stripping

I stripped all the paint off of the frame to prep it for welding. Though I don't have a welder or a place to do the work I was bored and feeling productive and had a couple hours before work so I busted out my grinder and wire wheel. I must say bike looks way cooler now and I think I will clear coat the bare metal when this whole project is done. It just has that bad ass "get the fuck out of my way" look now. In addition I also took off the chain guard as it looked corny and made a bunch of racket when riding, I flipped the handlebars, got rid of those girly streamers on the grips and switched out the seat for a springier, and more importantly more stylish saddle. Funny part about the seat was that at the local bike shop the had almost an identical seat for $130. I found this one online for $39 with shipping. I would like to give more support to them but this project is working out to cost a pretty penny so saving money whenever is possible has to take precedence in this situation.

So as long as we're talking about switching stuff out next up on the hit list is going to be the rear wheel setup. I first thought I was going to go with disk brakes on the front and back but being as this thing is going to be belt drive I cant put disks on the back as the axle will have to move along the horizontal drop outs to put tension on the belt. I remembered seeing scooters that had disk on the front and a drum brake on the back. I found a company, sturmey archer that makes a decent one that fits a freewheel and the local shop quoted me at $115. It only comes in 34 and 36 hole style so sigh...those pink 68 spoke rims are gonna have to go. Surly makes a 65mm wide rim I want to pair with a maxxis hookworm tire.







The forks and the front wheel are gonna have to go too as they are both uncompatable with a disk brake setup. Taking a little inspiration from old school choppers I would like to go with a double crown dual springer fork for added suspension as this is goiong to remain a hardtail. I dont know if anyone even makes such a thing as so far I've only been able to find them for motorcycles. But I'm sure something can be worked out