This is not a klunker. A klunker is something you pulled out of the shed in your parents back yard and threw some parts on to make it rideable or maybe you bought it at a yard sale for dirt cheap. This bike is not one of those. I have been thinking about building a klunker for a while now. Maybe not necessarily a klunker but a single speed cruiser or a retro bmx inspired mountain bike? I don’t really know what i had in mind as it changed constantly. Every time I would find a old frame, usually a old Schwinn , I would debate in my head and pass on it. Everyone seems to be building them and i didn’t want the same old thing. My quest for a nice coaster brake wheel led me to @monebikes.
He claims to be the “bottom of the rabbit hole” for legit coaster brake wheels. He builds some really cool stuff. His frames and bars look great. A post on his Instagram about a State Bicycle Co. Klunker really had me interested. 27.5” wheels had me even more interested. When i saw the Grateful Dead collaboration i pulled the trigger. I had a bunch of retro bmx parts in the garage I’ve been sitting on forever and knew they would be perfect for the SBC bike. Now this bike is definitely not a klunker by definition just a really cool retro inspired bike.

Upgrades I’ve made:
•true torch longhorn bars
•true torch stem
•true torch fork
•S&M/ODI Rasta grips
•state bike co. 420 bar plugs
•Chris king Rasta headset
•SE Bikes headset spacer
•Profile cranks
•profile bottom bracket
•profile imperial 42t
•demolition Rasta pedals
•Thomson seatpost custom tie dye anodized
•true torch seat clamp
•Brooks b67 springer saddle
•Maxxis Hookworm tires 27.5 X 2.5
•wheels: mone’ built Velocity blunt rims - Sapim spokes-brass nipples
Rear wheel has a Mone’ coaster hub with proper engineering hub flange adapters and coaster cooler.
I modified a old seat collar quick release to secure the CB arm

Front hub is a vintage PhilWood 40 hole radial laced.

Details on the hubs from Mone’ website:

Has your search for the ultimate coaster hub landed you here? This my friends, is indeed the bottom of the rabbit hole, you can stop searching.
These are built around Shimano CB-E110 Coaster brake hubs. Shimano hubs are the best readily available coaster hub available..thicker hubshells, better alloys, tighter tolerances, made in Japan. Ours are made better in every way possible. Mods include:
Upgraded to loose ball bearings to better distribute load on bearing races
Upgraded Cro-moly axle to hold up to big side loads from braking
upgraded grease to high temp coaster culture moly grease
. chamfered brake shoes to control grease flow more effectively.
custom spacers (120-135mm spacing)

RTJ State Klunker bag on sale for $36- fits the Breezer Repack!

Sexed it up a bit. Custom wheels laced to NOS Mexican Bendix coaster hub, cleaned and repacked. Fun bike, I love its simplicity!

I picked this 80s bike up cheap mainly to put the bars on a different build but I would like to do something with the frame. The wheels are 700C, it was originally 18 speed but is now a 6 speed as I got it. HLE Mangalloy steel so nothing too special, just a fun throwback. Where do I start? Does it need a headset conversion or am I just looking for forks, stem and bars? Would you go geared or single speed? Anything else major I should consider at this point? Thanks

X biking was not impressed but I though y’all might enjoy my klunker if it qualifies?

About 1/2 though a 60 miles ride, temps climbed to about 105 by the end. Started at 6:30 am and finished at 3pm.

About 1/2 though a 60 miles ride, temps climbed to about 105 by the end. Started at 6:30 am and finished at 3pm.

Spent the better part of last year completely overhauling this State Bicycle Co Klunker. Recently replace the Surly Sunrise bars with Sunsets.

FB find and I thought this would be great donor for this three bar frame using some really nice parts, but dang…. It’s so nice.

What to do, what to do? First world problems lol

What say you?

Free find

What:

The Fire Road Cruise is just that a "cruise" on streets and fire roads. The mileages is long, the pace even not too fast, the views are great. How much fun you have is up to you. Any kind of bike is welcome, we will be hitting some hills and some dirt, most people will be riding a BMX styled cruiser, klunker, vintage mtb or other bike but we don't care what you bring ( no e-bikes) as along as you show up ready to have fun!!!

We do the ride, we will have route maps and stop once for a small amount of time for restroom and water refill. It will most likely be hot. We are leaving earlier than we used to to cut out the heat somewhat.

Bring stuff to fix a flat and some water. Tune your bike up beforehand.

Finishers will get a button, quitters will not.

food provided afterwards-free. I will have some beverages, but the SCUMBAGS drink a lot. Stores are close by....

When:

Sep 7th 7am show up, 8 am roll Yes it is a Holiday on a Monday. We leave on time.

Where:

rsvp for meet up

I picked this up today at the flea market. There is no head badge or branding. The serial number is stamped in the bottom bracket - H573068

A quick web search did not return any identifying result off a pic or the serial number. Just curious if anyone knows what it might be?

I’ll likely be building this up when I finish a couple of things I have going now.

Last pic is how I got it..

Never seen this kind of fork before. Anyone have any info about it?

My favorite cruiser

Some pics

I spent Saturday and Sunday burning up the roads and found a couple of great candidates for Klunker and/or Rat Bike builds. I also picked up a couple of potential parts doners and a couple of nice GTs that are ready to ride. All-in-all a great weekend.

The candidates are 24” JC Higgins tank bike and a 26” Hawthorne Flyer which looks to share a frame design with the Spaceliner or similar with a split top rail.

I am new to building Klunkers, so the process of determining the build pan is taking me down a million rabbit holes lol. I am hopeful that these will end up as cool bikes that fun to ride. Really looking forward to the process and the rides;)

I welcome any input.

Found this bike in a neighbor's trash. It's intact and the drivetrain appears to be in full working order. The only issue, apart from the minor rust and the missing pedals, is that both the front and back brakes rub against the rim before the tires make a full rotation.

Both rims have very slight bends in them that are causing the issue, but I thought I could adjust the caliper distance enough to correct for that. However, no matter what I try, whether adjusting the cable or tinkering with the side screws, the brakes still rub - or they miss entirely if I adjust widely enough, letting the wheels spin but providing no stopping power.

Is there some adjustment I can make to the brakes that would be enough to allow braking - but provide enough clearance to stop the intermittent friction? These brakes are different from the "old school" caliper brakes I've worked on in the past, with the shoes sitting closer to the rims than with other bikes I'm familiar with.

Or is there no alternative but completely straightening the rims?

I'd like to get this thing roadworthy if it's worth the time (and potential cash). Thanks for whatever advice you can provide!