Don't expect to see anything groundbreaking or amazing here; rather, some people had expressed interest in seeing what I went with to build my winter cruiser. Last winter was my first winter commuting by bike here in Wisconsin, and I did it on a lightweight frame (26 x 1 & 3/8 tires). I knew I needed something with wider tires but I also didn't want to rush into building anything until I knew exactly what I wanted. I came to realize a few things:
1. I definitely want to stick with coaster brakes.
2. The wider the tires the better - weight isn't an issue here.
3. I wanted an older balloon tire frame. I knew this frame was going to get chewed up thanks to the road salt anyways, so aesthetics weren't a major concern. On top of that, I didn't want to ruin a nice new frame by taking it through the elements.
After it is all said and done, I don't think I could've asked for a much better deal than what I got with Ind_Chuckz. This Schwinn Heavy-Duti is a prime candidate for a winter cruiser:
My initial plan was to just put this thing together with absolutely whatever I had laying around, regardless how aesthetically appealing it looked. But then I installed the brand new Summit headset, courtesy of Ind_Chuckz. It's amazing what a little bit of shiny new chrome can do for an old frame:
From that moment I knew I had to really make this thing pop. I decided upon a yellow/burgundy/chrome color palette and gathered up the following parts:
USED PARTS:
Schwinn crankset provided by Ind_Chuckz (note - not my picture)
Sun pedals (love these pedals, glad to have a good project to put them on).
Handlebar/stem off of an old Mossberg bike, burgundy colored (color didn't really come through in the pictures) Persons seat/grips taken off of a Huffy Catalina. I think the seat and grips are really going to be what makes this bike. So excited to see how it all looks together
!
NEW PARTS:
F&S Komet Super coaster brake hub, Shimano Atlus HB-RM40 front hub, silver Rhyno Lite 26" rims. Should be lacing these up next week. I think the only thing better than riding my first balloon tire bike (so far I've only had light and middleweights) will be riding on wheels I built! I'm also extremely excited to see how the Komet hub rides ... it's the first coaster brake hub that I've worked on that is not of direct Bendix-descent (I've worked on Bendix, KT, and both old and new Shimano hubs ... but this is a good deal different. I'm excited to try it out !). I'm planning on running the "stock" 46/18 gear set-up initially, and may decide to expiriment from there.
Sun seatpost clamp. Nothing special, but another piece of shiny new chrome.
FUTURE PARTS:
Kenda Flame 26 x 2.125 tires
Schwalbe Marathon Winter HS tires (26 x 2.0)
Of course the main purpose of this bike is for commuting in the winter, so the Marathons are a must. Beyond that, though, this bike will probably serve as my back-up bike in all the other seasons of the year (honestly, I'm just excited to ride this bike as much possible!), so I'm getting some dry-weather tires as well. I initially bought a pair of Kenda Gum Wall tires, but was told by Niagra Cycle Works that they no longer had them in stock. I'm pretty sure a set of cream-colored Fat Franks would look amazing on here, but I decided to play things conservatively here and opted for the Kenda Flames. They should still look pretty sweet .
I'm a bit torn on the fenders. I know I can get a shiny new set of chrome balloon fenders from Summit shipped for $23(!!!). But I feel like it might be more appropriate to throw a set with some patina on here instead. I'm going to put up an ad in the wanted section of the forums and see what people have to offer. Either way, chrome fenders, yellow frame, burgundy accessories, studded tires ... this is going to be a rugged yet gorgeous bike.
Thanks to everyone who has shared knowledge (and parts!) here; while I've already performed maintenance on every part of a bike, this is my first time building up a bike from scratch (pressing in the bottom bracket cups was quite an experience!). I really couldn't have done it without all of the help here.
1. I definitely want to stick with coaster brakes.
2. The wider the tires the better - weight isn't an issue here.
3. I wanted an older balloon tire frame. I knew this frame was going to get chewed up thanks to the road salt anyways, so aesthetics weren't a major concern. On top of that, I didn't want to ruin a nice new frame by taking it through the elements.
After it is all said and done, I don't think I could've asked for a much better deal than what I got with Ind_Chuckz. This Schwinn Heavy-Duti is a prime candidate for a winter cruiser:
My initial plan was to just put this thing together with absolutely whatever I had laying around, regardless how aesthetically appealing it looked. But then I installed the brand new Summit headset, courtesy of Ind_Chuckz. It's amazing what a little bit of shiny new chrome can do for an old frame:
From that moment I knew I had to really make this thing pop. I decided upon a yellow/burgundy/chrome color palette and gathered up the following parts:
USED PARTS:
Schwinn crankset provided by Ind_Chuckz (note - not my picture)
Sun pedals (love these pedals, glad to have a good project to put them on).
Handlebar/stem off of an old Mossberg bike, burgundy colored (color didn't really come through in the pictures) Persons seat/grips taken off of a Huffy Catalina. I think the seat and grips are really going to be what makes this bike. So excited to see how it all looks together
!NEW PARTS:
F&S Komet Super coaster brake hub, Shimano Atlus HB-RM40 front hub, silver Rhyno Lite 26" rims. Should be lacing these up next week. I think the only thing better than riding my first balloon tire bike (so far I've only had light and middleweights) will be riding on wheels I built
! I'm also extremely excited to see how the Komet hub rides ... it's the first coaster brake hub that I've worked on that is not of direct Bendix-descent (I've worked on Bendix, KT, and both old and new Shimano hubs ... but this is a good deal different. I'm excited to try it out !). I'm planning on running the "stock" 46/18 gear set-up initially, and may decide to expiriment from there.
Sun seatpost clamp. Nothing special, but another piece of shiny new chrome
.FUTURE PARTS:
Kenda Flame 26 x 2.125 tires
Schwalbe Marathon Winter HS tires (26 x 2.0)
Of course the main purpose of this bike is for commuting in the winter, so the Marathons are a must. Beyond that, though, this bike will probably serve as my back-up bike in all the other seasons of the year (honestly, I'm just excited to ride this bike as much possible
!), so I'm getting some dry-weather tires as well. I initially bought a pair of Kenda Gum Wall tires, but was told by Niagra Cycle Works that they no longer had them in stock. I'm pretty sure a set of cream-colored Fat Franks would look amazing on here, but I decided to play things conservatively here and opted for the Kenda Flames. They should still look pretty sweet .
I'm a bit torn on the fenders. I know I can get a shiny new set of chrome balloon fenders from Summit shipped for $23(!!!). But I feel like it might be more appropriate to throw a set with some patina on here instead. I'm going to put up an ad in the wanted section of the forums and see what people have to offer. Either way, chrome fenders, yellow frame, burgundy accessories, studded tires ... this is going to be a rugged yet gorgeous bike
. Thanks to everyone who has shared knowledge (and parts!) here; while I've already performed maintenance on every part of a bike, this is my first time building up a bike from scratch (pressing in the bottom bracket cups was quite an experience!). I really couldn't have done it without all of the help here.
