Mountain bike conversion

[Anonymoose]

Where's these rings that screw down on the fork, is that them attached at the handle bar end? It's just an older design and is part of the reason it's niggly to swap these bikes over. May have to get new forks and similar problems with the cranks/bottom bracket might come up too

[kaidotech]

Where's these rings that screw down on the fork, is that them attached at the handle bar end? It's just an older design and is part of the reason it's niggly to swap these bikes over. May have to get new forks and similar problems with the cranks/bottom bracket might come up too

Yeah, those are the black rings in the picture. The rear cassette is already going to be an issue since it's made by a company called Falcon and I cant find any tool that removes it online for sale. I'm sure my local bikestore has the proper cassette tool so they can do it cheap.

Im getting close to abandoning this project. Its cutting into too much of my money to work on my truck.

[kaidotech]

Okay, took the rear cassette apart and it was a freewheel hub so I said fuck it and threw it in the dumpster. Went and bought a new wheel w/ a standard Shamano cassette. Also the stem and fork are basically useless since its 1-1/8th" diameter and no BMX stem will fit in it, so I'm going to stop by the used bike store tomorrow and try and pick up new fork. Will update with pics once I get the rear casette built and put on the bike with no derailer

The million dollar question is now; will this stem, which is the same size as my current stem:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Threadless-Bicycle-Headset-Adapter/dp/B000FGYKY6/ref=sr_1_39?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1313623634&sr=1-39"]Amazon.com: Delta Alloy Threadless Bicycle Headset Adapter: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]

fit with this:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dimension-Stem-50mm-Threadless-Black/dp/B001CK0MYQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1313623845&sr=8-2"]Amazon.com: Dimension BMX Stem 1-1/8" x 50mm Threadless Black: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]

Then I will have the lowest bars possible and have the option of running BMX jump bars, or smaller bullhorns in the future.

[kaidotech]

Snatched the stem and fork off of a diamondback I had in storage and swapped it on this bike. Still not entirely too happy with the way it fits/looks, so Im going to keep looking. At this point I am buying a 1-1/8th" blank stem to fit in the original fork, and a 1-1/8th" BMX style headset to put on it, then attach the 22mm mnt bike low-rise bars I have until I pick out another set I like.



1-1/8th" headgear



1, or 1-1/8th" blank stem that fits my original fork





BMX grips for my low-rise jump bars




This project just kicked into overdrive

[firelizard3]

Sounds like a good solution, good luck.

That blank stem is actually pretty neat, I hadn't come across that before. Might come in handy for my bike.

[kaidotech]

When I install it tomorrow I'll post up pics and a link where you can get it. Was only $15 w/ free shipping on amazon!

[kaidotech]

Okay, roughly put the bike together tonight. Its ride-able but I have to bring it down to a bike shop to have them repack the rear hub on my other wheel so I can put on the single speed cog. This wheel is a temp freewheel with the chain tightly on the preferred gear ratio. The front stem is in, and the temp headgear is on until my BMX headset gets here to bring the bars back. Pretty happy with how the chain/front crankset gets along so I'm not going to worry about replacing it for a while.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGYKY6"]Amazon.com: Delta Alloy Threadless Bicycle Headset Adapter: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]
is the link for the stem I used. Slightly went up in price but still a good deal.



To do list:
-Maxxis slick tires
-White chain
-rear hub rebuilt
-Diamondback urban camo seat put on
-cut off front brake mount on fork with dremel wheel
-cut off front/rear gear line tubes on the frame
-sand entire frame down and paint with primer, then gloss white
-possibly rebuild front crankset with single speed crank and arms, new set of pedals

[kaidotech]

Only way to explain this...



Went down to a local bike shop today with two Diamondback wheels, a set of singlespeed conversion cranks, spacers, and a cassette tool. Guy traded all that for a completely new rear wheel with single speed hub, a new sealed shimano bottom bracket, and a new chain, and a new rear tube.

Bringing a Diamondback Peak frame down which he was interested in trading for a set of handlebars, a new rear V-brake, and a new front fork. I went on a 5m ride today, and the front fork is really bothering me. It feels almost as if the wheel is too far back on the frame, so I'm going to specifically get a fork that curves forward at the bottom to move the wheel out. The bike is light as fuck, and jumps easy.

Pics for justice!

[.:dutchtuner:.]

don't let the fork curve forward to much, that will make it impossible to do barspins and stuff
have the same problem with my fixie.

[firelizard3]

That's because fixies aren't meant for doing tricks.


And PBR is a terrible beer.

[kaidotech]

Lol agreed it's pisswater, but im a part time bartender so I hardly drink beer anyways.

I also don't really do any barspin or BMX tricks, just like dirt jumping/racin g and doing downhills.

[Jersh]

i definitely see myself getting into bikes once i'm all done with baseball. i've been following the build the whole time and this seems pretty sick, but every time i see the frame all i can think about it the bike section at Walmart. keep up the work man.

[kaidotech]

Yeah it's a shitty Next from WalMart but it was $20, light and had perfect vertical dropouts so I kept it. Its funny how much of a difference a new bottom bracket and hub can make, and this thing is FAST. I blew past my friend the other day and he could barely keep up trying to find the right gear when we were racing.

Would it look too stupid to wrap the frame in white bar tape? Got the idea last night from a friends headers. lol

[firelizard3]

I think it would look ridiculous. But whatever.

You'll find that as you lighten the bike, it will be much more responsive and faster. Shedding a couple pounds or even a few ounces off something that already doesn't weigh much (compared to a motorcycle or a car) really goes a long way. Swapping to lighter handlebars and front forks, and ditching the multiple gears at the crank will really help. So will getting a lighter front wheel (huge, huge difference)

[kaidotech]

Put on a new fork and a new headset to lower my bars until I get in my new BMX headset. Taking FOREVER coming down from Niagra Falls, NY to Houston, TX. I found a venerable bike heaven today behind a local bike shop with at least 300 vintage racing and cruiser bikes from the 80s. I'm going to go back later and hopefully get him to let me pick through his parts. A nice vintage seat and pair of bullhorns would be nice.

The bike looks so much better now. More low-slung and expensive instead of a cheap walmart bike. Grabbing some pedals and arms tomorrow at the shop. Here's where it's at today;

Start


Naow