My wife's bike needs your HELP!!

[BlsdEsq]

OK guys and gals my wife's bike is in dire need of a makeover. I'm turning to you guys because the creativity on this forum is off the charts. Here are a couple of bad pics of her bike. What do you think we can do to add some cool points to her Townie? I know the seat needs to go first, and the bike did come with a nice red leather one, but since my wife is expecting our first little one she said the original seat was uncomfortable. I plan to recover this one in red (her favorite color). BTW, she's conditioned my "messing with" her bike on keeping it to aesthetic changes only. Let's hear what you think. Thanks!!!

 

[dragsterIII]

okay I would...

1 change it to a single speed back-peddle/brake set up,
2 put a red banana seat on it( you will need a sissy bar)
3 get a goose neck that lowers the handle bars(you can find these on track or 10 speed bikes but you would need to search around for the right diameter size)
4 flip the handle bars or get some ape-hangers
5 maybe paint the rims and frame red( or what ever color you want)
6 if money is not a problem I suggest that you get these red/brown tires
(here is a picture http://chainganglowrider.com/Tire26redBrick2_MKD.jpg and here is were you can buy it under 26" tires http://chainganglowrider.com/Part - Tires.htm ) or if the tires are good you can just keep them

have fun :mrgreen:

 

[BlsdEsq]

Thanks for the ideas!!

I had planned to paint the rims red but when I was told appearance mods only, there went the painted rims. So I have decided to install red tires. It hadn't dawned on me until just now, to change to an internal hub set up. That sure would clean things up alot! I'll play around with the neck and the bars and such. Thanks for posting.

Anyone else? Maybe everyone's busy getting those build off bikes finished

 

[BlsdEsq]

BUMP......Anybody else have any ideas? I'm contemplating switching her bike over to an internal 3 speed set up, since she's never really gotten used to 21 speeds. Would that be a very involved swap? Seems like we'd be going backward, since we spent the money for a nice bike with 21 speeds now to remove that whole set up and bring it down to three. Let me know what you guys think about that.

Thanks
Erik

 

[thatismytruck]

hard to tell, is that the dusty pink color? My wife has that bike if it is, but with full fenders (silver) and 7 speed internal. The internal hub does clean it up some. I added a suspension seat post and a handle bar basket. We bought the bike brand new and she does not want me to do anything else to it. It was heartfelt request. I rarely disobey those. :wink: The only thing I will do is when the tires wear out I'll get white walls. It's a very elegant bike.

Also,(IMO) if it's pink I think the red will clash terribly. You could paint the frame black and wheels pink. (keep the black walls or go to white walls) I like that look a lot. You confuse me with your comment about painted rims "appearance mods only". Painting rims is appearance only.

Swapping to an internal 7 speed should be very straight forward. As long as you have some desire to tinker and some hands on ability. The hardest part will be getting the $$$ together to buy the 7 speed internal wheel. :shock:

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Wildcat]

bobbed rear fender.

 

[Bigcam59]

don't forget ape hangers...

 

[BlsdEsq]

hard to tell, is that the dusty pink color? You confuse me with your comment about painted rims "appearance mods only". Painting rims is appearance only.

Swapping to an internal 7 speed should be very straight forward. As long as you have some desire to tinker and some hands on ability. The hardest part will be getting the $$$ together to buy the 7 speed internal wheel. :shock:

Good luck and keep us posted.

I admit the pics came out pretty bad, but my wife's bike is silver and it came with a red leather seat and matching grips. After reading what I posted I can see your confusion. I was thinking faster than I was typing. LOL What killed the painted rims are the brakes. I figured if I painted them the brakes would just rub right through. Our doctor just told us on Thursday that Kathy's riding days are over until after delivery, so it looks like I've got a few months to tinker around with her bike.

Thanks

 

[deorman]

A 3-speed swap could be simple or complicated, mostly depending on axle width, since you're already set up w/brakes. Some are made for coaster/10-spd universal dropout spacing(around 4 3/8-4 1/2"), while others are intended for larger geared bike spacing(5" +) Sometimes they can be tweaked or spaced, other times not so much. A lot of them would slide right in to the average 21-spd w/nothing more troublesome than mounting a new shifter and cable. 7-spd is even more likely to fit, but they're not cheap. Internal gear hubs can also be had w/coaster brakes, thus solving the wheel paint dilemma, and eliminating a few parts.
Good luck and happy cycling!

 

[Bigcam59]

another thing you may want to consider is a single chainring in front. this would take you from 21 speeds to seven without the expense of changing the rear wheel. You'd also be able to run a chainguard, and there are some nice retro ones floating around that'll help spruce the bike up.

 

[deorman]

Forgot to mention, to do internal gears right, you would also want to change the drive sprocket to the correct thickness for best results.

 

[BlsdEsq]

A 3-speed swap could be simple or complicated, mostly depending on axle width, since you're already set up w/brakes. Some are made for coaster/10-spd universal dropout spacing(around 4 3/8-4 1/2"), while others are intended for larger geared bike spacing(5" +) Sometimes they can be tweaked or spaced, other times not so much. A lot of them would slide right in to the average 21-spd w/nothing more troublesome than mounting a new shifter and cable. 7-spd is even more likely to fit, but they're not cheap. Internal gear hubs can also be had w/coaster brakes, thus solving the wheel paint dilemma, and eliminating a few parts.
Good luck and happy cycling!

Thanks deorman! Sounds like I need to measure the dropout spacing so I'll know what I'm working with.

another thing you may want to consider is a single chainring in front. this would take you from 21 speeds to seven without the expense of changing the rear wheel. You'd also be able to run a chainguard, and there are some nice retro ones floating around that'll help spruce the bike up.

I did initially consider just changing to a single chainring in front but I thought getting rid of the gears in the rear would also clean it up a lot.

bobbed rear fender.

I definitely want to add a rear fender. I tried the cruiser fenders I have but they were too wide. So I'm on the lookout for more narrow ones. Thanks for all of your input guys!!

 

[Herman]

Somebody makes fiberglass Indian motorcycle style fenders for bicycles(the type with the fully skirted sides),I think this bike would look good done that way

 

[BlsdEsq]

Somebody makes fiberglass Indian motorcycle style fenders for bicycles(the type with the fully skirted sides),I think this bike would look good done that way

I've already done that to my stretched cruiser. My wife doesn't want me to go overboard, just add some style and cool points to her ride.

Thanks