Black Bean [a burrito]

[onelesspedestrian]

I am thinking that with this much angle on the head tube, I want to get pretty close to 0" trail. That may not be practical for several reasons, but I think a smaller number than a bike with a standard 70degree-ish head angle would be most ideal. whether or not I can achieve that is another story. and even if I can, I don't want to lose TOO much of the sleek look I have, although to be fair, I find that a lot of the "look" comes from wheel location in proportion to the frame, and not so much what angle the head tube ends up at.

 

[onelesspedestrian]

well I've just been cruising this around to get a feel for "riding it regardless" as Stretch says..... and I must say, it is better than my first impression had me believing. You gotta get these things going FAST to get some stability going with that kind of rake. I'm still gonna alter the geometry, but I can wait a bit on that, it's so much fun for now! anyways, check out what else I have in store:

Fenders! These are old CCM numbers, which came off my buildoff bike from last summer. I think these really crank up the "mexican", if you will.... or at least that's the vibe I get. Kinda visually shortens it too.

 

[icyuod2]

if you can straighten that fork, it will turn on a dime. (or use a straight fork)
its the bend in the fork, thats giving you the dead fish syndrome. get rid of it and ya wont have to change anything else. promise.

by the looks of it, black bean will navigate most curbs with ease. just watch out for speed bumps.

 

[stretch]

looks good! now you just need some paint..maybe some copper or root beer-ish color to match the grips and seat? it would look nice if you left the fenders white too, but just move the back one down so it fills it out more. looks great!

 

[onelesspedestrian]

I did some experimenting on a skateboard I built with that translucent paint (meant to be an anodized look to spray over chrome), but I sprayed it over gold metallic, and also threw some rainbow metalflake clear in between red clear coats, and it looks cool, especially in the bright sun. I was thinking something like that on the fenders, but maybe get even funkier.... fish scales, lace, etc.... the old school lowrider paint effects... I'll see how that plays out. These fenders would definitely lend themselves to panel painting.

Stretch, what do you mean about "move the fender down"? Like, rotate it back, or just make it sit concentric? Those are just sitting there, I pulled them out of the shed and put them on for a quick peek is all. They are not gonna stay white, as I had already started stripping them. Frame I was thinking black with lots of striping... need to get practiced up before RRBBO5, after all. maybe more colour on the frame would be in order though.

 

[icyuod2]

i think he means rotate the fender so its mounted to the top stay and covers more of the wheel at the back.

sure would look cool.
nice build, can't wait to see the paint.

 

[stretch]

i think he means rotate the fender so its mounted to the top stay and covers more of the wheel at the back.

exactly. :lol: i dont have the greatest way with words. but go right ahead with the crazy paint man, im all for that!

 

[onelesspedestrian]

yeah that's kinda what I thought. I went out to the shop and gave it a look. You were right, that looks awesome that way. I don't like them mounted that way on a normal bike, because it looks like something's missing from the front. This bike, however, has the back end rotated down so far it doesn't really come off that way. Thanks for the tip! 8)

 

[onelesspedestrian]

got out to the garage and installed brakes and shifting the other night. Safety first and all that . (well, second, maybe third in this case...) The shifting I am not all that happy with, I had to do a pretty wonky cable routing, with the cable looping around the head tube and then pulling from the top tube, with a free run all the way back to the axle. should at least get me going, but I might devise a custom shifter to make it a little better lookin'. Brakes are rear only, because I think the fork will end up curled to far to mount a caliper after I do the geometry adjustment.

 

[stretch]

you should get a shimano 3 speed stick shift an make a custom shifter like i did. all it takes is some 1/4" square tubing, some heat to bend it, cut down the shimano shifter arm, weld it on, an get yourself a sweet knob. ill get up pics of mine.

 

[onelesspedestrian]

you should get a shimano 3 speed stick shift an make a custom shifter like i did. all it takes is some 1/4" square tubing, some heat to bend it, cut down the shimano shifter arm, weld it on, an get yourself a sweet knob. ill get up pics of mine.

that is what I'm running, it's mounted to the base of the stem, but I just don't like how the cable has to loop right now. I should post a pic myself... :roll:

that was the plan, to build some sort of extension, and funky knob. I'd still be interested in seeing yours.