2 Wheels Maybe

Klunker #1 Look, Ma - no cables! Two Days ago saw the maiden voyage for another Mesquite Hugger klunker. I'm stoked - this one is fairly legit by OG klunker standards: well-used frame, single-speed, coaster brake, and most parts sourced from other junky old bikes. Yes, I feel hip or hep or something like that! The frame is cool for a couple of reasons - it's a Worksman INB - one of those oh-so-rare made in America (New York!) industrial bikes. This particular bike was (very well) used to get around a warehouse. It still has all the scars, stickers and tags from that former life. Production! Love the tag! The other thing that makes it cool is that it feels big when you ride it, and comfortable. It feels like the bikes I rode as a kid. It makes me want to learn to wheelie again! I've been wanting a 26" BMX bike, but now there's no need. And, honestly, it's ugly enough that I can't imagine anyone wanting to steal it. Win, win, and win! Klunker #2 A nice surpri...

This past week, a rare opportunity presented itself. I went riding strictly for fun! I built the Huffy Klunker specifically for riding the bike trails at Lubbock's own Mae Simmons Park and I finally got to try it out. (It says, "I'm stumped".) I headed west on the faster trails, but the gravelly uphills were more challenge than I was up for, so I headed east where the trail is more level, has great curves, gentle berms, and a plethora of mesquite trees, prairie dogs, and seven-lined skinks - all great stuff for a mesquite hugger like me. What did the fish yell when it swam into a concrete wall? There were lots of birds out too. My favorite was a snowy egret stalking the mossy shallows below the dam. Ignore the finger and check out the view - water, windmills, and trees! The riding was a blast. There were a couple of jerseyed guys my age out there on 29" fully-suspended rigs. I hope they were having fun and getting away from thei...

Yep, my most recent distractions have been variations on the klunker. I've always been fond of upcycled vehicles, the ones where you take something old and uncared-for and turn it into something useful and enjoyed. Cafe racers, resto-mods, rat rods, lowriders, bobbers, all of them have caught my eye over the years. And the klunker fits right in. About forty years ago, some people in California started using old balloon-tired cruiser bicycles and modifying them to become the prototype for the modern mountain bike. If you do an image search for a klunker, you get something that looks like this: That's a whole lot of DIY retro-coolness! But wait.... Yep, at least eight of those are not DIY - they are new! Sure enough, for those of you with klunker lust who'd rather ride than wrench, there are options out there, and some are relatively affordable. The Retrospec Sully For a little over $300 you can have a well equipped klunker with retro looks and qu...

Yep, I'm a can't-leave-well-enough-alone kind of guy when it comes to bicycles. The body likes to ride and the brain likes to tinker with new ways of doing things. To keep it all balanced, I've been building a new-to-me e-bike to haul me to work, shopping, and coffee and to keep me from burning more gasoline. So, let's talk inspiration: Klunker A while back I wrote a series of articles on how to build a dependable and sturdy e-bike for $500 or less, and I wanted to take it from theory to reality.  So, I'd been looking for the bike to build that would cover a lot of needs. I landed on electric cargo klunker! In case you're not nerd enough to know what a klunker (or clunker)  is, it's the precursor to the mountain bike. The old cruisers that daring pioneers (otherwise known as crazy people) turned into off-roaders to help them fly down mountains. Klunkers appeal to me even though there are no mountains to fly down around here. (Want to learn mor...