I Want A Hot Rod Bike

[jyl]

I saw the most beautiful bike today.

It was a Schwinn road frame, black with chrome stays and fork, red banding. Black cranks, track pedals with old-school clips, a fixie. Black seatpost, black and red Selle Italia. Chrome drop bar, red partial tape, a single center-mounted brake lever for the black front centerpull brake. Nothing else.

Just a sleek, old-school, stripped-down hot rod of a bike.

Portland is perfect for these single-speed strippers. The city is basically flat, the roads are decent, the vibe is vintage.

I want one.

My commuter bike is so loaded down with stuff. Fenders. Rack. Saddle bag. Double headlights. Taillight. Seat bag. Pump. Bottle cage. Bell. Computer. 18 speeds, shifters, brakes, shock, blah blah. It was 20 lb back in 198_ but stuff keeps getting hung on it.

My fun bike is sleeker, but its still a Carrera to that bike's 550 Spyder.

I want to get a vintage frame, some of 531 or Columbus, and build me a hot rod. Anyone have tips? Inspiration pics? I'm not fixated on a fixie, probably would have a freewheel and a brake(s).

[pwd72s]

sorry, sold my reynolds tubed Raleigh Supercourse to Scott...think he turned it into a single speed hot rod. But maybe he could give you tips...

[Joe Bob]

I have a LeMond CF with Campy Chorus.....PM me for details.

[herr_oberst]

John, you should do this for sure.

My neighbor gave me an old road frame.

(Canadian, called a Gardin. Never heard of it, but it's a nice, tall frame, fits me pretty well)

I turned it into a budget hot rod, but I'm not buying wheels, not for this bike. I just leave it in one gear and pretend I have a single speed.

Blue frame, blue saddle, blue tires, rat trap pedals with no clips or straps, flat bars.

It's a pretty steel Columbus frame, nicely decorated lugs, chrome fork, horizontal dropouts, but, man, is it a flexy-flyer. I bet you can move the BB 3 inches side to side when you stand on it. The tubeset is Matrix, which is hardly Columbus' top o the line.

It's basically a cruiser to get me to the store or my girlfriends house, I can ride in flip flops.

(But my commuter bike is festooned exactly as yours is, it must weigh 65 pounds when it's loaded, ha ha.)

(And I have a steel Basso for long, fun rides)

[jyl]

Joe, thank you, it sounds very nice, but I'm looking for something even more retro.

Guys, tell me about the old Vitus frames, the lugged aluminum 979 and similar 1980's vintage frames. I lusted after these back in the day, but I was into mountain biking then, so I bought my mountain bike instead. I think the 979 bikes cost over $2K then, too rich then and too rich now. I see those Vitus frames go for $150-250 on eBay now. Whippy? Comfy? I'm not a serious cyclist, this will be basically a posing around town bike - there, being honest. 180 lbs or will be soon, with the leg muscle of an anemic 120 pounder - who's 90 years old.

Or, I'd like to find an old Raleigh 531 frame, like my old Gran Sport (crashed at 35 mph, wasted the fork and cracked the head tube). They made a Team Pro then too.

[ERH]

This should give you some ideas

Fixed Gear Gallery

You could certainly have the same look with a single speed.

Ed

[jyl]

Cool!

Also, tell me about the track bars aka bull horns? That seems to be what the poseurs here all ride. I was thinking drops.

[Laneco]

Bull-horns are real comfortable for me. Try them, you'll probably love them especially with just a little rise in the stem.

angela

[vash]

Get a Surly crossfit. It is retro looking and can be made into a single. Order the frame in black.

[masraum]

All of these posts, "I've got blah, blah, blah..."

No pics.

What the hell is wrong with you guys?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by jyl

Joe, thank you, it sounds very nice, but I'm looking for something even more retro.

Guys, tell me about the old Vitus frames, the lugged aluminum 979 and similar 1980's vintage frames. I listed after these back in the day, but I was into mountain biking then, so I bought my mountain bike instead. I think the 979 bikes cost over $2K then, too rich then and too rich now. I see those Vitus frames go for $150-250 on eBay now. Whippy? Comfy? I'm not a serious cyclist, this will be basically a posing around town bike - there, being honest. 180 lbs or will be soon, with the leg muscle of an anemic 120 pounder - who's 90 years old.

Or, I'd like to find an old Raleigh 531 frame, like my old Gran Sport (crashed at 35 mph, wasted the fork and cracked the head tube). They made a Gran Pro then too.

The 979s are soft and comfy frames (Due to the small diameter alum tubes) with a lot of flex compare to a modern day racing bikes. Keep in mind they were design for racing, stage racing (They really aren't as bad as most people make it sound). So, don't expect it to ride like a beach cruiser. The only thing about a bonded frame is that they sometimes come apart. Some of the earlier models did. I am almost sure Vitus solved the issue with the newer 979. They survive Paris Roubaix. Toughest one day bike race on both the body and the machine. It must be good.

I have a Look KG171 from around the same era that I raced and beat the heck out of. It held up well for many years. People tell me the glue failed on those too. I suppose I was one of the lucky ones. The build is very similar to the Vitus, except it was all carbon tubes. That bike flexed, it was soft and comfortable. I raced a Canondale CADD 3 after that. It was great for racing, but on most of my long training rides, I find myself going out with the Look 70% of the time.

If you are just going out to mess around for fun with a occasional rides where you make other bleed and cough out a lung, the 979 should be fine. Have fun with it.

Jeff

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Laneco

Bull-horns are real comfortable for me. Try them, you'll probably love them especially with just a little rise in the stem.

angela

They are more comfortable is it because they are up so much higher then your traditional drop bars?

[look 171]

Originally Posted by jyl

Cool!

Also, tell me about the track bars aka bull horns? That seems to be what the poseurs here all ride. I was thinking drops.

You want to look cool and fast, put on a track stem and an old fashion track bend steel bars. Steel is heavy, so you can try an old style Cinelli track style road bar. Popular in the late 70s early 80s for weirdos like myself. I road those for ten years. Love the hand position. Google Images

[David McLaughlin]

★ RATRODBIKES.COM ★ • Index page

Check out some of the bikes in the gallery here. Then check out the classifieds.

[David McLaughlin]

[asphaltgambler]

I was thinking more lowrider style, pedals just clearing the pavement, chrome chain-link steering wheel and green metal flake paint with chunks so big it look'd like someone poured gold frosted flakes in the clear.............................but that's me

[Racerbvd]

I have one on the back burner, but I'm building (have collected most of the parts other than Flame tires & seat....
Mine is based on a 1949 Schwinn Cycle Truck.


I'm going to have the frame, fork & bars Powder Coated Glass Black, using Blue anodized BMX rims & Tuf-Neck stem, DT spokes laced to Sturmey Archer Elite hubs & BMX 3 piece cranks. I'm going to try and get one of my fabricating buddies to fab up a custom rack/basket to hold a Pony Keg (removable, already have the keg) and our own Joe Bob to do the graphics & frame mounted sign (that will be the final touch)..

[jyl]

Okay, I know the chain is garish and I'm not sure what the shifters do, but itsa purdy.

[jyl]

[jwasbury]

Originally Posted by jyl

Guys, tell me about the old Vitus frames, the lugged aluminum 979 and similar 1980's vintage frames. I listed after these back in the day, but I was into mountain biking then, so I bought my mountain bike instead. I think the 979 bikes cost over $2K then, too rich then and too rich now. I see those Vitus frames go for $150-250 on eBay now. Whippy? Comfy? I'm not a serious cyclist, this will be basically a posing around town bike - there, being honest. 180 lbs or will be soon, with the leg muscle of an anemic 120 pounder - who's 90 years old.

I love old Vitus bikes...I have three.

Here is my fixed gear hot rod - 3 tube carbon vitus. I freakin' love this thing. Its been my primary steed since I built it this spring. The wheels were the pricey bit of this bike...Mavic Open Pros laced with a Phil high flange 28 hole track hub in front. In the rear is a 32 hole White Industries ENO eccentric hub. The ENO is an expensive piece, but it is the only clean way to be able to adjust chain tension on a fixed gear conversion using a verticle dropout frame. Aside from wheels, most everything else came out of my personal parts stash. Handle bars are Scott Lite Flite AT3 mountain bike bars.





And I have this Vitus 979 built up with a full period-correct Campy Croce D'Aune group. I rode the Montauk Century on this bike earlier this year, its an all-day comfortable machine:



The third vitus I built up is one for my wife...

Vitus have a reputation of being stupidly flexible, but I find them to be great riding bikes and have no issues with them. The springiness helps soak up bumps and vibrations. Full disclosure I am 5'8" 140-145 lbs (my frames are 52cm and 53cm).

I happen to really like springy flexible frames...my mountain bike (now converted to urban assault/commuter work) is a Breezer Cloud 9 with Ritchey Logic Prestige Chromoly tubes that are so thin that you can almost dent them by squeezing hard with your thumb and fore finger.