Veloraptor

[Wildcat]

I need to make up a bike for the wife who is 4' 10", and I just realized the makings of a mini-velo;
example of a mini-velo:

are already in my parts pile. I have a 24" Ventura 10 speed frame from the late 70's that I bought in Australia in 1983. Or maybe in Alameda in 1982, I'm not sure. It was in new condition, covered in dust but not used at all. After many years of use by my wife's family here in the Philippines, I have the frame again.

I had picked up some heavy duty 20" wheels and tires recently, to use on a recumbent frame. They've just been sitting in the pile. I think they have 11 gauge spokes, they are industrial, and used here for working carts and pedicabs.

I'm using a 26" BMX style fork for a few reasons. It gives the cranks enough ground clearance as a normal bike and is heavy duty. It's also the only one I had that would work so it's gets the nod.

Since it is small, tough, and probably fast I decided to name it Veloraptor, after the dinosaur. The velociraptors in Jurassic Park were larger than the real ones were. They actually were feathered and only the size of a turkey but were dangerous with their teeth and big claws.

My plan is to change out things shown in the mockup; cranks, derailleur handlebars and stem will get replaced. Band brakes will be used front and rear. It will have seven speeds and I may put a 39 tooth chain wheel on the new cranks instead of 48.

 

[Wildcat]

I had the shop dish the wheel for the 7 speed cluster and picked up a bunch of parts. They know now to have 2 people at the ready when I show up to dig up parts from "out back". I don't think anything is organized, just a big pile of parts. They won't let me back there to dig around, otherwise I might by twice as much stuff.

I have a alloy crankset on order and found the old chromoly fork the frame had before. I redid this frame in 2014 when I moved to the Philippines. It's a better fit than the BMX fork.

I think the 20" wheels are a better option than the original 24" wheels. To get the seat high enough, I was too high up off the ground. Now it's the same height as a regular mini-velo, I can actually ride it. Then the seat gets dropped all the way down for the wife and she rides!
I'll also add an alloy stem and alloy cruiser bars from my other bike, Chrome Molly, and put flat bars on that bike. The blue paint is fairly close in shade as the original dark blue on the frame. Then it needs more braking, I can have some plates made up to attach handbrakes on the rear and/or front. The rear is fairly simple, just lower the hole for the brake like I did before, only then it needed to be higher. The front will need more engineering.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I dig it!
Why are you lowering the brake on the rear?
Thought you were going with a band brake....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Wildcat]

It needs more braking than just the band brake, and the caliper alone also is still not quite enough, with steel wheels.

But together they will be fine. 2 rear brakes. The bracket is to get the caliper low enough for the pads to reach the rim. The brake mount hole needs to be about 38mm lower using a 20" wheel.

No front brakes in the works right now. The band brake hub won't fit in the forks and work properly. The fork would need a permanent mount welded in, bolting one on might be a safety hazard.
On the rear, the brackets I had before might work but I can't find them. So, the fabrication shop will make up another couple of plates. The cost would be too much back in the states, but the steel work here will be less than 10 dollars.

 

[Wildcat]

I've got three of those plates now, but only one was needed. I also went back to a band brake on the front, it needs both brakes. The cranksets I ordered arrived already, but the gold chain wheel isn't here yet. So I used my old one as a test and will give it a try tomorrow morning. That seat looks super large on that little bike.

 

[us56456712]

I've got three of those plates now, but only one was needed. I also went back to a band brake on the front, it needs both brakes. The cranksets I ordered arrived already, but the gold chain wheel isn't here yet. So I used my old one as a test and will give it a try tomorrow morning. That seat looks super large on that little bike.
View attachment 151060View attachment 151062View attachment 151061

That project is coming along, it looks good, I like it. She will have a unique bike.

 

[Wildcat]

I told her I've ordered a big gold ring for her for Valentine's day!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Good luck with that

 

[Wildcat]

It showed up and looks good. 47 teeth.

I had to go with plan B for Valentine's Day because it hadn't shown up yet. But I told her the big gold ring is still coming, for our anniversary on the 6th. She'll be surprised for sure!
The frame is sanded and sanded again. Ready for primer. The wife picked up a few 12 foot lengths of bamboo that I lashed together to make a paint tripod out back.

But we have a tropical storm coming (already!), so painting will wait a few more days. And we go pick up plan B tomorrow! New car, Toyota Avanza. We'll be joyriding for awhile.

 

[Wildcat]

The weather is great, a little too hot already but good for painting. I did the primer this morning and will actually follow the directions and wait a whole day for the color to go on. Then wait one more day for clear to go on.

 

[Wildcat]

The primer is done, will spray on the color around 830 am when the inversion breaks. That's the best time to paint or be outdoors. That's when the sun has heated the air enough so it all starts to rise and expand with the heat. By 10am it's hot but the air is cleaner. All the smoke from leaves and trash burning dissipates.

 

[Wildcat]

As usual, the color wasn't what the blue cap was. But the purple color is fine, it's her favorite but there wasn't any purple at the store.

 

[Wildcat]

Clearcoat is done. It's the best paint job I've ever done. That's what happens when you follow all the directions.
Now it'll sit until tomorrow when I start assembling the whole thing.

 

[Wildcat]

It's done! I had to remount the chainwheel on the inside for alignment but everything else went right on.

Seat up. With a 16" frame, that's where it'll be if I ride it. My knees will probably hit the handlebars.

 

[Wildcat]

Not done afterall, matching tires are on the way.

 

[Verrt]

I really like the way this build has turned out.

 

[Wildcat]

The tires arrived already. I'm not sure they are new, they look used to me. The color is a good match though. They will get a good scrubbing that I'm hoping will bring out the gum wall color.

 

[Wildcat]

After a lot of scrubbing, they looked about the same. I was hoping the gumwalls would be brighter to match the chain wheel but they are ok. The smaller tires make the spokes look more hd. I added a lightweight set of black handlebars also. We were going out for a ride but it's too smoky outside today.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The black bars are new too. Nice, ties in with the seatpost and rack. How does the thumb shifter feel with flanged grips?

 

[horsefarmer]

Cool bike! The crank set looks very nice. Purple isn't my color, but the tire/paint combo looks great!

How does the thumb shifter feel with flanged grips?

Yep, I'm in the same situation with a Schwinn cruiser project. Can't come up with a suitable way to swing the shifter. it's either too close and hits the grip, or too far away for my thumb! They are new and I don't want to cut the flange off.