddies that rode them back in the '70s abandoned them to rust as soon as their paper route money was enough to get a BMX or 10 speed. Who knew they would be so cool and potentially valuable in the future. I'm hoping they will grow on me because they can be so cool. And I do think it would be fun to build a creative interpretation. Maybe out of this lovely obscenity:
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It's already got a cool fade. I'll probably build some bars for it unless I can find some butterfly bars for nearly free; cheap banana; I can use these on an early '70s Crested Butte style klunker build in the future. Mis-matched wheels I've got under control.

Skinny:
This one I already have mostly planned out and am really looking forward to building. Starting platform:
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'30 Elgin. Apparently I like my skinnies like I like my buffalo wings, extra crispy. I've got most of what I need for this one and tentative plans for some cool details.

Like Kingfish says, it's about building better bikes together. I think that makes it really fun so I'm looking forward to doing it again.

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Build what you want

Roll on!

NOT @Pondo ^

@Captain Awesome may file it away for if he ever gets to burning man though

 

[Pondo]

Gooood morning RatRodBikes! Since the end of our annual Build Off, I have received some comments about doing a regular 'video update' related to rat rod bikes , the creative processes and techniques we all employ on our builds, and other related topics involving the vintage custom bicycle and those who dig it.

I probably won't have time or mostly , energy, to pull off a build for the Winter Build Off this year. A thought struck me this morning that perhaps I could be involved by contributing a 'Weekend Update', inspired by the old SNL skit that was first created by Chevy Chase in 1975. It wouldn't necessarily be that comedic, but would have elements of humor, information, updates from the past week on the WBO builds that are in progress, and photos in kind of a slide - show format as shown in the sample video below. I would of course ask for permission from any builder before featuring them or their photos in the Weekend Update.

Following is a very short example of the kind of thing I might do. The production of this sample one is lacking, I used the mic built into my laptop, and didn't select any timing features for length of each photo, etc. So please disregard the quality of production for now. Just let me know if something like this would be of interest. And also let me know if you can watch the video on your various devices as posted here. Thanks, and ...RaT oN~!

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I would definitely be interested in following the video updates, I think it's a cool idea. And that video worked fine for me on the forum as well as YouTube. Thanks OJ!

 

[Pondo]

Sign up

Build what you want

Roll on!

View attachment 210233
NOT @Pondo ^

@Captain Awesome may file it away for if he ever gets to burning man though

I've seen a floaty like that out on the lake near here.

 

[OddJob]

@Pondo you have the spirit and the attitude right on ! I like your frame ideas for a klunker (one of my top 2 favorites to build as well!) and your Elgin motobike frame is going to make one great skinny for sure. RaT oN~!

 

[OddJob]

Not to belabor the point, but I am interested in as high quality of a video as I can produce with my rudimentary studio tools. I re-did the narration using a bluetooth enabled microphone with a foam buffer (as opposed to the built-in mic on my laptop) Hopefully this version allows the 'voice-over' to come through more clearly. Again, let me know if this has made a difference for you.

 

[Pondo]

@Pondo you have the spirit and the attitude right on ! I like your frame ideas for a klunker (one of my top 2 favorites to build as well!) and your Elgin motobike frame is going to make one great skinny for sure. RaT oN~!

Thanks OJ. Lots of good inspiration around here for sure!

 

[Captain Awesome]

I've seen a floaty like that out on the lake near here.

How about a pink flamingo

 

[Pondo]

How about a pink flamingo

Haven't encountered that one yet, that's classy!! Chrome dome on a paddleboard, however? Daily. No alcohol involved, of course. Also not @Pondo

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Again, let me know if this has made a difference for you.

Definitely clearer sounding.

 

[Pondo]

Not to belabor the point, but I am interested in as high quality of a video as I can produce with my rudimentary studio tools. I re-did the narration using a bluetooth enabled microphone with a foam buffer (as opposed to the built-in mic on my laptop) Hopefully this version allows the 'voice-over' to come through more clearly. Again, let me know if this has made a difference for you.

View attachment 210240

Definitely better audio, sounds great.

 

[Cyclist]

The mods are doing a really good job.
And winter build off will be done approximately as this one and the one before and the one before was done.
We have them all archived. (at least back to build 8)

Also the voting, no member that joins in the voting week can vote on the end to see who is the most voted for.

So, now lets discuss the Winter Build as OddJob is working on the discussion and all the mods and I are conferring on what seems to be most wanted by MOST of the members, not just the most vocal.

 

[SwissGuy]

So, now lets discuss the Winter Build as OddJob is working on the discussion and all the mods and I are conferring on what seems to be most wanted by MOST of the members, not just the most vocal.

What we want is building cool bikes or see cool bikes being built!
Contests and rules are there for channeling the creative juices and to improve the product to each builders possible max through pressure like forming a diamond out of coal...
So let's go and build us some diamond rats!

 

[GuitarlCarl]

If this thing was in a cornfield it'd fit all three categories....

 

[MazdaFlyer]

Out of 22K+ Rat Rod Bikes members the summer build off #17 had 134 Class #1 voters and 100 Class #2 voters according to the results posted.

I realize not everyone is here to participate in the build offs as only 55 members crossed the finish line. The build banter and likes are fine but I’d like to see more votes cast for the finished bikes. I wasn’t a very active participant in build off #17 in terms of communication, my interest is waning after 12 finished build off bikes.
Someone needs to take the reins as a cheerleader and pump up the participation either as audience or builders. Just sayin.
RatRod used to be that person…

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Just like the last one and the one before that and the one before that... If you go back to when it was popular here you'll see there were more that 3 rules.
But this sounds like no Skinny class to me. Hmm. I was surprised as anyone by the response to my initial skinny tire queries. I originally only wanted to gauge the receptiveness to a Skinny Tire BO as I was thinking of running the next Unofficial March Shootout as a Skinny Tire BO. But it was the leader by far, until the "roll call" was sent out, and still won. So cool if we don't do it now. I think we've hashed out the rules for an Unlimited class Skinny Tire BO that I can recycle in March. Peace and Love.

 

[Captain Awesome]

The site numbers don't lie. As always the traffic absolutely skyrockets at the end of the summer build off. I think everyone saw this in the short outages, slower uploads and downloads, and general performance of the site when voting first launched. It was booming

Unfortunately we can't "force" people to vote. The visits are there. The password resets and long lost members are very telling. Translating that into actual tally marks is a different animal





As I write this there are 355 people using the site right now. But most are not logged in or are bots skimming through the internet

At many points when voting opened for BO17 there were 3-5 times that

 

[OddJob]

"Someone needs to take the reins"....

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody did. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

It's about 'us'.

 

[OddJob]

Just like the last one and the one before that and the one before that... If you go back to when it was popular here you'll see there were more that 3 rules.
But this sounds like no Skinny class to me. Hmm. I was surprised as anyone by the response to my initial skinny tire queries. I originally only wanted to gauge the receptiveness to a Skinny Tire BO as I was thinking of running the next Unofficial March Shootout as a Skinny Tire BO. But it was the leader by far, until the "roll call" was sent out, and still won. So cool if we don't do it now. I think we've hashed out the rules for an Unlimited class Skinny Tire BO that I can recycle in March. Peace and Love.

Carl, what makes you think the Skinny class isn't happening?

 

[GuitarlCarl]

@OddJob the second line in Cyclist' post my friend.
And winter build off will be done approximately as this one and the one before and the one before was done.
That sounds to me like two classes with the same old rules. Maybe I'm reading an inference that isn't there. I'm no literary scholar, but the same as last year and the year before and the year before.. Just sounds like the same as last year to me.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Half a dozen years ago maybe more. There were 3 build offs each year. The Main Event, The Winter BO and the Muscle Bike. Some folks (who are no longer here for other reasons pertaining to attitude and temper) complained there were too many build offs. So the WBO and the MBBO were combined and there was much more down time between. Also a couple MBBO's ago a member asked for more time and it was extended (too long now IMO) but there is still down time between events. Some I've tried to fill with mini build offs like The Unofficial March Shootout (which was a fun 30 day run what ya brung unlimited BO in the past) still there's a lot of down time. Personally I can't drag myself to just build a bike in the other forums, I like the competition, I like seeing others build. When that's not happening, I'm here texting stuff, arguing no, discussing points, getting in trouble. There's less people here right now BECAUSE NOTHING IS GOING ON, down time. It drives me crazy and it lets folks go mess around some where else and if it's fun there.... why come back?