Friday, February 5, 2010

5-SPEED MINI TALLBIKE !!!!!!!!!!! ain't it CUTE !!!!!


How 'bout this sweet lil' booger !!! I have been trying to come up with new ideas lately,like the Trykipedes. I built 2 experimental models ( one of which was a tall trykipede ) that were total DISASTERS !!!!!!!!!!! Oh well,ya can't learn much of anything unless you at least TRY a few crazy new things.Even we alleged X-burtz make mistakes sometimes !!! I decided to calm down a little and go for a little less radical project. I have built a few weld together tallbikes with derailer drivetrains ( Blue Belle and the Schwuffman X-18 were both 18-speeds ). Also a couple of bolt together talls with multiple gear setups. Plus I always thought it would be fun to make a mini version of my steering wheel tallbikes,so why not combine the 2 things ??!!!! A derailer equipped mini bolt together steering wheel tallbike !!!! Well here ya go folks !!! It's not done yet,NO BRAKES !!!!!! I took it out and rode it anyway,IT'S GREAT !!!! A bunch-o-FUN !!!!! I used an old Huffy BMX frame turned upside down,cut off the dropouts,top stays and part of the bottom stays and adapted part of the rear triangle from an old 24" cruiser frame. That's a 20" 36 spoke aluminum wheel with 5-speed cluster from a mini mountain bike and an old shimano derailer. The bottom is made from a reversed alloy road bike stem,a cut down pair of 16" BMX bars,a cut in half pair of MTB bars and 2 sections of frame tubing. I drilled 3/8" holes in the rear part of the dropouts,and used a cut in half axle and several wheel nuts to space things out far enough for the derailer to clear. This is something I usually do to mount the double fork " backbone " on my bolt together tallbikes. I thought it might work for this type of setup too,and it does !!!! YEEHAWWW !!!!!!!! I used an 18" girls BMX for the top frame,it has nice big fat tubing and the whole structure is VERY solid. I used a 16" rim and tire for the steering wheel. It is adjustable as far as height AND angle !! The seat also has a lot of adjustment room too. I'm a little over 5' 9" and it fits me fine at the highest adjustment points.I intended this bike to be for smaller riders like maybe 5' 2" up to my size.Smaller people should be able to enjoy tallbikin' too ya know !!! Once I get the brakes on it and a chainguard,kickstand,paint,etc,it will be for sale for $120. How about that fat little 12" front wheel on the cut down 20" fat fork ??? I LOVE little bike stuff !!! It's just got a personality and appeal the big bikes don't have.













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