Riding a boardtrack/cafe-- Ouch!

Speaking from experience, the cafe/boardtrack riding position is not for average rider or if you seeking comfort in your ride. The look of the forward position is great, but not very comfortable for long rides.

I think its down to frame size, With a strectched frame you wont have to hunch over so much to reach the bars.. Drop bars on a regular cruiser would kill my back in minutes, im 6,4 so i used a 28 inch ladies bike frame to gain some length.. when i sit up straight i can barely reach the bars and when im cruising on them my back is almost straight, well almost..

Lowering your bars and mowing them forwards could actully take some pressure of your back.. Just a theory..

When you are building/buying a regular bicycle you usally take your time to get the geometry of it right to suit the rider, here we usally go the other way around trying to fit the engine first, THEN the rider..

That riding position is for cutting down on drag at speed, nothing more. You may have to grin and bear it.

Low seat & high bars = comfort, high seat & low bars = speed...

I'll take comfort lol, the boardtrack bars look sweet and all, even if they're jus' upside down regular bars... but I'd only consider that for shows, racing, or for pics.

Ofc I don't really have a boardtrack replica anyway, jus' a vintage comfy cruiser sos I ain't flippin' em heh


I've seen ol' boardtrackers that had padding on the tank - if yer low enough, maybe that'd help?

Put the seat down as low as possible & also move it as far back as you can!

Boardtrack style bikes aren't going to be comfortable to ride, period.

When I did mine, I did the handlebars like the road-legal motorcycles of the day, with long Shelby-style handlebars. This gave a very upright seating position, but the long handlebars make low-speed riding pretty difficult (I copied the main dimensions off of a vintage motorcycle parts catalog that gave them... as far as I could find, the bicycles had crossbars on the handlebars, but the motorcycles didn't).



Whenever I start out, I look like a 6-yr old that learned to ride a bike the day before. I alternate between pedaling and walking for 15-20 feet sometimes.

When I get around to doing another vintage-style MB, I won't worry about copying exact period handlebars. I'll just do a vintage "seagull" style that will look right, but should still allow decent steering control at all speeds.
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Uhm? how old are you guys? I have a flipped BMX handlebar that puts my hands way below the toptube and it is pretty darn comfortable.. But then again im used to ride road bikes (the non motorized version) on the drops with skinny tires so anything thats not rattling my teeth to pieces is comfortable to me..

This is why I'm not getting rid of my cruiser when I build my BT bike. The cruiser will be for riding and the BT bike will be for being uncomfortable but looking cool.

42 Blue, Nice Bt. Do You Have Pic`s Of The Motor, Etc Set Up Posted Anywhere? Or Could You Post More? Ron

42blue15... that's a nice bike, but it's not a 'board track' style... It's more 'antique MC' style. still kewl tho!
Board Trackers have the down facing bars, which is what this threads about.

I consider my bike a vintage style bike, I have the flipped bars and low seat for the look and the riding position I wanted, but I didn't over do it. I set my grips just slightly higher than my seat and bike is extremely comfortable, even for extended rides.

So while I don't have a true board track look, I can ride with my my board track buddies without the pain in the back.