Top 5 questions asked you when you are riding a tall bike.

[yoothgeye]

#1 How do you get off of that thing?
#2 How do you get on that thing?
#3 Where did you get that?
#4 Who made that?
#5 Have you ever fallen off of it?

I've been riding my tall bike all over town for the last 2 weeks since I've gotten it back together. I've been tweeking it and getting everything right and at this point this is one of my best maintained bikes, it needs nothing and it rides like a dream. I love the looks on people's faces. I will be taking this to the beach with Sand Rover. I would've had photos but I just stripped it and did paint yesterday and fixed my spooky tooth problem a few days ago.

(I didn't realize that bottle cage mounts and these bottle openers had the same hole spacing)

 

[DonQui]

Nice bike!!!
So can u answer d questions for those of us that don't haves tall bike or havent had the priviladge of riding one....

 

[KJV]

nice ride.
your lock-up skills need improvement. :roll:

 

[JoKeR63]

Good lookin' Tallbike, and probably the best engineered one I've seen. That step looks convenient.

 

[Devil's Toupe]

Nice bike. Very clean. I have never taken the opportunity to analyze a tall bike. Now I want one, just because I want one of every type of bike I ever see or ride. I see how you would put left foot on the peg, right foot to step, left to pedal. Dismount in reverse but probably involves braking slow enough to gracefully fall over from the step. Still not sure how you manage the handle bars while getting up as it does look pretty far up there.

I would be tempted to ride through neighborhoods yelling "your privacy fences are no match for TALL BIKE MAN!" :mrgreen:

Edit: Does the head tube really go all the way through and is that extra sprocket just "captured" by the tension of the chain? That thing is interesting all around. Have to keep going back and looking more.

 

[Philphine]

I would be tempted to ride through neighborhoods yelling "your privacy fences are no match for TALL BIKE MAN!" :mrgreen:

:lol: that might be worth making one for right there.

 

[yoothgeye]

Nice bike!!!
So can u answer d questions for those of us that don't haves tall bike or havent had the priviladge of riding one....

#1- answer below
#2- answer below
#3- I made it
#4- I did
#5- Not this one.

nice ride.
your lock-up skills need improvement. :roll:

Locks are only deterents, I'm not worried about someone stealing it, I'm worried about someone trying to ride it without knowing "the rules."

Good lookin' Tallbike, and probably the best engineered one I've seen. That step looks convenient.

I call that step "the diving board" the grip tape on it and leaving the peg black give you a good reference point when looking down with your peripheral vision to dismount.

I would be tempted to ride through neighborhoods yelling "your privacy fences are no match for TALL BIKE MAN!" :mrgreen:

Edit: Does the head tube really go all the way through and is that extra sprocket just "captured" by the tension of the chain? That thing is interesting all around. Have to keep going back and looking more.

Yes, privacy fences mean nothing to this bike, it's a good way to find more bikes. The fork steer tube does go all the way up, it is a fork with the steer tube cut and sleeved with a long (tall?) piece of black iron and welded back together. By keeping the stem and actual fork (part that you see holding the wheel) unmodified it handles like a normal bike.

The extra sprocket is sometimes called a spooky tooth, since I cannot adjust my wheel in the dropouts for chain tension it does just take out the slack and just "floats" there. It is just a sprocket out of kids bicycle.

Here's how to get on and off:If you notice in the photos on the left side of the bike there is a peg on the rear axle, then there is a black step up higher under the pedals. You reach above your head and grab the handlebars, step on the peg with your right foot and push off like you are on a scooter, once you are going and balanced you put your left foot up on the step, get your balance then throw your right leg over the seat from behind and start riding. It is actually very simple. To dismount you drop your left foot off the pedal down onto the step, then swing your right leg behind the seat stepping down onto the peg and step off, you can do it fast or slow. Balance is really easy on this thing and you can ride very slow and still be very steady. Think about balancing a 12" ruler on your hand compared to a 3' yard stick, easier to balance and control the yard stick.

The rules: I only have a front brake, chain would hit the rear unless I added a bottom mounted brake, but I didn't care to. This is ok because the bike is back heavy, therefore NO WHEELIES! No popping the front wheel even over a brick, it will loop out. Take turns easy at first.

 

[deorman]

My only question is, what was the problem with the floating ring?

 

[yoothgeye]

My only question is, what was the problem with the floating ring?

Well, the former ring had the same number of teeth as this one, but it was for a multi-speed chain and I am running a single speed chain. It got to the point where it would jump out pretty regularly and finally falling into the spokes bend itself in half. :shock: Spokes are fine. When I switch to this single speed chainring it quit having that little bit of slop and it stays in just fine. Before I shortened the chain I had a larger ring, but it was also multispeed.

 

[KJV]

"Locks are only deterents, I'm not worried about someone stealing it, I'm worried about someone trying to ride it without knowing "the rules."
wouldn't that be fun to watch. :mrgreen:


:lol: :mrgreen: 8)
i know it sure makes a rider
visible to tractor trailers, busses , ect.
we ride tall bikes while in Nashville. :mrgreen:

 

[B607]

I love your bike, especially the paint job. The blue grips, however, not so much. Gary

 

[jerrykr]

Once again, I come away impressed with your thinking and - what a great bike.

Simple - functional - and yes unusual.

Love it!

 

[yoothgeye]

I love your bike, especially the paint job. The blue grips, however, not so much. Gary

Think of the paint job as a flame and the blue is the tip of the flame, and also think about how a friend bought these grips for his bike and when we redid his bike he didn't want them and left them at my house for me to have, so I just threw them on there, every bike needs at least 1 new part, and this one was from Porkchop! :mrgreen:

I just found a black Velo saddle in the shop with matching blue reinforced corners. Too bad it's not white, oh well, it will all tie in. When I ride it my hands hide the blue grips and my big butt hides the saddle. :wink:

 

[ozzmonaut]

I get the same questions. Yours looks about the same height as mine. The seat is just over 6 ft on mine. The purple is my favorite because it is a coaster brake , is taller, and doesn't try to wheelie no matter what. The silver is set up more like yours, but is basically three-speed. When you shift it changes at the top rear, which has a separate chain to transfer to the bottom rear wheel. I like that I can ride this one fast but it wants to wheelie if you get crazy.

 

[B607]

I always thought this was a neat tall bike. From Holland, I think. Gary

 

[yoothgeye]

The purple bike looks fun, but those long forks take some getting use to, I've ridden them like that and the wheel doesn't just pivot, but kind of goes side to side. Odd feeling, but balanced at speed.

 

[yoothgeye]

This is what the tall bike thinks of 3/32" spooky tooth.

Happened when riding, spooky jumps out into spokes, bike stops. Spokes took it better than the chainring.

Once I put in a 1/8" spooky (same # teeth) since I have been using a single speed chain, no more issues.

 

[bicycleguy]

I always get the "What's the weather like up there" question (it's the same :wink: ). Nice Ride!

 

[ozzmonaut]

The purple one actually steers great. I have a black/hot pink one like it I built for a challenge on here and the wheel ended up further out front. It was a bit more difficult. But the purple one I can steer just like a normal bike because the wheel is clooser to being under the headtube. The silver one steers great but is a little tighter to pull the bars because of the angle that the top fork bolts to the lower stem. I made one like it out of three frames and the steering was literally impossible. So now I am working on a better recipe for a bike over 9 ft tall.

 

[yoothgeye]

So now I am working on a better recipe for a bike over 9 ft tall.

These are the guys I rode in the Christmas parade with. A 17 year old rode the really tall one, he's been riding it for years, his grandad made these bike, and to me the steering on them is CRAZY, but he seems to ride them well. This is a tall bike: