Bought this thing with the intent to do something with it (something cheap, preferably), just not sure what. :lol: Spent some time staring at it and couldn't decide on a direction to go with it so I decided to just start cutting. :lol:
Removed the wheelset, stem/bars, crankset, and seat/seatpost and went at it with the angle grinder fitted with a cut-off wheel.
Did a couple of relief cuts on the top of the chainstays - just behind the bottom bracket. I then cut the (what are they called?) cantilever bars(?) loose from the top tube and down tube.
With the canti bars loose and the relief cuts in the chainstays I sat on the seat to bend the chainstays and close the relief cuts I had made. Low-tech, but it works. :lol: My 8 year-old daughter asked to sit on it and once she did she claimed it as hers. :lol: "This is for me - right, dad?
How it sat then. I used a bar clamp to keep the canti bars in place.
Compared to stock
Today I picked up gas for the welder and got a little done. Welded the chainstays and ground them down.
Then I stared at it, couldn't figure out what to do, but I had the angle grinder in my hands. :lol: Had a quick thought about cutting the canti bars off so um...I did just that - with no idea what to do next. :lol: After the noise had settled I was left with this.
I sized up the cut-offs and I can take the right bar, flip it over, and use it to tie the seat stays into the seat tube (and the left can be flipped to use on the right). To quote Hannibal Smith "I love it when a plan comes together." Although there was no plan.
So I stared at it and thought about how those relief cuts really dropped the bottom bracket and lowered the bike. Next thing I know I had masked off the head tube to be cut down to lower the front a bit as well. No idea how much I cut off here, just put some making tape around the head tube, made sure it was parallel with the existing end of the tube, and got to cuttin'.
Used a small grinding bit in the Dremel to remove the ridge inside the headtube so the lower bearing cup would fully seat, then cleaned the inside with a flap wheel, and re-assembled the front end...and the rest of the bike. So I could check pedal clearance and stare at it some more. :lol:
Here's how it sits now.
Overall it's just small things that I'm doing. A little off here, a small cut there.
Not working with a plan of action, just doing what comes to me as I go. Something that has bugged me is that stem. That joker is getting replaced. Need to find something with less rise.
Removed the wheelset, stem/bars, crankset, and seat/seatpost and went at it with the angle grinder fitted with a cut-off wheel.
Did a couple of relief cuts on the top of the chainstays - just behind the bottom bracket. I then cut the (what are they called?) cantilever bars(?) loose from the top tube and down tube.
With the canti bars loose and the relief cuts in the chainstays I sat on the seat to bend the chainstays and close the relief cuts I had made. Low-tech, but it works. :lol: My 8 year-old daughter asked to sit on it and once she did she claimed it as hers. :lol: "This is for me - right, dad?
How it sat then. I used a bar clamp to keep the canti bars in place.
Compared to stock
Today I picked up gas for the welder and got a little done. Welded the chainstays and ground them down.
Then I stared at it, couldn't figure out what to do, but I had the angle grinder in my hands. :lol: Had a quick thought about cutting the canti bars off so um...I did just that - with no idea what to do next. :lol: After the noise had settled I was left with this.
I sized up the cut-offs and I can take the right bar, flip it over, and use it to tie the seat stays into the seat tube (and the left can be flipped to use on the right). To quote Hannibal Smith "I love it when a plan comes together." Although there was no plan.
So I stared at it and thought about how those relief cuts really dropped the bottom bracket and lowered the bike. Next thing I know I had masked off the head tube to be cut down to lower the front a bit as well. No idea how much I cut off here, just put some making tape around the head tube, made sure it was parallel with the existing end of the tube, and got to cuttin'.
Used a small grinding bit in the Dremel to remove the ridge inside the headtube so the lower bearing cup would fully seat, then cleaned the inside with a flap wheel, and re-assembled the front end...and the rest of the bike. So I could check pedal clearance and stare at it some more. :lol:
Here's how it sits now.
Overall it's just small things that I'm doing. A little off here, a small cut there.
Not working with a plan of action, just doing what comes to me as I go. Something that has bugged me is that stem. That joker is getting replaced. Need to find something with less rise.
