Sun bikes or 1x1 for klunking?

[Dethklok]

Ok so not so new to rat bikes, but pretty knew to klunkers and such (I remember them but never went klunkin myself) I found some smokin deals. One is on a sun cruiser seems decent for a klunker base although its not old school its cheap. I also was looking at a Surly 1x1 frame, yea I know totally not ratty or klunky but a solid bike much more diverse, I could have a SS wheelset and normal bars for full on mountain riding, and a coastie wheel with some high bars for bombing....Im kinda torn here...any adivce or insight would be helpful

 

[Bicycle808]

Hi there.

I'd say that the Sun doesn't make much sense for klunking, unless it's free and you're feeling very creative.

Surly 1x1s are neither rat nor klunk, but they are awesome frames, capable of swallowing massive tires and versatile enough for a good many builds.

I saw that you'd posted on that yellow/black Schwinn heavy duty that I was going to buy from Chuckz. That thing has a lot of klunk potential; if you really want it, let me know asap and I'll cancel my order for the frame with Chuckz...

 

[Dethklok]

Yea I was just about to get back to him that I'de take it but at the same time I don't want to buy nothing out from under ya.

 

[Bicycle808]

Naw, no worries. It's all yours; I think I'd rather gsee if he has another worksman INB...

 

[Dethklok]

cool, I appreciate it man!

I figured the sun cruisers arent worth it, and the 1x1 might still find its place in my stable but for now I can leave the klunking to this. Again much appreciated!

 

[Bicycle808]

No problem. Let Chuckz know... he's a great seller, for real.

 

[Dethklok]

just sent payment! can't wait to get her built up got a set of MTX33 rims needing to get laced up along with some bmx parts and some 5" riser bars off my old freestyle fixie.

And whats the opinion on velosteel coaster hubs? for the most part ive heard good things but a few negatives. Just want to hear some feedback from those that have tried them

 

[Bicycle808]

just sent payment! can't wait to get her built up got a set of MTX33 rims needing to get laced up along with some bmx parts and some 5" riser bars off my old freestyle fixie.

And whats the opinion on velosteel coaster hubs? for the most part ive heard good things but a few negatives. Just want to hear some feedback from those that have tried them

Funny you should mention it...

I have a velosteel hub laced up to (for real) a MTX33. I use it on my around-town cruiser. I like the hub overall; it looks great, seems to be made to last, etc. The thing is, after riding it for about 8months, I started having a problem where the hub would spin quite a bit before engaging; sometimes, the crank would revolve almost an entire 360 before the hub picked up and started moving! :shock: Apparently, this is a fairly common issue with these hubs

After doing some searches online, and consulting with this dude named Guy from elegantwheels.net, I figured that the answer was to repack with a smaller quantity of lighter-weight grease. I did, and the problem's been solved. Been running well for about a month now.

The hub runs great in terms of having very little friction while coasting or accelerating. The drag on some other coaster hubs is much more noticeable. The flipside is, the brake is really weak compared to Shimano cb-e110 and vintage US-built CB hubs. If I'd gotten that Heavy duti, my plan was to run it with a velosteel out back and a disc up front.

 

[yoothgeye]

I'm in on this late, but glad you steered from the Sun frame. I have one on my junk pile right now, it's a later model Sun ladies frame that bent in the middle, it was my neighbor's bike, he's heavy, but shouldn't be heavy enough to bend that frame.

 

[Dethklok]

ok very happy I got steered away from the sun haha unless we are talking over 3 bucks I dont think a frame should bend under regular riding...

And I guess great minds think alike? (lost minds according to my old lady) Thanks for the info on the velosteels that does help a lot. But for straight CB klunking, no front brake, would you suggest the shimano then?

 

[yoothgeye]

ok very happy I got steered away from the sun haha unless we are talking over 3 bucks I dont think a frame should bend under regular riding...

And I guess great minds think alike? (lost minds according to my old lady) Thanks for the info on the velosteels that does help a lot. But for straight CB klunking, no front brake, would you suggest the shimano then?

I just use whatever I have, if it ends up not working, I try something else. This is easier if you have a bunch of parts just laying around though, if you are buying, then research is your friend. I haven't beaten real hard on a coaster brake to tell you much... hold up, I take that back.

My motorized bike (gas) is running a coaster brake only, it's a shimano, but I don't know the model, it has done lots of stops from 30mph+ with no issues.

 

[Dethklok]

cool thats pretty .... good for a shimano coastie! I still have my old coaster 27" wheel...cant remember if its a sun or a shimano gonna have to dig to find out haha

 

[Bicycle808]

If you're only running a coaster, I'd go with the shimano. When I "panic-stop" on my townbike, I pretty much need the front drum. The Velosteel doesn't have enough squeeze to slow a big dude like me down. New shimano cb-e110's cost a cool twin; used ones are all over the place for free or near-free.

Shimano has called every coaster singlespeed hub the cb-e110 for a long time now. It was preceeded by the cb-d110, etc. Old ones were made in Japan and are really good; newer ones are made by KT in Taiwan. They're better than the usual KT hubs, and probably my second choice for CB hubs.

You might wanna think about running a front brake. The Mt. Tam guys all ended up running drums or cantis up front. Cool thing about the Heavy Duti is it's got a 1.125" headtube, so you can run whatever fork you want. Alot of options out there.

Ifyou wanna run straight bomber, with just a CB, i say go for it. But I wouldn't build a front wheel around that plan. Run whatever 26" you got and try going bomber-style on your trails. Some folks like it, but you might wanna consider other options.

I built a Worksman with SA drums front&rear; it's pretty good for my trails, and keeps things lookin' old-timey. I imagine they'd overheat on an extended downhill, though.

 

[CCR]

Which Sun frame were you guys talking about ? I'm kind of digging the Men's Cruz frame, the ladies frames don't look like they would hold up though as pointed out. Ive bent old girls chicago schwinns before, usually being stupid and smacking something.

I do like the fact that they are 1-1/8 and have an integrated headset, the straightbar looks are cool too. That being said, I would trust a "cheap" bikes stock fork for something off road ...

 

[old_skool]

Those Sun frames are 6061 aluminum, but the forks are mild steel... the Cruz men's frame might be strong enough for some spirited klunking off-road, but you'd want to get a better fork (chromoly)

 

[Bicycle808]

Which Sun frame were you guys talking about ? I'm kind of digging the Men's Cruz frame, the ladies frames don't look like they would hold up though as pointed out. Ive bent old girls chicago schwinns before, usually being stupid and smacking something.

I do like the fact that they are 1-1/8 and have an integrated headset, the straightbar looks are cool too. That being said, I would trust a "cheap" bikes stock fork for something off road ...

I assumed he was talking about a Sun Atlas, but who knows?

Everyone has their preferences, but i wouldn't touch that Cruz, especially offroad. If you don't trust a cheap bike's fork offroad, how about a cheap aluminum frame? I'd be a little bit wary of that. Integrated headsets on a chromo bmx bike are one thing, but on that thing, you might kill the headtube permanently before that fork even has a chance to fold on you.

Of course, maybe i'm wrong and it's bombproof, but experience with similar stuff would suggest otherwise.

 

[CCR]

Oh I know, reputations are a hard thing to shake, especially when they are deserved. Was just digging the frame on the cruz before this thread started, I figured an aluminum frame would just crack and snap rather than bend during any big bump absorbing rides. (light/cheap/strong ... pick two theory). I also found it odd a "cheap cruiser bike" had some details of some of the "higher end" bikes. Even most of the BMX brands out there still use pressed in cups on their low end entry level stuff. I guess slapping a 3 speed on a bike is higher end for most cruiser bike lines though :lol:

I would trust one of these to ride around town on just fine though, and the sunlite brand does make decent stuff, have you seen the sun crusher with its 26x3.5 tires? I wouldnt mind having a set of those myself

 

[Bicycle808]

I hear you about earned reps, and I wanna weigh in saying that i happen to LOVE cheap stuff. I try to find a balance there, between the two.

I suspect that the cruz would likely fail at or near a weld, rather than just being the usual aluminum failure. FWIW, I'm a confirmed steel guy, but a lot of ppl have gotten alot out of 6ooo-series aluminum. Just typically not on a low-end cruiser.

As for sunlite branded stuff, I suspect they just buy a lot of cheap stuff from various makers and lump it all together as "sunlite". That being said, there's a lot of babies in that bathwater, so don't throw it out just yet. You can get good sunlite stuff, at least from a "bang:buck" standpoint. I haven't taken a look at their fatbike tires just yet, but I'll bet they're pretty cool. Thing is, I'm kinda odd in that my obsession with fat tires ends somewhere around 2.5". I haven't ever run anything fatter than 29x2.55" WTB Weirwolf LT's.... Got a lot in the 2" to 2.5" range, though.

Oh I know, reputations are a hard thing to shake, especially when they are deserved. Was just digging the frame on the cruz before this thread started, I figured an aluminum frame would just crack and snap rather than bend during any big bump absorbing rides. (light/cheap/strong ... pick two theory). I also found it odd a "cheap cruiser bike" had some details of some of the "higher end" bikes. Even most of the BMX brands out there still use pressed in cups on their low end entry level stuff. I guess slapping a 3 speed on a bike is higher end for most cruiser bike lines though :lol:

I would trust one of these to ride around town on just find though, and the sunlite brand does make decent stuff, have you seen the sun crusher with its 26x3.5 tires? I wouldnt mind having a set of those myself

 

[Dethklok]

so wait for the heavy duti frames I can run any standard headset?

 

[CCR]

so wait for the heavy duti frames I can run any standard headset?

Chicago Schwinn canti frames take a 1", the newer style frames do use a 1-1/8" headset. You can find reducers or mix headsets to run whatever fork you want though.