As you said...at the risk of discussing the forbidden term...rat rodding to most who actually have put their blood sweat and tears into one (or many) is just as much about personalization, creativity, uniqueness and a representation of out of the box thinking to achieve "just plain cool" as it is about speed or performance. Speed and performance are a by product usually in the car world due to blatant excessiveness that usually accompanies the aforementioned, but there are very few true rat rod cars that most would feel did much more than burn outs, do-nuts, or throw flames from a true performance standpoint. Pushed to their limits and the majority of rats will come apart at the seems in comparison to a "true" performance car. They do gather crowds of admirers and tend to put smiles on the faces of most and leave others trying to figure out "What the .....", even if they may break down leaving the parking lot.
Having said that, the basis of the old skool way of thinking regarding Rat Rod bikes was (unfortunately lately I feel the need to use a past tense term) to take a cool bike--usually older and rough--and make it cooler in the eyes of the beholder by chopping, hacking, cutting, burning, welding or just old fashioned ingenuity to create a one of a kind, never seen it before, no reason better than it just happened that way creations. The trend of trying to "make sense" of people's approach to "cool" will never be understood by those who have never opened themselves up to "why" when there is no answer better than "because".
If you insist on taking the approach that a Rat Rod must meet your perceived requirements and standards of a quality mountain bike or road bike, then perhaps Rat Rod Bikes should just become "
www.Dressed-Up Road and Mountain Bike or Box Store Cruiser but Let's All Vote on the Color First.com".
Outskirts, I applaud you for coming up with a unique vision that does have some merit and possibilities. My advice to you (and challenge to others) is to build it, share it, enjoy it and learn from the process and your own mistakes so you can step it up with every build you make in the future. If you fail, cut it apart and start over. Ask for advice and guidance in technique, but never in personal vision or taste. Don't ask for permission or acceptance of your plan and certainly don't create drawings or sketches for the approval of others....just build it like it used to be done.
Amen.
I'm just interested as to how you'd plan to integrate the seatstays from the Genesis into the seatcluster/laterals on the Schwinn... I think that's be harder to do than making mounts for the swingarm, link, and shock.
