A New Old-ish Schwinn Klunker in a Day

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First ride - Saturday evening

Taken at 9 am

Taken at 5:30 pm

Really, I went backwards. It all started with this youtube video:

Klunkers 3 on YT

    I've watched the video a few hundred times or so. The big guy on the yellow bike with no cables, shifters, or brake levers became my idol for a week or two. The video made me want a klunker. Specifically, it made me want a yellow Transition Klunker, but that bike was no longer being produced. It didn't take me long, though, to figure out that the TK was mostly an upgraded copy of on old straight-bar Schwinn frame. A little web surfing let me know that Schwinn is still producing a version of that bike for industrial use and I could buy a new one for around $450. (And it comes in yellow!) But I'm too cheap for that kind of fun!


    Then, I rediscovered the Rat Rod Bikes forum and found a lot of people building bikes based on used Schwinn Heavy Duti frames they purchased from a forum member. So I bought one a few weeks back for considerably less than $450.

    This weekend I was blessed with an amazing thing - some guiltless garage time. I used that time to assemble the bike I'd been wanting all along. (I cheated a little on the klunker build rules - the bike has a 3-speed Shimano Nexus rear hub, but it does still have a coaster brake.)

    She rides great. The big motorcycle handlebars feel goldilocks right - thanks Spencer! The only thing left to change is a new rear sprocket with a few less teeth so I can use 1st and 2nd for cruising and 3rd for my rare need for speed.

Okay, I'll quit rambling on, but I wanted to share the newby.

May you be blessed with time to build and ride, to get out and enjoy the world around you.

Be well, friends!

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