BO15 American Boy aka. Twisted Sister

[SpikeFC]

Hello there Comrades!

It was in the cold of winter, when I was sitting in my flat, listening to the humble sounds of my neighbour drilling holes in walls, and banging heavy objects on the floors...
I was eating my cемечки, scrolling through the forum, and listening to the the old Russian disco group - Комбинация.


And then... the idea struck me! I started collecting parts, for a crazy idea - "How would a communist lady look like if she found her Foreign Prince and if she would shower in riches...

Well... let's find out!

Starring - the girl!

Bought her (the blue frame in the back) with the other one last winter for 5$ each. It's a probably 1961 (don't know how to exactly decipher frame numbers from the early ZZR periods), and the model is ZZR/Universal Korlis. Korlis were the only produced full-size cantilever cruiser bikes made in Poland. Early models had 590 wheels, and later ones the 559 sized wheels.

As some of you may know I did a full resto on an almost same bicycle for my friend Check it out here :

So how I will turn an old, beaten lady into something more soothing to the eye?

You'll see As last year - I have a later start since right now we have the long May holidays in Poland, that we call Majówka (1st is National Workers Day, and the day that PL joined the EU - celebrated on the 2nd that is also the National Flag Day, and 3rd is Constitution Day).

So more will be to see on 4th when I get back to my shop.

 

[kingfish254]

Have fun on your holidays. I look forward to seeing your Polish drag queen!

 

[OddJob]

Spike is in the house! Enjoy your May celebrations, and we'll be looking forward to your build when you return. She looks like a real 'cut up'.
RaT oN~!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'm in for the cat propaganda posters. All hail Manx and Lenny

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

 

[SpikeFC]

Proletaryat kittens of the world unite! Oh wait... Comrade Cat, doesn't work, he just sleeps all day

One thing I did before the Build-Off was taking out the seatpost. Yeah, I know - "no work before 1st may" Sadly I had to try it before, cause if it didn't come out that would mean a tottaly other bike frame for the project. First problem - technically the seat tube is for 25-25,2mm seatposts, and some #^$%(^)@& <insert any bad word in Polish/Russian here, had hammered a 25,4mm seatpost almost TEN INCHES into that frame and if that wasn't enough - it was left to rust away...

Took me almost 2 weeks of heating, pouring a few cans of WD-40 and using the biggest vice I had in my shop to take it out.

Almost 60 years of probably hard use had left a mark on her, but it's kinda the way I like her. To many of those went a full-resto in PL, and not many of them are customized/rattified. She has one main problem, and one minor problem.

Minor problem - one of the chainguard mounts is broken off. Won't need it anyway.
Major problem - the seat tube is broken in half - a common problem in those frames.

But fear not! There is a solution to fixing this... even without welding

Also thanks to my sweet girlfriend (who also is a very swell artist! She helps me with a lot of stuff when it comes to colors, and concept drawings - If you wan't you can check out her webpage here ) I got a sweet birthday present!

Original ZZR Korlis Fenders The deterioration & paint are a 100% match! A little rough on the edges (or more correctly "a little bent & hammered on the edges"...) but perfect for this frame!

Also dug up some parts. It wouldn't be one of my projects if I hadn't laced the wheels myself...

You may say "meh... Joytech, nothing special", well let me tell you something buddy! Two layers of primer, and two layers of final paint are already applied to them, and are drying

Also I was busy on the 3 day holidays. I found the perfect rims and polished one of them.

Belgium made Alessas, 24x559 alloy rims from the late 80's. Polished with 7 gradations of sandpaper - 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and also 2 types of polishing paste - hard polishing paste on a drill, and soft polishing paste for hand polishing. Two days... TWO DAYS... My back hurts, my feet hurt, everything hurts and there is still one to go...

Also had time to mount something fancy for the lady:

Shimano Positron FH-400 indexed derailleur. Yes, this baby is indexed, and is operated by a non-indexed shifter through a wire instead of normal line (it needs the pushing force to move to higher gears - a normal line just can't do it).

 

[rickpaulos]

Many ladies frames get bent mid-seat tube due to the inherently lousy design. One fix, get this, is to hammer a spare seat post all the way down the seat tube to reinforce the bent/broken area. I've had lady back tandems with similar problems and this fix works well on those.


The original Positron used a double length braided wire shift cable. A pull out - pull in system. It was pretty bad. The Positron II used the solid wire so it could pull and push. It worked better but the cables were prone to damage at the lever end which was always mounted on the stem (gooseneck) where it got twisted around.

 

[SpikeFC]

Many ladies frames get bent mid-seat tube due to the inherently lousy design. One fix, get this, is to hammer a spare seat post all the way down the seat tube to reinforce the bent/broken area. I've had lady back tandems with similar problems and this fix works well on those.

Oh you got me! Exactly what I was planning on doing

The Positron II used the solid wire so it could pull and push. It worked better but the cables were prone to damage at the lever end which was always mounted on the stem (gooseneck) where it got twisted around.

Exactly my setup. Got it from an old Hercules I was repairing last year. The wire is fine, except the outer casing has fallen apart (yes near the shifter, where it bends). New wires with casing and everything aren't super cheap (about 17$, compared to a 8$ for a normal cable), and have one major problem - only black outer casing (original was white, and that's the one I want).

My idea? Try and replace the outer casing - If I fail I'll just a buy a new one.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Hard work on the rim polishing for sure. I’m beginning to sense a ‘Shiny’ theme across a lot of this years builds.... ?

 

[SpikeFC]

VSIEGDA CATOV!

Meowrrrr progress, for the happines of the RRB nation

Cleaned, repaired a few dents and installed the rear fender, also with the taillight.

A sealed BB unit. 110mm wide, and a set of cranks that I got with a german Winora ladies bike that was torn for parts.

Dug out some pedals - not super perfect, but some cleaning might do the trick.

Sadly their are not "openable" for service, but hey, you don't say that to me. I can open, everything, just hold my beer...

Also did a little mock-up of something specially dedicated for this build. Just remember the name of this build...

American Boy...

- But man, that's a girl's frame!
- Not anymore!

These were used in some 16" polish bicycles to make the frames trans-gender. Like on the example of Romet Rodeo:

- But man, those tank-imitating-detachble-bars are way to short, for a full size 26" wheel adults bike...
- Not anymore!

Both will be cut down to make a one big MEGA bar. A perfect place to hide lines & battery used for powering the lights.

Also the wheels are almost there. It's a small suprise since I wanted to try something new when it comes to wheel laceing, and adding a different look. I already laced them once, but I still need to lace them again. That's a small hint on what's going on

 

[kingfish254]

Cool idea to piggy back the convertible bars into a tank. I like it.

 

[SpikeFC]

Cool idea to piggy back the convertible bars into a tank. I like it.

Thanks! My original idea was to buy a tank from @The Renaissance Man, but first I had no money for it, then this pandemic thing kicked in. It would be like the second? Third one on the old continent?. Got those bars from a friend with a lot of other cool stuff (mostly stuff for this project actually), and only paid for them 10$ a piece. That was a great deal since hipsters around here artificially raise prices of old Romet parts. I kinda can't understand (like many people) the thing that we call "Polish Stockholm Syndrome" when it comes to old polish "cars" and bicycles. You could desribe it as "We know it had a quality of a wheelbarrow, but it was ours, so IT'S THE BEST"... Maybe I'm just not patriotic enough, but I would prefer to own even the worst western car (wich I actually do ) than for example a Polish Fiat 126p, and I can only ride Romet bikes if they're heavily modified for comfort, style & performance...

I got a little off-the-topic, but more progress later, when I come back from work.

 

[OddJob]

Spike, awesome work so far and conceptual ideas! I really like the fenders your GF got for your birthday. Tell her she has good taste; well, in fenders anyway ! Just kidding!

Your mega-bar idea is killer. That's going to really 'top off' this build.
RaT oN~!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks! My original idea was to buy a tank from @The Renaissance Man

Aw man, I would love to have seen the worlds first Polish TRM convertible!

BTW, I looked through your girlfriend's art work. Very impressive!!!

 

[SpikeFC]

Aw man, I would love to have seen the worlds first Polish TRM convertible!
View attachment 119219

BTW, I looked through your girlfriend's art work. Very impressive!!!

I never said I won't buy it in the future The main problem is $/PLN Currency. 100$ is about 420PLN wich is almost 1/8th of my monthly salary Yes, I earn more than the average minimum (about 480$/month), and still it's just ~770$/month. That's the price of doing what you love as a regular job, but I'm still happy, even considering that my GF who works in QA earns a lot more than me .


And back to the menu, cause I have news!

Had some time to finish the wheels, and even put some tires on them!

Someone maybe had a hint why I laced each of the wheel two times?

Truly - this method has the looks, but lacing and truing is a pain in the...

But the lady needs bling! She needs riches! She needs chrome and GOLD!

Even the valve caps are gold...

I got those discs from a donor MTB that goes by the name HASA Comp 6.0 - it even has a tag on it, reading Genuine HASA U.S.A. It was very beaten & dirty, and since a tru lady wouldn't want anything dirty... it took me 2hrs and almost 50 ear sticks to clean those discs...

Also you may notice a that I changed the set of the original quick release levers.

Black? You gotta be kidding me... Gold nipples, gold valve caps, gold hubs, polished rims & silver spokes... and plain black alloy levers, not on my watch! Found that set in my favourite "Reusable Junk" Box.

Remember Comrades! Always use genuine parts, for the best riding quality!

Also to avoid asking - those White Walls are Continental Ride Tour 26x1.75. Kinda siknny for those fenders right? Oh wait till you see the mock-up pictures...

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I love the twisted spoke lacing. I wonder if there is any structural drawback...

 

[kingfish254]

Cool lacing and gold nipples.

 

[SpikeFC]

I love the twisted spoke lacing. I wonder if there is any structural drawback...

Technically - It's a regular 3 cross lacing with just the crossed spokes are twisted and put back in their original holes. By the way that my fingers hurt after truing those two I can say that they are one of the strongest wheels I ever built.

 

[toro1978]

I knew it immediately I see such lacing here in Germany every once in a while. Pretty cool .

 

[OddJob]

New name for your build after seeing those wheels: Twisted Sister.
That is the name of one of my favorite hiking and mt biking trails in AZ. And it fits your 'blingy' golden girl build, with a touch of sass!