Huffy Klunker Progress Report

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It's been a busy time at Casa de Mesquite Hugger - not much time for building bikes, but we're getting closer. Grizz was nice enough to bring the Huffy out of storage for me.

From humble beginnings...

In some earlier versions, I changed the forks to add cantilever brakes, added a rear caliper brake, and added a derailleur to use as a chain tensioner. For now, those will all stay.

I've decided to build it as a 7-speed. I wanted to go with an internal 3-speed, but the internet consensus is that internally geared hubs don't hold up well to dirt and torque on mountain bike trails, especially for those of us who are gravitationally challenged. I also gave a lot of thought to running a single-speed, but I'm no superman when it comes to climbing hills. Maybe at the end of summer I'll be stronger :-)

 I keep looking at klunkers online, and a lot of them are really beautiful. This bike won't be that. The goal is a junky, low-money bike to ride and to ride soon. Most of the parts will be robbed from other projects in the garage. Electric Bridget is donating the tires. The pseudo trials bike is donating the pit-bike handlebars (that never quite fit in). The Bremer boys threw in a stem from a BMX they were scrapping. (Krylon helped the stem to not be gold.)

 The pedals, seat, and wheels, they're still to be determined, but they're in the garage somewhere.

 Hopefully, there'll be more news soon. May you be looking forward to your own projects. Thanks for reading along with mine.

 [A day later...]

 There is progress!
...to humble midpoints

I spent about 90 minutes on it last night, and it's looking like a bike! I haven't been able to ride it yet, but I'm sure happy with the way she looks. I added a Schwinn seat, wheels from a Motobecane and a Specialized, and the bars mentioned above. I also borrowed my wife's blow dryer and removed almost all the decals. I left the headtube Huffy: Made in China decal. It's okay to let your roots show, right?

What's left to make it ride-able?
  • Pedals - I didn't find any half-inchers lying about, but there should be some down at the shop.
  • Shifter - I have a shifter to add, but I still need to get some cable outer to add. And I need to hop back on youtube to review initial setup of a derailleur.
  • Brake cables - definitely need to replace the exisiting cables - very toasty!
  • Chain guard - it needs to come off!


Upgrades I'm wanting to add?
  • a good pair of matching sidepull brakes
  • a different chainring - something to fall between the two on there now
  • I'm still stupidly tempted to go single-speed with a coaster brake to keep it simple...
  • possibly a seatpost to push the seat back a bit - the top tube is a little short on this frame.

And I'm looking forward to every bit of it - especially bombing a trail on it!

Thanks for reading along! I'll share some more details when it's roadworthy.

PS. Thanks to to Grizz for the jumpstart and to everyone on Rat Rod Bikes for posting all the awesome Huffy and Klunker builds for inspiration.
Location: Lubbock, TX, USA

Comments

  1. Cycling Bargains BlogMarch 3, 2019 at 6:16 AM


    Nice looking Bike.

    Cycling Bargains

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 4, 2019 at 11:05 AM

    I am very impressed with that bike and I think it looks familiar. I bet that it is the red bike in the garage that I rode to roses when you and I were having bro bike time!!!

    ReplyDelete

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