[Rik]

After fun and games building this up from my ideas in my previous thread, I present you, the bastard:

Take a DK General Lee 24"
Stick Mozo R500 forks on it, with a SMO rim, and chunky MTB bars+stem.
Realise your brakes are crap, get rid of the gyro, stick V's up front, get decent levers. Sand rims with orbital sander, get new brake pads, smile as the bike skids and endos with ease and precision.
Realise the bastard steers like a barge, pull forks apart, jam a MCU space under the topout spring to drop the front end down 20mm, turn stem upsidedown and stick spacers on top of it. Go for a ride, and grin like an idiot when you find it has (relatively) sharp handling and can be thrown around easily.

The result: An awesome riding bike that goes, stops and turns, and has the strength to handle everything I'm going to throw at it, cost 1/3rd the price I'd have paid for something like a DMR Rythm or similar.
3 piece cranks will be next thing to install, once I find some work and some money, and then in the long run, a new rear rim might be on the cards (I need something that's as strong as the front wheel), but until I break anything, I'm happy as it is!
This has been alot of fun, I can see the bike lasting a long time with a few tweaks, it's simple and reliable, and will do everything I need. F'n great fun

 

[Squid]

Way to go, that's friggen cool!!!! Looks like a great park/urban/dj weapon!

 

[Mtbkngrl]

Bastardized is a good way to decribe whatever that is......

 

[Echo]

Yeah I think 3 pc cranks will be the first thing you end up getting... looks good though

 

[Squid]

Originally posted by Mtbkngrl
Bastardized is a good way to decribe whatever that is......

Hey, be nice!

Rik, is it just me, or do you run your brake levers reversed?

 

[BrokenChain]

Originally posted by Squid
Hey, be nice!

Rik, is it just me, or do you run your brake levers reversed?

He sure does.

 

[Booker]

Looks good man. After seeing your bike i may peel the stickers off my general lee. It seems to be a popular "crossover" bike.

 

[Rik]

Originally posted by Squid
Hey, be nice!

Rik, is it just me, or do you run your brake levers reversed?

We're in Summer right now, water spins down drains opposite to your way, we drive on the lefthand side, and right-front brakes are normal, welcome to Australia
I prefer it that way, my right hand has all the control for nice phat endo's (even though I almost faced planted as I screamed into college this morning, not a good party trick), and when I get my motorbike license next week, the right-front brakes will match up. I'm still trying to figure out why right-rear is so popular over there


And yeh, as for the stickers, I thought they were a bit cheesy, and that Lee guy has a rude head, so they were the first thing to go when I pulled the bike out of the box.
Thanks for the comments guys, it makes me even happier with it than I already was

 

[Squid]

Originally posted by Rik
and when I get my motorbike license next week, the right-front brakes will match up. I'm still trying to figure out why right-rear is so popular over there

Ahh, I see! Congrats on the motorbike license! I dont really have trouble switching between the two, but a guy I know swaps his bike brakes so they are like yours, because he gets confused. Of course if anyone else rides his bicycle, they they are all messed up, but I solve that by not riding his bicycle

 

[Instigator]

bike looks sweet. I was thinking about getting a SS and a 24 incher might be the ticket.

 

[Echo]

Originally posted by Rik
And yeh, as for the stickers, I thought they were a bit cheesy, and that Lee guy has a rude head, so they were the first thing to go when I pulled the bike out of the box.

Do you know where that bike got it's name? (hint: it's not from an army general)

 

[Booker]

Originally posted by Echo
Do you know where that bike got it's name? (hint: it's not from an army general)

You know i do. Based on me living in Kentucky and all. YEEEEHHAWWW!!!

 

[Rik]

Care to fill us in on the name origins? And is there a reason why it's such a hideous shade of orange

And it being a single speed is great, I swear I'll have massive quads in a short period of time, it's great for power and a bit of leg speed

 

[thaflyinfatman]

Say "General Lee" out loud a couple of times and you'll get it.... it sounds like "generally".

I'm dumb. Nice bike Rik, but what happened to that uber-sick clown bike you were gonna get from the shop a year or so ago?

 

[Echo]

I must be old

Didn't you ever see the Dukes Of Hazzard? Their orange Dodge Charger was called the General Lee.

 

[Booker]

Originally posted by Echo
I must be old

Didn't you ever see the Dukes Of Hazzard? Their orange Dodge Charger was called the General Lee.

Based on a county in Kentucky called Hazard. Man i loved that show!!! Ok I am showing my redneck roots:

 

[Booker]

YEEEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWW!!!

 

[Booker]

Perdy

 

[Echo]

I'm quite embarrassed to admit that there was a point in my life when I wanted to make a car look like the General Lee Fortunately I wasn't old enough to drive

 

[Rik]

Originally posted by thaflyinfatman
but what happened to that uber-sick clown bike you were gonna get from the shop a year or so ago?

I found other things to waste my money on! the novelty wore off pretty quickly too...


As for the name, if only I knew its origins I wouldn't have peeled off all the stickers Time to get me a 01 numberplate and a confederate flag to put on it.

 

[Dr. Doom]

Rik, could post a picture from the side(to see how slack it is) also would you take the time to measure crown-axle length on the forks(both rigid and susp)?

Looks sweet

 

[Rik]

24" rigid fork is 370mm axle-crown
26" suspension fork is 420mm, a-c, it used to be 440 before I jammed the spacer in. Those measurements might be out +/- 10mm, I used a long ruler as I couldn't find the tape measure.
Add 50mm or so for the difference between 24" and 26", and you can see I brought the front end up quite a fair distance.

As for the side on, let me find one if I took one first time, and I'll post it, otherwise it'll be a few days before I get the digicam again to take another photo.

 

[Rik]

Here's the side pic...
keep in mind, my driveway is sloping, and the bike is on an angle on that slope, so this isn't the best example of the fork rake and height, but you can see it's fairly tall.

After I spaced out the fork, it made the ride so much better. Last time I was in my local store, I pulled out the Jamis catalogue and compared all the angles of the 13" Eureka to my 24" bastard, and almost everything matched up! (within 5mm or so anyway). Chainstay length, top tube, seat tube etc all pretty much the same, so it handles almost like a 26" mtb, except the rear feels tighter when thrown into corners, and my weight is a tad lower. If I can teach myself how to jump again (haven't done hard riding for over a year now) I'll have a go at a quad race that's being held next week, and that'll be the ultimate test of the bike.

 

[Dog Welder]

Hey rik...where in Sydney do you live?

 

[Mtbkngrl]

I just don't get it.

 

[Rik]

I'm in "Inner western suburbs", about 15mins from the CBD, 10mins from the Olympic site (which is a great place to ride). Why do you ask?

Originally posted by Mtbkngrl
I just don't get it.

*Smiles and walks away slowly whilst maintaining eye contact*
Its.... ok.....

 

[Squid]

Originally posted by Mtbkngrl
I just don't get it.

It's just like your bike, only with a little bit of front suspension to help w/ hard landings. It kinda reminds me of the Specialized P1. It's like a big kids BMX bike: simple, strong, and cheap.

Actually, after seeing this bike, and that other thread on the P1, I kinda sorta wanna build/buy a new bike.... and this is 2 days after getting my brand new Planet X together....

 

[Echo]

Resist the urge dude! It's not too late to save yourself!

 

[Squid]

Can't..... resist.... must..... get..... new...... bike.....

The PX just seems so..... fragile and complex.... derailures and gears and flimsy fork and cables all over the place, not to mention expensive! It probably doesnt help that my 2 days of use have been 45% adjusting and twiddling, 5% riding, and 50% being bummed that it's broken after the first ride Not a good track record so far.

The P1 or Riks bike seem so.... simple. The ultimate urban/DJ/skatepark tool.

Maybe Mtbkngrl will swap me her General Lee for my Free Agent... :devil:

 

[Tweek]

Originally posted by Squid
Can't..... resist.... must..... get..... new...... bike.....

The PX just seems so..... fragile and complex.... derailures and gears and flimsy fork and cables all over the place, not to mention expensive! It probably doesnt help that my 2 days of use have been 45% adjusting and twiddling, 5% riding, and 50% being bummed that it's broken after the first ride Not a good track record so far.

The P1 or Riks bike seem so.... simple. The ultimate urban/DJ/skatepark tool.

Maybe Mtbkngrl will swap me her General Lee for my Free Agent... :devil:

Get it dialed in, take it for a dirt or urban ride, then see what you think. I know it's probably frustrating right now, but give yer steed a chance.

 

[Squid]

Yeah... I suppose I could give it another chance

 

[KaiMana]

I plan to do the same bastardizing to my hellcat 24.

A couple of questions:

I have a '00 Z-5 air fork which I would love to use but I am not sure if I can get travel any lower than 100mm?

Even with a 24 wheel I am afraid this will be too slack for DJing.

Is there any way too put spacers on my 14mm axle so it will mount on the qr20 dropouts of the Z-5? Doubtful, will probably have to rebuild 20mm wheel with 24" rim.

Thanks

 

[Dog Welder]

Originally posted by Rik
I'm in "Inner western suburbs", about 15mins from the CBD, 10mins from the Olympic site (which is a great place to ride). Why do you ask?



*Smiles and walks away slowly whilst maintaining eye contact*
Its.... ok.....

I'm in Lidcome right now till wed.

 

[allsk8sno]

ok so you think you px is too complicated?
remove stuff..like the shifters/front brake.
and set it up ass ss using the derailure set screws. should be fun one way or another..

 

[Notorious_BIL]

Originally posted by Booker
Based on a county in Kentucky called Hazard. Man i loved that show!!! Ok I am showing my redneck roots:

If my trivia memory serves me right, it was filmed in Georgia. Shouldn't I fill my head with more useful information?

 

[Rik]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I had to give you all an update on this beast...

I just about destroyed the rear rim through too much sideways landings and riding up staircases, so needed to get something stronger.

I built up a 521 onto deore hub for the front, and took the SMO off the front, and laced it onto the rear hub.

That's a 32h rim going onto a 48h hub, it wasn't hard to do though. So now I have a lighter 26" front wheel, and on the rear I have the mega strong SMO rim, which is a 26"! I just threw an extra link on the chain, and there's enough clearance to run the 26" wheel in a 24" frame. The brakes line up fine, although I'm a bit concerned with how far back in the dropouts the axle sits. When I get some spare money I'll play around with chainring/freewheel combinations to get the rear wheel as forward as possible without having clearance issues.

Now the bike sits up a bit higher, it's even quicker for turning, pedalling is alot easier as I'm not as far behind the BB, and it rolls alot better on flat too. A problem I had with the 24" rear, was it didn't like rolling very much, and because I use this bike for transport/commuting, the high rolling resistance was an annoyance. Now it rolls really well, especially with slick tyres front and rear.

I'll have photos by the weekend, it's a very interesting bike now!

 

[Mtbkngrl]

Truly Bastardized I can't wait to see the pics. My rear hub is on it's way out I think. I'm waiting for it too die so I can justify an upgrade. I love that bike, it's such fun to jump.

 

[SwisSlesS]

24 inchers rock!

 

[Rik]

yes, they may rock, but at least 26" wheels roll