UNOFFICIAL FOLDING BIKE BUILD OFF CONTEST

[johnp.smith]

RULES:

1. Stock Frames Only.

2. No Pro Paint.

3. Bolt On Parts Only.

4. Must be ridable and foldable.

5. Bike must be completed and posted by April 1st.

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 BAR by John P. Smith

Here's my entry for the Folding Bike Build Off. Named after my favorite treat, the 50 50 Bar. It will be repainted, it has a bit of rust, the chaingaurd is broken and barely hanging on. It has 24 inch by 1.75 tires and a weird 2 piece crank. I hope I can get the one I want to use to work on it.

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

I had some time to do some stripping of mine tonight. My pivot point does not come apart. I dont know what is called but its like a rounded bolt head on both sides. the headset hardware was very weird too. The crank scares me. I have removed the left crank arm and the whole hardware contraption on the left side spins together. Ive never seen hardware like this on a bike before. Im hoping to use a different crank for it but might be stuck with this one.

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

Well theres good news in that. I figured out how to get the crank off. Yes, Im stuck with this one. The bottom bracket is not threaded. It uses tiny little bearing cups similar to what comes on cruisers. So the good news is the crank is in really good shape, and the seat tube does not have a hole on the bottom bracket area. When I turned the bike upside down earlier, the seat tube was full of water. I feared the worse for the bottom bracket inards. They were actually pristine. I think the frame was powder coated prior to assembly. Everything but the seat tube is pristine white paint inside. Im going to try pouring some cleaning fluid down the seat tube and see if it cleans out too. The decals are shot and there are too many scratches to try and save this paint so I will repaint it. Im going with Orange, hence this is where 50 50 Bar came from. The bike is now stripped as much as it can be. I already have an Origin8 seat from my Cykel 3, Big apes from Ratdaddy, pedals, and Im going to use two Stingray front tires 24 by 2.1 for it. They barely fit the frame and fork. im going to buy a skinny 24 inch tire for my Captain America bike to swap that one out, I have the other one on the bike for fit test now. I hope I can do a good paint job on it.

 

[udallcustombikes]

Re: 50 50 Bar

My pivot point does not come apart. I dont know what is called but its like a rounded bolt head on both sides.

It sounds like a pressed rivet pin. You could grind off one side and pop it out like a pin on a door frame then replace it with a grade 8 bolt and a nylock nut. Just a thought.

 

[karfer67]

if worse comes to worse post a pic of u riding it then whack it in half and fold it. rules did not state it had to fold back out and be rideable again. sorry had to go there but i have to admit the rule of it still needing to fold is great that one would have stifled me a bit

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

Grinding one end and then replacing it with a bolt is a great idea, I will have to look into that. I really want to take my time and try to do a real nice paint job. I've never painted a bike before. Tonight I also discovered another unique feature to folders, both mine and Bighits anyway. The headtube on the frame has only 1 frame tube going to it. So it can be cut shorter and almost any fork can work on it. Since my bike has 24 inch wheels, Im thinking about using a 26 or even a 27 inch fork and either a 20 or 16 inch front wheel. Im going to have to go through my stash for the best combo. A smaller wheel up front will accomodate a big basket for the cycle truck style. Oh yeah, Im loving this. Im gonna try things with this bike Ive never done to prepare myself for the steampunk build later this year. The creative juices are a flowin.

 

[johnp.smith]

Here is my stripped down sears folder, or two piece.

That is the most unusual frame I have ever seen. :shock:

 

[kingplinker]

when are bike due? or did I miss this build - I have folding bike collecting dust.. cool idea guys! -

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

My first big mod is done. I cut 2 1/4 inches off the top of my head tube. Im using a 26 inch mountain bike fork and an 18 inch stingray front wheel. This puts the height of the bike in the exact same place as the original fork and wheel did and it will be able to accomodate a big front basket. My rear wheel is too pitted to polish so I will paint it to match the front. The bike will also have matching stingray tires. Many other mods to come.

 

[Jay Dawg]

Im working on 3 other bikes,but this build is something i really want to enter still.I might be able to make deadline tho.More is to be revealed.Keep up on the pics guys and it might give me enough motivation to finish one bike at a time and start on the folder.

 

[kingplinker]

OK, here is mine. I was going to do the smaller blue one, I used it all summer as-is going back & forth to my shop, it's funky because it is a 3-speed, freewheel bike, but has a coaster brake on it. I NEED to redo it cuz I use it.. buuuut, I am going to use this larger folding bike. It had mountain bike stuff all over it & I stripped it down. It's says Marlboro and I guess was some type of promo bike. You pull out the seat post and it folds in half.

I started with a set of old bars, flipped, changed forks, end started playing w/mock-up... anyways... this is what I got.. not much and needs lots of work!
I noticed folks just posting on same thread vs. bike thred in this category per builder - - If that's not what I am supposed to do please LMK!

Cool bike, but not using for this contest...

Going to use this bike instead...

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

OK, I promise Im done for the day and it will be a week before I can get back to this. But, this afternoon, I drilled out the attachment hardware for the rack to mount it to the seatpost bolt. I then drilled the rivets out of a chaingaurd, drilled a hole for the rear mount and cut the rear of it off to fit my frame. And then for the big project, I cut and filed the centerstand off of a stingray frame and bolted it on. Im using a headlight bracket mounted to the left chainstay for a stop until I can come up with something better. Ratdaddy has a huge basket for the front. I'll have to rearch cycle trucks this week to see what else I need to do on it.

 

[deorman]

I once had a folding Schwinn, :shock: thanks to a drunk with a van. :roll: Unfolding it turned out to be a problem. :x

 

[johnp.smith]

50 50 Bar

Mr. Kingplinker, you gave me an idea about breaking the spot weld off some handlebars to make them fit in my stem. I have another pair of bars I want to use and will have to try that. Watch out for Mr. Bighit, sounds like he has some big ideas to out build us.

 

[Chainsaw]

i got to get to work. believe it or not i have 3 folders total. two i can use. the sears brown one and a dahon boardwalk. i have a master plan for the brown one, but i may want to save it for the next official RRBBO. i say this because i fell into the coolest things for $16 that will drop jaws. enjoy your head start boys because when i come out i am coming out swinging.

8) 8) 8)

 

[kingplinker]

Re: 50 50 Bar

Mr. Kingplinker, you gave me an idea about breaking the spot weld off some handlebars to make them fit in my stem. I have another pair of bars I want to use and will have to try that. Watch out for Mr. Bighit, sounds like he has some big ideas to out build us.

cool - I lifted an edge with a screwdriver, then pinched that end in a vise and "rolled" the bars to separate piece...

johnp - looking cool man!

bighit - let's see if you can hit something before you get winded from all that swinging - he he... Bring It!

 

[Wildcat]

The Haitian disaster had me working extra hours, but it's slowed down now that everything is coordinated. the US Navy is going to have a big presence down there. I can get back to bikes.

I have yet to go get my folder from my grand daughter, but I have made some progress. This piece of naugahyde? was a remnant and I got it for about 4 bucks. It has a paisley pattern and will work well for my build. The brass and chrome stars are from napkin holders that I am going to use for another project, as is the wood tank.

Slowly but surely.

 

[johnp.smith]

Re: 50 50 Bar

Mr. Kingplinker, you gave me an idea about breaking the spot weld off some handlebars to make them fit in my stem. I have another pair of bars I want to use and will have to try that. Watch out for Mr. Bighit, sounds like he has some big ideas to out build us.

cool - I lifted an edge with a screwdriver, then pinched that end in a vise and "rolled" the bars to separate piece...

Before doing this, I was looking at the quick release thing for my stem and it didn't clear the bmx stem that was on there, remember, the bike still has to fold. And, honestly, I didn't think it went with the bike anyway. I am using the bars I wanted to with the stock stem and no cutting was neccessary after all. The bars are similar to the stock bars but a little taller. Not big apes, more like 60's stingray bars. And for those concerned or in disgust, the stingray chopper I cut the kickstand off already had a broken triple tree and was solely a parts bike. I only used a hacksaw, a file, a big screwdriver and a hammer to get it off. On this particular bike, it hits the back tire so a lower stop is needed. I have a better idea for one. Many good parts were salvaged and used from that stingray. the frame is toast on on its way to the big recycler in the sky.

 

[johnp.smith]

I like the cream tires but would try to find some with street tread rather than knobbies, and yeah your stem is way nicer than mine. The tire color is great. Also a great choice on bars and seat. I cant find the seat I wanted to use. I dont know if I still have it or not. So many bikes have come and gone, Its hard to tell what I have. Your frame is really unique, how does it fold?