Women's Frame stretch and conversion

[brokentail5863]

Looking for ideas on lengthening a frame and converting to a men's style.

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[hammer mechanic]

You could try searching the forum for "Sex Change" or "Gender Bender".
Here's mine: http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/pinnochio-done-as-its-gonna-get.103151/

 

[SSG]

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/gender-benders.77437/

 

[The Renaissance Man]

One of my personal favorites by @deven_science ...

 

[us56456712]

A local machinist took a woman's frame and put a straight bar across for the bottom top tube, cut out the top woman's down tube and put in a top tube that was straight but had one bend toward the seat tube. It looked like and industrial frame. That would be easy with no complex bending. You could also have parallel top tubes. The straighter you can keep the tubes with no bends or one simple bend the better. I have done this twice and curving the tubes to be parallel or even curving the top tube to make it fit is time consuming. It has to fit and look good from the top and sides. I have used gussets welded to the seat tube and head tube with the bent top tube loosely between the gussets. Then you can drill and tap (or drill and use sheet metal screws) and bolt it together until you are happy with the lines from all sides. Then tack it and grind off the screw heads, tack them and weld it up. It's not as easy to bend, file the angles and hold it in place to weld it as you might think. Gussets, while not very professional, have help me get a good result. Fill with welding and finish with lead or brazing. Lengthening should not be hard with a simple jig as long as you use straight tubes. Again gussets, even rods held in place with threaded holes and bolts keeps everything even and straight so it can be tacked up. There used to be a video of a guy building a motorized bike using a Schwinn frame and he used a lot of gussets and rods in his modifications. I don't know if You Tube has it anymore. The frame gussets don't have to be very long, but they have to fit the frame well and be angled right. The ground angles on the frame tube can then be approximate, allowing you to turn and align. Tack the gussets as you may have to remove them to get the curved frame pieces to be true. It may look good from the side, but not the top, or vice versa, the gussets will help. It takes patience no matter how you do it. I curved my top tubes by filling them with packed sand, pounding in steel rods in the ends, clamping with vice grips, heating it red hot in a bonfire and bending it over a large truck tire rim holding it with another set of vice grips. Worked but I had to use my eye to get it to bend straight and and to get the right bend. Had to do it twice as it came out twisted. You could also bend it by filling it with pack sand, make a curve out of plywood, screw the plywood to your shop wall, fix one end and use a come a long to pull the end down to the curve on the plywood. The tube has to be held in place with an overlay of another piece of plywood.

 

[Indyjps]

Something Ive considered is using a women frame with curvy downtube. Cut out top tube and taking some of the bend out of downtube, to lengthen the frame. Weld a straight top tube back in, or donor tube from another frame.
To pull this off, Gotta be able to keep the frame aligned and get the headtube back to the same angle - kick it out if youre feeling adventuresome.
Thought about drawing it out on the garage floor before cutting and measring headtube angle from bottom bracket and seat tube.
I have a welder but no torch, working with available equiment.

 

[383Camino]

24" Hollywood, two inch stretch up and out in the down tube, 26" fork, pic cut top tube from another Schwinn frame.

 

[Rust Buzzard]

Way back, before the turn of the century, there were gender mix kid bikes. They were step throughs with a bolt on top tube option. The bolt on part looked like a stylized motorcycle tank. I am going to try this out with Betty, my avatar. I just bought a Felt frame. I should be able to simply hacksaw the top tube off it and bondo it in?

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Someone is being modest...

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?media/original-trm-spaceliner-convertible.215/