The Deuce...or how to improve a Huffy

[DollaBill]

Hey...the frame and forks were free, so why not build a Huffy?

And I just joined RRB, so I don't have any build pics, just the completed bike, but I'll describe the process:

26" bike, which I wanted because the goal was to use those 36" ape hangers, which were...free. The other goal was to make it as low as possible...basically I wanted the down tube to be as close to the ground as the sidewall of the tires are tall.

So I cut off the back half of the frame, flipped it, made new dropouts and brake bracket...modified the down tube and seat post, moved the crankset up on the down tube, and the back half was done.

I call the fork a "rigid springer". I thought that was clever . I cut the fork tubes off, welded tabs to the fork stubs and the bottom of the stem, made an upper collar with a tab, secured with the stem nut, to mount the top of the fork braces...and new dropouts that included corresponding lower brace tabs.

Had some Nirve fenders laying around...the rear fender "floats", mounted on a bracket that comes off the seat post. The front uses conventional fender braces.

Despite the insane amount of trail, it rides like a champ. Obviously, sharp turns are out of the question, but it's comfortable and surprisingly controllable. It definitely likes to go straight No-hands riding is butter.

That's my nephew on the bike, and he is 6' 2".

 

[Motopecane]

Wow nice job! This thing is rad.

 

[DollaBill]

Thanks!

 

[bicyclepav]

Looks good man, have any more pictures?

 

[DollaBill]

Thanks!

No...its in California and I am in Texas. I'll post some more when I break it down, and paint it.

 

[dogdart]

Wow nice job! This thing is rad.

X2 :mrgreen:

 

[jackdaw]

That is SO freakin' COOL! The stance is just rad.

 

[DollaBill]

Thanks!

There are SO many cool bikes out there...the bikes on this site blow me away. My goal was to build something that looks impossible to ride, do it on the cheap, and see if my ideas would work.

I have $50, maybe, in this thing.

My personal tastes run to an "original" looking frame...just stupid-low. So I mocked up the bare frame and wheels, saw where I wanted the frame to be, and realized I could get the back low by flipping the stays. With respect to the fork, I saw that if I just kicked the fork tubes out at about an 80 degree angle, they would follow the line of the upper tubes. Flow is everything on a "tube" bike.

I kicked the seat post back to fit me (6'), mounted the crankset where I could pedal through corners...and voila. Low-speed handling isn't scary, but does require focus. Interestingly, it's more a function of how long the thing is, rather than the idiotic fork. The only thing it doesn't like is speed bumps or hi-angle driveways, because the lower portion of the down tube is an 1" off the ground when the bike is loaded

Thanks for the compliments.