# 1930's Schwinn Excelsior Klunker Replica



## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

here she is. it's about 80% done at this point but i just shook it out on the Keyesville downhill anyway and loved every second of it.

not everything is period correct so i'd call this in the spirit of a Klunker. i wanted a sealed bottom bracket and double walled RM20 rims. next i'm planning on dropping an old 1970's road bike seat tube into this thing so i can actually ride it more than 3 minutes without bending the seat post back.


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

That things really cool, Sky. Im motivated now to finish mine. Next year we can have a fun clunker battle.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> That things really cool, Sky. Im motivated now to finish mine. Next year we can have a fun clunker battle.


look forward to it buddy


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Where'd those TA cranks come from? I don't remember those when 3 of your chainring bolts were loose.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

No crank mods pics or shots of the two seatposts that were bent to hell? 


I got a chance to follow Sky down a practice run at Keyesville. He really tossed that big ole' thing around. It was pretty cool to watch!


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

ssmike said:


> Where'd those TA cranks come from? I don't remember those when 3 of your chainring bolts were loose.


yeah, it had TA's but the practice runs were killing the inner chainring bolts. you can see in the above photos that at least one is missing by the time i took that photo. soon i was down to just two so i decided to run the Specialized cranks off my Salsa for the DH. problem was with the wacky new chainline i had to run the big chainring where the middle chainring usually goes. that and the back freewheel has a bad low gear. that left me with 4 gears. good thing they were the 4 gears i needed to pull off a second place


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> No crank mods pics or shots of the two seatposts that were bent to hell?
> 
> I got a chance to follow Sky down a practice run at Keyesville. He really tossed that big ole' thing around. It was pretty cool to watch!


here's what a couple 3 minute runs does to two Schwinn seat posts.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Waaaait a second...how many runs did you get in on that thing?

I'm looking forward to a rematch next year. I'm gunning for the 2nd place spot, you can be sure of that!


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

Rumpfy said:


> Waaaait a second...how many runs did you get in on that thing?
> 
> I'm looking forward to a rematch next year. I'm gunning for the 2nd place spot, you can be sure of that!


i got two practice runs. just as many as you 

you want my second place title huh. get a 40 pound bike that doesn't stop and you're on biatch


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Veloculture said:


> i got two practice runs. just as many as you /QUOTE]
> 
> You guys got two runs! I only got one - I'm getting ready earlier next year and I'm gunning for - well, to at least beat Rumpfy. I say, next year if you race in the 20+ year old class, you have to at least be older than your bike


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Veloculture said:


> i got two practice runs. just as many as you
> 
> you want my second place title huh. get a 40 pound bike that doesn't stop and you're on biatch


hahaha! You shoulda heard Rumpfy on the way home. Trying to think of all the ways he coulda cut a few seconds off his run.  Good stuff.

Watch out for SSMike, he only got one pre-run in I seem to recall him being right on your tail.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Fillet-brazed said:


> hahaha! You shoulda heard Rumpfy on the way home. Trying to think of all the ways he coulda cut a few seconds off his run.  Good stuff.
> 
> Watch out for SSMike, he only got one pre-run in and wasnt too far back.


Haha. Totally. I _know_ I could have put down a better time!

I guess I should also try and keep the rubber side down.


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Rumpfy said:


> Haha. Totally. I _know_ I could have put down a better time!
> 
> I guess I should also try and keep the rubber side down.


and I have to not come to a complete stand-still, track-stand stop at the end of the rock garden.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

ssmike said:


> Veloculture said:
> 
> 
> > i got two practice runs. just as many as you /QUOTE]
> ...


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Rumpfy said:


> ssmike said:
> 
> 
> > I'll make you work for it as hard as Sky makes me work for his 2nd place.
> ...


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

Veloculture said:


> i got two practice runs. just as many as you
> 
> you want my second place title huh. get a 40 pound bike that doesn't stop and you're on biatch


Game on!


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

ssmike said:


> Rumpfy said:
> 
> 
> > Ahh, it's all good fun!
> ...


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

Fillet-brazed said:


> hahaha! You shoulda heard Rumpfy on the way home. Trying to think of all the ways he coulda cut a few seconds off his run.  Good stuff.
> 
> Watch out for SSMike, he only got one pre-run in I seem to recall him being right on your tail.


no giving Eric pointers Dave


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

I'm impressed, because I would never bother to go to this much trouble and because there is a good reason to ride a modern bike.

To be truly authentic you should swap the alloy cranks for a one-piece steel set, lose the four-bolt BMX stem for the traditional Ashtabula, and then lose the 1978 tubular BMX fork for a stamped flat-blade Ashtabula with fork braces. If you want to go with authentic wheels, you don't need to use a [heavy] double-wall S-2 2.125 steel rim, because a single-wall 1.75 rim will take the 2.125 tire.

But that's just me, and I wouldn't have to locate all that stuff. Ya done good.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

Repack Rider said:


> I'm impressed, because I would never bother to go to this much trouble and because there is a good reason to ride a modern bike.
> 
> To be truly authentic you should swap the alloy cranks for a one-piece steel set, lose the four-bolt BMX stem for the traditional Ashtabula, and then lose the 1978 tubular BMX fork for a stamped flat-blade Ashtabula with fork braces. If you want to go with authentic wheels, you don't need to use a [heavy] double-wall S-2 2.125 steel rim, because a single-wall 1.75 rim will take the 2.125 tire.
> 
> But that's just me, and I wouldn't have to locate all that stuff. Ya done good.


sure, i know what it SHOULD be but i needed something to hold up to my riding style. i say it's in the SPIRIT of a clunker. i wanted to race this thing hard in rock gardens ya know


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

Veloculture said:


> sure, i know what it SHOULD be but i needed something to hold up to my riding style. i say it's in the SPIRIT of a clunker. i wanted to race this thing hard in rock gardens ya know


Of course. The reason I moved on from those bikes was that they only lasted a couple of months under me, then I had to find another one.


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## ScottyMTB (Oct 26, 2005)

*Hot Clunker*

Nice job Sky! That thing is off the hook. Dig those crazy bars. You need a seatpost with the brace, like a cbr or cw.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

ScottyMTB said:


> Nice job Sky! That thing is off the hook. Dig those crazy bars. You need a seatpost with the brace, like a cbr or cw.


the problem is the seatpost is 3/4" and not 7/8". if it were 7/8" the fix would be simple. i can made a solid steel post or change the entire seat tube out with a 70's road bike seat tube. i believe those are my only two options. i'd like to be able to use this as a regular xc bike until i get around that problem it's never going to happen.


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## ScottyMTB (Oct 26, 2005)

*Seat Post*

Bummer.
SE style seatposts are 13/16, which would be a tad large as well. An old trick that might work is to get a 3/4 diameter chromoly bmx handlebar and cut it off, leaving you a home made laid back seat post. Or a 3/4 chromoly fork tube if you have some forks you don't mind cutting up.


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Veloculture said:


> the problem is the seatpost is 3/4" and not 7/8". if it were 7/8" the fix would be simple. i can made a solid steel post or change the entire seat tube out with a 70's road bike seat tube. i believe those are my only two options. i'd like to be able to use this as a regular xc bike until i get around that problem it's never going to happen.


SST (BMX rotor company) made a seat called a Command post at one time, There was a plate brazed inside the tube in-line with the direction a seat would flex. Basically, it prevented the seat from bending. I wonder if a plate like that could be welded inside a 3/4" crmo tube and then you could weld a top to it that would fit to your seat clamp.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

ssmike said:


> SST (BMX rotor company) made a seat called a Command post at one time, There was a plate brazed inside the tube in-line with the direction a seat would flex. Basically, it prevented the seat from bending. I wonder if a plate like that could be welded inside a 3/4" crmo tube and then you could weld a top to it that would fit to your seat clamp.


yeah, i suppose that would work better than what it has right now. i'll see if i can pick up a piece of scrap 3/4" cro-moly to start with.


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## scooterendo (Jan 30, 2004)

*Klunker Seat Post fix*

Solid aluminum rod cut to length won't bend under most conditions. Weight? Who cares, it's a Klunker! Alan Bonds turned me on to this when he built me up this Klunker. Thanks Alan!


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

scooterendo said:


> Solid aluminum rod cut to length won't bend under most conditions. Weight? Who cares, it's a Klunker! Alan Bonds turned me on to this when he built me up this Klunker. Thanks Alan!


thanks, yeah i actually already figured out that fix on my own. works well in conjunction with a longer Stingray post. another of my bikes has a solid steel milled rod for a post. i should post that on a weight weenie web site for kicks


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## 1FG rider (Jul 9, 2004)

*I think I lost 3 lbs...*



Veloculture said:


> thanks, yeah i actually already figured out that fix on my own. works well in conjunction with a longer Stingray post. another of my bikes has a solid steel milled rod for a post. i should post that on a weight weenie web site for kicks


I had this laid back seatpost on my retro cruiser with a steel rod inserted and it still bent so I had the stock seat tube cutout and replaced with a 27.2 seattube. Huge weight difference!


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

1FG rider said:


> I had this laid back seatpost on my retro cruiser with a steel rod inserted and it still bent so I had the stock seat tube cutout and replaced with a 27.2 seattube. Huge weight difference!


cool, i thought of doing that too. who did the work? how much?


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## 1FG rider (Jul 9, 2004)

*$60 including tubing..*



Veloculture said:


> cool, i thought of doing that too. who did the work? how much?


Really nice frame builder by the name of Denis Duty up here in Tustin did all the frame mods for me. I ride this bike every weekend and after the seat tube modification, I've never had any second thoughts about bombing down trails.


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

seriously..how much does it weigh?


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## 1FG rider (Jul 9, 2004)

*Almost three pounds worth of steel were shaved.*



colker1 said:


> seriously..how much does it weigh?


When I went to pick up my frame I told Denis that it was noticibly lighter so we threw it on his scale and it was around a 2.8 lb difference. Mind you the lost weight includes the old seatpost clamp with quick release, cutout portion of the old seat tube, laid back seatpost with steel rod insert and multi piece seat clamp. I never did an accurate weighin after installing the aluminum seatpost with integrated clamp and aluminum seatpost binder, but the weight savings were significant.


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