A very interesting mix and match of a bike.
06-01-21, 08:38 AM
#26
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There is nothing special, notable, or even valuable about this escapee from the recycler. The only thing notable...and most valuable part of the bike...is the rattle can paint job. To give whoever did the job, they didn’t go the normal route of painting everything.
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Last edited by cyccommute; 06-01-21 at 08:45 AM.
06-01-21, 08:55 AM
#27
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It's a first/second generation atb made to slot into the merging market before genre specific bikes were made.
There were good atb's like Ritchey's and Gary Fishers and then a bunch of hob knobbed bikes made with mix match parts straight from the factory. This was lower quality but interesting as a snapshot of bikes just before the mtb boom. Ashtabula crank, chrome steel bars pressed stay drop out joints, stamped dropouts, stamped caliper brakes, 2x5 or 5 gears... The twist shifts are not original. It would have had thumbies.
They were what they were. I did my first bike tour on one in the 80's Calgary to Vancouver. I distinctly remember meeting a rider on a "real" mtb in Keromeos who had an Al frame and 3x gearing with a granny gear that made riding Copper Mine Hill much easier.
There were good atb's like Ritchey's and Gary Fishers and then a bunch of hob knobbed bikes made with mix match parts straight from the factory. This was lower quality but interesting as a snapshot of bikes just before the mtb boom. Ashtabula crank, chrome steel bars pressed stay drop out joints, stamped dropouts, stamped caliper brakes, 2x5 or 5 gears... The twist shifts are not original. It would have had thumbies.
They were what they were. I did my first bike tour on one in the 80's Calgary to Vancouver. I distinctly remember meeting a rider on a "real" mtb in Keromeos who had an Al frame and 3x gearing with a granny gear that made riding Copper Mine Hill much easier.
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06-01-21, 09:17 AM
#28
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I checked out the guy's other listings--and as others have pointed out, this isn't the bash together you think it is. He had this same bike listed for $150. His other bikes are all Walmart-type stuff, sort of cleaned up and sold for prices more than what you'd pay new.
He's trying to take advantage of the bike shortage, picking up junk bikes and trying to make them look good enough for someone who's desperate for transport.
He's trying to take advantage of the bike shortage, picking up junk bikes and trying to make them look good enough for someone who's desperate for transport.
06-01-21, 10:07 AM
#29
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I live in Philly. There is nothing special or unique about that bike. You have not stumbled onto anything groundbreaking or culturally significant. Rides like that are pretty common. I could take you to at least one storefront stall full of bikes like this for sale.
Your post is not any different than posting a photo of a hooptie in the big city and saying it represents a type of vehicle for those for those who need cheap, bang-around city wheels.
Maybe you need to get out the house more and experience how many other people live.
BTW...The cassette and chain look mighty rusty. Probably left outside for long periods. May even be stolen.
Your post is not any different than posting a photo of a hooptie in the big city and saying it represents a type of vehicle for those for those who need cheap, bang-around city wheels.
Maybe you need to get out the house more and experience how many other people live.
BTW...The cassette and chain look mighty rusty. Probably left outside for long periods. May even be stolen.
06-01-21, 10:10 AM
#30
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That was addressed upthread as likely false by cyccommute and I agree. Again, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, one can concoct any number of “interesting” theories, but the truth of this bike is extremely mundane. It’s an extremely low-quality bike— literally as cheap as bikes come— which has only made it to today probably ecause it was not ridden much. I see no indication it has been lovingly maintained over the past 30 years, out of necessity or otherwise, and actually suspect it was cheaply tarted up for sale to some sucker. I mean, there’s paint overspray on the rims and brake bits, fresh looking electrical tape, no decals, a rusty chain, hastily positioned brake levers, and heavily yellowed, brittle spoke protector. It’s pure folly to believe this is some example of the “necessary ingenuity of poverty.”
Cheap bike: check.
A hack job: check
Probably kept by someone with no mainteance skills yet ridden anyway: check
Now you need to prove it is not: “necessary ingenuity of poverty.”
06-01-21, 10:12 AM
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No, those are OEM brakes on an OEM fork and frame. The manufacturer didn’t want to go through the trouble of installing cantilever brake posts...cost too much...and used long reach BMX style brakes. The brakes are stamped steel and barely functional. I’ve seen...and scraped more of these BSO abominations...enough of these to have nightmares about them. They are of such low quality that we don’t even give them away. Every one that ends up in the scrapyard is a public service.
Again, no. The stem is a stamped steel stem that is very common this kind of bike. The stem is made from a piece of flat metal that is rolled to make the round part of the stem without any kind of welding...electricity is expensive...and the head of the stem is rolled to fit the bars. I’d even say the Grip Shift shifters are OEM.
There is nothing special, notable, or even valuable about this escapee from the recycler. The only thing notable...and most valuable part of the bike...is the rattle can paint job. To give whoever did the job, they didn’t go the normal route of painting everything.
Again, no. The stem is a stamped steel stem that is very common this kind of bike. The stem is made from a piece of flat metal that is rolled to make the round part of the stem without any kind of welding...electricity is expensive...and the head of the stem is rolled to fit the bars. I’d even say the Grip Shift shifters are OEM.
There is nothing special, notable, or even valuable about this escapee from the recycler. The only thing notable...and most valuable part of the bike...is the rattle can paint job. To give whoever did the job, they didn’t go the normal route of painting everything.
06-01-21, 10:17 AM
#32
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Time to update my iggy list.
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06-01-21, 10:19 AM
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And you would be wrong with that comparison. But I could take you into the Lehigh Valley of PA or Long Beach CA and there are no shops that sell this but you see them from time to time. That you see them all the time is unique to you and does not mean it is common everywhere.
Last edited by indyfabz; 06-01-21 at 10:23 AM.
06-01-21, 10:49 AM
#34
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06-01-21, 10:51 AM
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Nothing "interesting" about this. The rest is just details.
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06-01-21, 12:08 PM
#36
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Uh, sure. Prove the negative. Nice burden shift.
It's obvious that the seller is a guy who "fixes up" old crummy bikes, all you have to do to see that is to click on his name on Facebook. Where you got the idea that the wheel size had been changed or that it's been ridden at all in the past two decades
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06-01-21, 01:07 PM
#37
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Huffy Cherokee. Probably mid80s given the bull moose bars. Again, similar brakes, crank, and drivetrain.
Newer version of the Cherokee. How do I know? The flat bars and stem very similar to the one in your pictures. Bull Moose bars fell out of favor by the mid80s and were mostly gone by the 90s.
And here are two Huffys from a 1990 J.C. Penney catalog. Notice the same elements like Aushtabula crank, long reach stamped brakes, plastic clips for the cabling, and cheap stamped steel stem.
And here’s Huffy’s hybrid version. They have 26” wheels and the same long reach side pull. Note the distance between the fork and the tire, then compare it your picture. It’s easy to see the similarities and to note that they aren’t due to a wheel change.
Although I hate to admit it, I’ve seen and actually worked on enough of them that I’ve become something of an expert on them.
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Last edited by cyccommute; 06-01-21 at 01:10 PM.
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06-01-21, 01:36 PM
#38
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Damn, FelixScout ! You just got done by Huffys out of a JC Penny catalog!! Hahaha!! That suuuuuuuuucks!
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06-01-21, 03:38 PM
#39
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That's what looks to be a red bull can on the ground by the wheel of that Silverado.
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06-01-21, 03:58 PM
#40
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Damn, FelixScout ! You just got done by Huffys out of a JC Penny catalog!! Hahaha!! That suuuuuuuuucks!
06-01-21, 03:59 PM
#41
Rhapsodic Laviathan
Just to clarify for everyone, my interest in this bike is not to buy it but what it represents: The sort of needs based bike creation for those who need a bike. Though the new ad posted in the quote below looks like someone trying to jump on the bike shortage.
So the initial bash together bike is interesting to me because it is the kind of bike one can find among those who need a bike as a primary mode of transport when the normal routes of BMX bikes and Xmart bikes are are too much. In my time living in much poorer neighborhoods you would run into these hack job bikes here and there. Usually the wheels were mismatched or the fork was from something obviously different but these are people who are doing what they can to keep this mode of transport going and that means taking these unconventional routes. This represents that.
But bicycles are mobility for everyone at their core, are they not? And yes there are many levels and roles in that broad definition.
So the initial bash together bike is interesting to me because it is the kind of bike one can find among those who need a bike as a primary mode of transport when the normal routes of BMX bikes and Xmart bikes are are too much. In my time living in much poorer neighborhoods you would run into these hack job bikes here and there. Usually the wheels were mismatched or the fork was from something obviously different but these are people who are doing what they can to keep this mode of transport going and that means taking these unconventional routes. This represents that.
But bicycles are mobility for everyone at their core, are they not? And yes there are many levels and roles in that broad definition.
It is a mountainbike. the space between the fork and wheel is actually common on practically any bike not a roadbike and those are regular sidepull brakes. Cheapo mountainbikes came with 2X drivetrains for some reason. Probably because of the cheapo roadbikes. It's actually one reason I like them. I got one off a Murray once that was a 52/64. It has to be an early 80's bike with that crowned fork.
06-01-21, 04:28 PM
#42
Rhapsodic Laviathan
No, those are OEM brakes on an OEM fork and frame. The manufacturer didn’t want to go through the trouble of installing cantilever brake posts...cost too much...and used long reach BMX style brakes. The brakes are stamped steel and barely functional. I’ve seen...and scraped more of these BSO abominations...enough of these to have nightmares about them. They are of such low quality that we don’t even give them away. Every one that ends up in the scrapyard is a public service.
Again, no. The stem is a stamped steel stem that is very common this kind of bike. The stem is made from a piece of flat metal that is rolled to make the round part of the stem without any kind of welding...electricity is expensive...and the head of the stem is rolled to fit the bars. I’d even say the Grip Shift shifters are OEM.
There is nothing special, notable, or even valuable about this escapee from the recycler. The only thing notable...and most valuable part of the bike...is the rattle can paint job. To give whoever did the job, they didn’t go the normal route of painting everything.
Again, no. The stem is a stamped steel stem that is very common this kind of bike. The stem is made from a piece of flat metal that is rolled to make the round part of the stem without any kind of welding...electricity is expensive...and the head of the stem is rolled to fit the bars. I’d even say the Grip Shift shifters are OEM.
There is nothing special, notable, or even valuable about this escapee from the recycler. The only thing notable...and most valuable part of the bike...is the rattle can paint job. To give whoever did the job, they didn’t go the normal route of painting everything.
06-01-21, 05:05 PM
#43
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Damn, FelixScout ! You just got done by Huffys out of a JC Penny catalog!! Hahaha!! That suuuuuuuuucks!
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06-01-21, 05:12 PM
#44
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There are literally millions of used bikes that are a better choice to spend any amount of time on.
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Last edited by cyccommute; 06-01-21 at 05:16 PM.
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06-01-21, 05:57 PM
#45
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PRODUCT MANAGER: OK, how about forks, for 559 wheels with cantilever brake bosses?
CHINESE MANUFACTURER: $1.80 apiece if you order 200000 of them.
PM: Too much. What else you got?
CM: We have forks we put on 3-speed townie bikes, but no cantilever bosses for $1.10 apiece.
PM: Will they clear a 2" tire?
...
06-01-21, 06:42 PM
#46
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Damn, FelixScout ! You just got done by Huffys out of a JC Penny catalog!! Hahaha!! That suuuuuuuuucks!
I feel triggered
06-01-21, 08:01 PM
#47
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Sure…but the OP is acting like they’ve never seen a Murray before. Entirely possible for a noob, but so take the learning, don’t make up foolish theories about the noble creativity of poverty just to get pwned by a JC Penny catalog. Oof! Ouch…dude, that suuuucks.
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06-01-21, 10:23 PM
#48
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Do Hoopties ride on air shocks with 24" wheels and paint schemes that feature either Mountain Dew and Skittles logos, or metalflake so heavy it could cut your hand?
06-01-21, 11:20 PM
#49
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What you're describing is a Donk, with the giant wheels and look-at-me paint and graphics. Ironically, the same 70s-80s Detroit land yachts are sought after as the base material. Properly done, they're full-on show cars; but if you have to ask why, you probably wouldn't get it.
Hooptie
Donk
06-02-21, 05:17 AM
#50
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See above for correct definition of hooptie. I used to have one. Side view mirror held on with duct tape, no hubcaps, dents and faded paint. 18 years old but still got me where I needed to go until some idiot kid totaled it while it was parked outside the GF’s house in Jersey.
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