ORBO The Canal Crawler

[Kevin B]

There are hundreds of miles of canals in the town where I live. They always have a 100 foot County right of way on one bank. The right of way may be sod, sand or gravel.

Riding the canals with a cruiser like the one pictured really hurts my knees.

I found this Trek with bad derailleur and other running gear problems in the trash a couple blocks away.

With the frame stripped I am going to try and make a single speed, low gear bike for the unique situation of the canals.

I pulled the cluster off and used spacers to put a single cog on the freewheel against a step on the unit.

I'm thinking I may possibly use this cheap suspension fork as opposed to the OEM fork. We'll see.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

do those canals ever flood?

 

[Kevin B]

do those canals ever flood?

During hurricanes they sometimes overflow the culverts under the roads. That is really spotty and the homes are still above the flood. Some go dry between October and May. The one behind my house always has water. They are drainage canals and flow to the river, then the gulf.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

A found this Trek with bad derailleur and other running gear problems in the trash a couple blocks away.

That's a good score. Trek numbers mean things
3 digits means steel, the higher, the better. 9xx means that was their best steel production frame that year, I'd wager it's butted chromoly. The last 2 digits indicate trim level, 30 means a little lower, but since it's top level frame, it's mid level components, if that makes sense. If it still has its original Shimano parts, they put a date code on the back of everything, you could pin down build year based on that

 

[Kevin B]

I was hoping to use the Shimano crank arms and a chain ring. The chain rings have many missing teeth. So I went with another tapered square steel crank arms I had (only other actually). It is off a cheap Big Box store bike. The three sprockets were riveted together. I drilled out the rivets and left the center sprocket. That's going to give me 36/18, 2:1. After drilling out the rivets I opened up the holes to 3/8" just for grins.

The steel assembly is drying after painting. Maybe someday I will stumble on to a Shimano 5 bolt, 110 BDC chain ring. This black one will get it powered for now.

 

[Captain Awesome]

36/18 is my favorite spinning setup for all our flat gravel logging roads out in the swamp

 

[Kevin B]

36/18 is my favorite spinning setup for all our flat gravel logging roads out in the swamp

I have read where Matti said that was the usual ratio 2:1 for BMX bikes. Maybe I'll put some BMX bars on it.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

That's a pretty unique bike trail you've got there! Makes total sense to have a purpose-built bike to take full advantage of it. Best of luck to you!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I have read where Matti said that was the usual ratio 2:1 for BMX bikes. Maybe I'll put some BMX bars on it.

Matti almost said that. 2:1(+2) is my starting point. For me it'd be 36:16. I don't follow my own advice though, Monolith has 32:13 or something. It's a little steep

 

[Kevin B]

Matti almost said that. 2:1(+2) is my starting point. For me it'd be 36:16. I don't follow my own advice though, Monolith has 32:13 or something. It's a little steep

I was counting the cluster gears I separated and the closest I can get is 17t anyway. Now I'm trying to scrounge around for makeshift hub spacers.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I was counting the cluster gears I separated and the closest I can get is 17t anyway

I rode that bike for without shifting gears FOR ALMOST WHOLE YEAR just to make sure that I had the ratio correct. Then they shipped me the wrong sprocket. Sometimes you just make it work

 

[Jude Ephesus]

There are hundreds of miles of canals in the town where I live. They always have a 100 foot County right of way on one bank. The right of way may be sod, sand or gravel.

View attachment 256369
Riding the canals with a cruiser like the one pictured really hurts my knees.
View attachment 256371
A found this Trek with bad derailleur and other running gear problems in the trash a couple blocks away.
View attachment 256373
With the frame stripped I am going to try and make a single speed, low gear bike for the unique situation of the canals.
View attachment 256374
I pulled the cluster off and used spacers to put a single cog on the freewheel against a step on the unit.
View attachment 256375
I'm thinking I may possibly use this cheap suspension fork as opposed to the OEM fork. We'll see.
View attachment 256377

You ever pull any large mouth bass out of those canals?

 

[Kevin B]

Yes, they are usually kind of stunted bank runners. But the lakes some of the canals run into, that's a different story. . Sadly the lakes are usually private.

 

[Kevin B]

She's a roller!

Probably not the seat I will use. If I keep those bars they are going black or red. That is the biggest rubber I have. Barely clearing. I hope I can find brakes that clear. Also in this picture, I picked up a mountain bike riser and added a Specialized stem. I may need a longer stem for knee clearance.

 

[Kevin B]

Was having a hard time getting the chain line. The stays were really tight and I had to spread them. Finally I checked them using the string method and the drive side stays were 1/2" inboard. Once I moved them and evened that out the chain line came in nicely. Next job will be fitting a chain and single speed tensioner.

 

[OddJob]

You could flip the cog so the teeth are on the outside, that would give you almost a 1/2".

 

[Kevin B]

That is what I did. Now it is more center of the spacers. Between that and tweaking the stays the chain line is good now.

 

[Kevin B]

Hit a snag today. Tried to install the pedals and left side crank arm was stripped. I was hoping to build this from all collected junk. Had to order a crank kit today.

 

[Kevin B]

Well the chain line and tensioner are worked out. After the new crank arms and chain wheel arrive today I may have to make some micro adjustments.

 

[Pondo]

Great score on that Trek! The bike is looking good and should be a great canal bomber.