Decided to go bent - dropped the skrilla off at my local bike shop - Sprockets in porter TX - and they have them on order. Ill be posting pics when they come in \m/ I'm soooooper excited.
The Atomic BB got low
- Thread starter biknut
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Be careful at first, they take a little time to get used to. After you get used to them they start to feel normal, and regular forks feel weird.
I figure worst case senario, if I decide I don't like them on my motorized cranbrook, then ill put them on my regular pedal bike. I think my pedal bike would look super sweet laid out....
But I do have plans to put a china girl on the pedal bike. Plans for that one on hold atm. I might decide to sell the cranny to build the next bike. This hobby is ridiculous fun in my eyes even when I'm stupid frustrated.
But I do have plans to put a china girl on the pedal bike. Plans for that one on hold atm. I might decide to sell the cranny to build the next bike. This hobby is ridiculous fun in my eyes even when I'm stupid frustrated.
Was sitting around dreaming bout how my new forks will look and how low it will drop my bike. It then occurs to me that I might need the shorter cranks and then it leaves me wondering - if I do have to get shorter cranks, are all bottom brackets the same size? Are there different lengths I can get, I don't wanna be super short but then again if I order them and what if they aren't short enough?
Any answers to my questions would be greatly apperciated, thanks in advance. Oh and by the way its a cranbrook ( the orange one ) that I originally intend to put them on and if that doesn't work out the my pedal bike is a tour de hood. Had a decal on the top tube that said president but I'm unsure of the brand. Also I have no way to measure it unless you talkin bout a tape measure.
Any answers to my questions would be greatly apperciated, thanks in advance. Oh and by the way its a cranbrook ( the orange one ) that I originally intend to put them on and if that doesn't work out the my pedal bike is a tour de hood. Had a decal on the top tube that said president but I'm unsure of the brand. Also I have no way to measure it unless you talkin bout a tape measure.
Well there's good news and bad news. The good news is, I think a cranbrook has a 1" neck which makes it easy to install bent forks, because they come with a 1" steerer tube. The Atomic BB had 1 1/8" which made it more difficult.
The bad news is you'll probably need a shorter crank. Normal crank arms on a 26" bike are 165 to 170mm. The bent forks will lower the front of your bike about 3 inches. After lowering mine, the pedals were less than an inch off the blacktop. I could pedal in a straight line, but could barely make a turn without striking the pedals on the ground.
I think your bike has an American style one piece crank. I have seen some of those type cranks with short crank arms, I think they were 4 1/2 ". The Atomic BB came with a European style 3 piece crank. That made it a little easier because lots of different parts are more common for the 3 piece.
You can either find the shorter crank you need, or convert to 3 piece. One guy I know that bought the shorter American style crank like you need is truckd. You might send him a pm and ask about it.
I only had to buy shorter crank arms. I bought the shortest ones I could find that are 115 mm, which turned out just about right. Since they're so short I needed to change my gearing too, so I changed the front sprocket from a 44T to a 34T. You'll need to do something like that too if you get shorter crank arms, because it'll be hard to pedal if you don't.
What size rear wheel do you have and also what is the tooth count of your rear pedal sprocket?
I have 26" wheels. I bought the biggest rear sprocket I could find, which is a 22T, and the smallest front sprocket that would fit my crank which was a 34T. My crank arms are 115mm long.
It's still kind of hard to pedal, but I can manage it pretty well, and pedaling I can top out at 15 mph for very short distances.
26 in wheelset. I have no idea about tooth count on my factory sprockets. BBB suggested that I swap out my crank for a childs bike crank. I'm hoping to get away with keeping my factory cranks but I measured the space between my crank arms when they are at their lowest, to the concrete and is exactly 4in - if it drops 3in that's ridiculous close and ill be swapping cranks. I'm not trying to eat it when I turn.
If you have a coaster brake it's probably 18, or 19T. Mine was 18.
You have to keep in mind the crank needs to be wide enough to clear the engine. Getting a kids crank is probably a good idea as long as it's wide enough. I think the china girl engines are 5" wide.
If you can't find one that will work just convert to a euorpean style 3 piece crank, and you'll have plenty of options.
WOW that is a big rear sprocket and you really would have to be pumping your legs to reach 15 mph. You would need to turn that crank at about 115 rpm's in order to hit 15 mph.
WOoooooooooooo hooooooooooo - forks are in and soon as I clock out from work, I'm on my way to go pick them up \m/ stooooopid excited
Well .... Decided to go with the tour de hood and not the cranbrook. I figure since I'm keeping the tour de hood bike to build and I dig the front end sooooo much that I don't wanna have to part with it. I'm going to sell the cranbrook build as it is and use that skrilla to build the bike I wanted to build since the begining. Best news is I won't have to change cranks. They are just the right hight without swapping that I can still turn without scraping \m/
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That's real cool. I think you made a good choice. The frame shape compliments the shape of the forks.
So how do you like riding with them?
I really dig them. Ride was awkward for a few mins but I adjusted quickly. Turning is way different, but the ride is 100 percent softer than it was. Now I'm trying to decide on bars for it. I like the strait ones with the 5in rise on my cranbrook but I think on this one ill drop the rise and go for strait as possible. With the cruiser bars that are on it now, I look like a freakin clown sitting on it. Bars combined with a 6in layback seat post sould lay me out as low as my bike when riding. \m/