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the12volt

the12volt

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Jan 17, 2013
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Madisonville, Louisiana
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Hello RatRodBikes.com,

Kudos on a great site!

My friends call me Volt. For 27 years I installed mobile electronics of all sorts into almost anything you can imagine and have been running a website for mobile electronics installers since 1999. I'm 48 and now a semi-retired web developer with a fair amount of time to spend with the people I like and doing the things I enjoy.

Last July my girlfriend talked me into buying a bicycle so we could ride around our small town of Madisonville, Louisiana together. Since then I've spent many hours reading this site daily and have become a Born Again Bicycle Enthusiast. My girlfriend just calls me BABE. I now have 28 bicycles (including two new Mongoose Beasts), ten Brooks saddles, a Park Tool PCS-10, and a small collection of bits and pieces just waiting for the right bike.

I've been anxious to comment in many of the topics in this forum for months, but have been procrastinating writing my introduction because I keep getting caught up in the great content on this site and learning more as I do, or it's been nice enough to be outside to ride or play with a bike. Thankfully, today looks like one of those days :D

Cheers,
Volt
 
That was a pretty electrifying intro... :mrgreen:
Welcome!
 
Welcome!

I was a car stereo retail store owner and installer during the 80's (the early boom years for Rockford Fosgate, Linear Power, Orion, Precision Power and other high end U.S. made gear). It was a fun time... well before this type of equipment wound up in the big box stores at made in China bargain basement prices.

What's interesting is that there is an old school car audio enthusiast scene out there that reminds me of the vintage MTB and BMX crowd... interested in the early and mid 80's stuff.

Your website came along years after I got out of the business, but I still set up my own personal systems to this day and have visited The 12 Volt many times since you started it... a great resource!
 
Wow! Thanks for the warm welcome!

Luke, love your bikes!

Rat Rod, diggin' the comradery and attitudes here.

RatSphinx, I hope I don't disappoint you. I'll post a few photos here this weekend.

Hammond Eggz, great name. There should be a restaurant named after you in a town close to us (Hammond, LA).

cashman, koo! Hope it was helpful.

old_skool, I started installing in the 70's and remember it all very well. Very happy you still find my site useful.

Cheers,
Volt
 
A few photos as promised...

Here's the first bicycle I purchased (Schwinn Del Mar) in July, 2012 with a Schwinn Sanctuary I bought for my girlfriend shortly after.
bikes01.jpg


On both I greased all the dry bearings and replaced the 26" x 2.125" square profile tires with some 26" x 2.5" round profile tires (LBS). I added a Brooks B33, two Longaberger handmade baskets that she already had, an old Enwell headlight (ebay), a Pletscher double leg kickstand, a Nirve drink caddy (ebay), some floral leather grips (LBS), a horn (wally world), a 12V LED reflector/tail light (ebay), and a license plate and holder (ebay).

On my Del Mar, I replaced the seat post (ebay) and stem. I added a Brooks B190, another old headlight, a Greenfield kickstand, some leather grips, a Nirve drink caddy (ebay), a 12V LED reflector/tail light (ebay), and a license plate and holder (ebay). The next upgrades for these two bikes will be 3 speed hubs and some new pedals. I've been playing with different LED's and bulbs for the headlights and expect some more goodies in the mail this week, so hopefully I'll have a solution I like rather than cutting an old light.
bikes02.jpg

bikes03.jpg

bikes04.jpg

bikes05.jpg


Here's a shot of hers with my 2009 Raleigh Special (Bruiser 8i).
bikes06.jpg


This is my 1965 Hawthorn that took about six months to find all the bits I have on it.
bikes07.jpg


And here is my first Beast just out of the box. My red one should be here Thursday.
bikes08.jpg


Cheers,
Volt
 

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