I bought this 1×1 frame in 2012 on craigslist with no fork for $45. It was paired with a fork I bought from Ben’s cycle at the time and was told it was a Burley tandem fork. Based on photographic evidence, it is too small for me.
In 2012 it was built up as a 700c commuter for the city of Chicago and I added all the tape. The narrow rando bars were ok for traffic, and it ran with a single front mechanical disc brake. One of the hoods was a dummy, but a lever-actuated bell could have been cool. 38mm Schwalbe marathon tires. The rear wheel is a surly hub with a chukker, but I don’t remember what the front wheel was. It was and still is a pake track crank with 46t and a rear 18t freewheel.
Despite what I consider a beautiful risk mitigation job, the bike was right-hooked by an Infiniti around 2016. I got it back from the fire department and it sat until 2021.
In 2021 I stripped it down and rebuilt it with a new front wheel and nitto choco bars. It primarily got ridden on the Illinois I&M canal trail, which is an amazing resource for people looking to get off of the road in the Illinois river valley. It worked well and ran with 38mm schwalbe g-one bite tires.
This year it was (re)converted to 26” wheels and surly terminal bars. The front brake was converted to a hydraulic shimano job, and the rear is a tektro canti. Velo orange cigne noodle stem, Roadrunner front bag, and the selle anatomica saddle for “husky” pants wearers. It’s now on 2.3” kenda k-rad tires.
by DJfunH8R
4 Comments
R2D2 vibes – cool shit!
Neat paint! Really sick bike all around
Cool, thanks for the SStory
I disagree with the statement about it being too small for you. Based on the evidence you’ve provided, it seems to be built for someone of appropriate height for the frame.
Either way, I love the progression of this bike. The frame already had so much character when you got it, and it only got better. Except for the part with the Infiniti I suppose.