Backstory:
Recently I sold my diesel beetle (40MPG) and bought a Tacoma Doublecab pickup (18MPG) and quickly realized that gasoline was too expensive to maintain my 60 mile daily commute.
I solved the problem by using the Park-N-Ride lot 6 miles from my house. Riding the bus is nice. I can read or sleep or whatever on the way to work.
The unintended consequence of public transportation was that I was stuck eating lunch within walking distance of the office.
So as I'm walking back and forth to lunch I had the idea of building up a rat bike that would stay chained up to the bike rack in my office parking garage.
I mentioned it to the guys my cubescape and one of them offered to donate an old beach cruiser.
Here are some pix of the project:
Pickup day and first parts chasing run
Inspection
Paint
Wet Sanding
Built
Test Pilot - My neighbor John
Loaded up and ready to go to work
Start'em young! My daughter who is 22 months old helped out and was very excited about the build. (she cried when I took the bike to work)
I ended up buying a second cruiser at a garage sale because it had a new seat and wheels with killer heavy gauge spokes.
New Parts List:
Total cost for everything including the donor bike is around $100. The lock being the most expensive part.
I opted not to ask the building management if they minded me leaving a bike up here all the time because they might have said no. If they tag a note on it complaining I've cooked up a story about the bike being part of the company "Wellness Initiative" and I'll get an official letter saying so from Corp. HQ.
Thanks everyone for providing inspiration and ideas. Special thanks to Gerry Lauzon for his excellent how to repaint your bicycle article. This was the best rattle-can paint job I've ever done.
Recently I sold my diesel beetle (40MPG) and bought a Tacoma Doublecab pickup (18MPG) and quickly realized that gasoline was too expensive to maintain my 60 mile daily commute.
I solved the problem by using the Park-N-Ride lot 6 miles from my house. Riding the bus is nice. I can read or sleep or whatever on the way to work.
The unintended consequence of public transportation was that I was stuck eating lunch within walking distance of the office.
So as I'm walking back and forth to lunch I had the idea of building up a rat bike that would stay chained up to the bike rack in my office parking garage.
I mentioned it to the guys my cubescape and one of them offered to donate an old beach cruiser.
Here are some pix of the project:
Pickup day and first parts chasing run
Inspection
Paint
Wet Sanding
Built
Test Pilot - My neighbor John
Loaded up and ready to go to work
Start'em young! My daughter who is 22 months old helped out and was very excited about the build. (she cried when I took the bike to work)
I ended up buying a second cruiser at a garage sale because it had a new seat and wheels with killer heavy gauge spokes.
New Parts List:
Kryptonite 2' NYC-Noose Lock
Chen Shen Whitewall Slicks
Torker "Shorty" Fenders
Ebay Foam Grips
Stainless Steel Chain
Aluminum Seat Post Clamp
Total cost for everything including the donor bike is around $100. The lock being the most expensive part.
I opted not to ask the building management if they minded me leaving a bike up here all the time because they might have said no. If they tag a note on it complaining I've cooked up a story about the bike being part of the company "Wellness Initiative" and I'll get an official letter saying so from Corp. HQ.
Thanks everyone for providing inspiration and ideas. Special thanks to Gerry Lauzon for his excellent how to repaint your bicycle article. This was the best rattle-can paint job I've ever done.
