My Girlfriend's Bike..pt 5
Mar 18, 2008 · 08:53 AM · permalink
So here it is: my girlfriend’s Kappa. It started out as a retro-style BMX frame with modern geometry and tubing diameters, and then with Jeremy Sycip’s help I devolved the bike back into BMX’s genesis, the Schwinn Stingray. Everyone who sees knows it’s something cool, but they don’t know what it is exactly.
I stripped the best components off of my discarded BMX bike and put them on her bike. Now it has Shimano DXR hubs and brake lever, XTR M952 v-brake, and a Dura-Ace bottom bracket. The crank is actually the Tiagra triple road crank that I used on my travel bike when I toured Japan last summer. I put an old school Shimano BMX 44-tooth chainring on, the only real vintage part on the bike. Rather than being four decades old, the Apple Krate saddle is actually a Schwinn factory repro, but it really makes the bike visually pop. Now that the bike has braze-ons for the sissy bar, the seat is secured a bit better.
The last touch is the Dimension “star” grips and a chainring guard that I made by griding off the teeth from a 53 tooth Vuelta road ring.
I’m not entirely happy with the fork. Someday I might send it to Sycip to have brake bosses brazed on to it and then powdercoated to match the frame, but that’ll have to wait. I told my girlfriend she needs to ride it a lot first, then we can talk about more mods. So far, she’s been riding everyday to work with it.
I spotted it parked outside Epicenter Fitness on 3rd today at lunch! Hard to miss that, um, “piece or art”….
Wow! Very nice!
Bike hugger decals?
We welcome your comments, however all comments are moderated. Offensive or off-topic comments will be deleted and not displayed. Also, please note that comments are owned by the commenter and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bike Hugger or it's affiliates.