How to build a Klunker Bike 

Dude, that was awesome. So well done and something exactly like I want to do. You did everything I was thinking of doing also with an old Schwinn I picked up this last summer. I am curious about the strength of the milled down headset, I have read about people doing just that but I have had friends that have broken external cup headsets because of heavy stress on the joint between the cup and the sleeve. As to your video editing and production it is awesome, entertaining and educational. Thanks for sharing. Awesome!

I am mainly a collector of original balloon tire bikes. What you did was like taking a 70 year old man and putting a 10 year old heart in him. Not only did I find this very interesting I was amazed at the work that you did to make this a klunker. I'm not really sure you can even call it that. Great job and enjoy the video.

Klunkerz , great film

I built my first Klunker in 1978 after reading an article about them in Bicycling magazine. It started as a 1956 Schwinn Jaguar. I gave it a 5-speed cog/derailleur, Atom Drum brakes, Magura motorcycle brake levers, and BMX handlebars. I was one of the first in NH to build one. Those were incredibly exciting times watching the sport evolve in those early years.

Damn I thought I was the only person that obsessed with retrofitting old bicycles. You’re not the only guy that draws a deep peace in building bicycles, a late night car or motorcycle ride doesn’t touch the peaceful summertime bike around in the cool evening

Wow. Never seen a klunker restored. And looks like it came from the green acres set and ended up being the new release from surly. And the ride through a Kansas trail. Just amazing.

The best thing about this video is your voice.. you should do voice over :) so soothing.

I bought a cruiser one day to ride around with my kids.. then I found klunkers and strandies.. I made a bmx out of it but wanted to make a klunker so bad.. sold that bike.. but this build of yours is so bad ass that I want to build a klunker now..

built my first klunker in 69 out of any old parts that were lying around,put a knobly tire front and back 26" wheels and an old brooks saddle,every one thought i was nuts,in the uk we called them tracking bikes now everyone rides mountain bikes funny how times change ,still have a schwinn cruiser that i ride 3or 4 times a week maybe i will rebuild it this summer !!!!!

That locking rear axle detailer fix was genius.

Why would any of these 35 people downvote this? Two thumbs up! Been wanting to build myself a nice cruiser/mtb for a while now. Something to call my N+1. Really enjoyed this video, especially how calmly you explain the process and a bit about your own history. Thanks for that, take care, and all the best in future projects!

Very nice. Very real nice. Gorgeous, too. These old machines deserve this kind of care. Thanks for sharing, partner.

between lowrider community and the motorized biking community these old bikes are gold . its a good thing schwinn did a repop . the original bikes are still the best and hard to find some of them . always good to see someone bring them back to life . they were indeed the mountain bikes road bikes bmx bikes and what ever other bike you can think of of my day . we had schwinn and if you had one of those krate bikes you was the sheet . or a phantom . if you were really lucky you had a grey ghost . huffy bikes were the cheap bikes back then the ones that you dint care about tearing up . lol . wish i had a few of them now . western flyers and road kings . royce union . western flyers were kinda in the same category as schwinn . only a little harder to find . i think they were a older company but im not sure . they were easy to work on any kid with a little know how and a few tools could build repair or upgrade there bikes with just a few old part bikes and a little time on the weekend . now days your lucky to see kids riding bikes it takes to much time away from there phones and video games . good thing the biking fade still lives in a few of us still . the new bikes need special tools that most people dont have . building bikes was the best part of my young life . sad they kinda took that away from kids . maybe thats why there all on there phones they cant fix there bikes . lol . any way sorry for the long comment just took me back a little bit . kinda got to rambling about better days . have a good one buddy . enjoy that bike alot of memories in it even if you dont know them .

Totally enjoyed the bike make over. 👍 In the early 80's when I did road cycling with my friends we were going to have a shride together. I showed up with a new Mountain bike 🚵‍♂️ they thought that I was crazy. Two months later they each got one for themselves. I do miss those days. Thanks for your video

Very cool , I used to have that fork and the adjustment was its best feature

I've been ignoring to watch this video since it was in my recommended, never been so wrong. Now I'm subscribed, great work man!

Wow you know what you’re doing. A junker to a beautiful mountain bike. Nice custom bike Sweet . What a video👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😎💨

I'm planning on restoring my grandpas old bike and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your insights, tips, and tricks. I haven't been able to find anything this detailed. Thank you so much.

I would enjoy riding that bike very much. Very well-crafted! As I've aged, I've realized that a bike should have a beauty to it, as well as be in good mechanical condition. I think that you achieved both exceedingly well

I thought I went bit deep with some 1980s Dahon folders. No I didn’t even scratch the surface compared to this build. I really really appreciate the work that went into your labor of love and the beautiful end result

I like seeing the reclaiming of something destined for junk, even if it was just the frame.

this bike build is awesome. so many little interesting facts to learn from !

Great Job... imagine if Mr.Fisher and Mr. Breeze had access to that kind of "tech" back in the day 😎

Well... thats an enduro hardtail, I had no idea about the Klunker bikes, awesome.

I want this bike so bad! Amazing build

Love Klunkerz Happy Klunking Nice Brother ... #Bandung Klunkerz Indonesia

So excited to finally find a bike guy in my area riding my kinda terrain

As soon as you took the bike outside I thought that like Kansas! Nice build!

This was very well done, and cool to watch. Great narration too.

You got me hooked on this klunker thing

Flat out amazing. Just amazing

Awesome build Awesome edit 👍

I am aware that this is an older video, however, I still loved it. I just picked up a '63 schwinn beach cruiser that I'm going to turn it into a kluncker. It black in color with the original dealer stickers. Going to clean up the frame and keep as is and upgrade all of the components, wish me luck...👍

great bike

Stumbled across your video. Really fantastic production quality-lighting, camerawork, editing, sound. Everything was perfect for watching this kind of build and trying to learn how or why you made the choices you did. Awesome work!

Now that my friends was one amazing video beautiful bike great job

Very cool project & result. I enjoyed watching it. Thank you.

Awe 👍🏼Some build and mod. One of the best I've seen 🎉

Wow, thank you for making such a quality, in depth build video! I’ve been searching for some time to find a full klunker build explanation and this is the real deal! Very nicely done my friend! That bike is killer

I like it you made something old new again

My first bike was a klunker that was not pretty, but it got me where I wanted to go.

great video .. i restore and refurbish only you muscle them fully . . . outstandin !

Nice job. Cool bike and great video. That bad boy’s ready to rip the steeps of Kansas!

Total cost of all that outside work must be close to the price of a new bike. But it's still cool to see the work done and the finished product. Thanks.

I watch so many bike videos it may be an illness. This is an excellent build my friend. Your delivery, patience and skill is excellent. Thank you for your knowledge and time. And @oldshovel commented. You are my new hero. Awesome!!!!

Great build

Love the use of quality component's... I learned a lot especially bottom bracket and crank tutorial

Gorgeous

I have a 1941 Elgin and this is exactly what I was looking for!! Thanks. Great build sir.

Cool man...you got it. I remember does bikes from my granddad and my uncle's.

Beautiful job! I would love to have a bike like that! Though technically not a Klunker though, just a Klunker frame with modern components.

You make it look soo easy!!! MAGNIFICO!!!!

Absolutely amazing. Such a beautiful bike. Wow.

Outstanding built, please keep sharing, more bikes videos. Thanks, joe.

wow that was so satisfying to watch,you did a great job , great bike!

cool bike

Deore....great choice

Such a great build!

A really nice project, such an old bike mixed with modern components has its own charme. Technically it's well explained and was a pleasure to watch. I currently restored a 1980s trekking bike, and converted it to a flat bar road bike, the original bike was given away for free. 2:27 It's fine with a steel frame, but just for general information for others, it shouldn't be done with modern aluminum frames, they don't like cold forging. Even 1990s frames often have less than 135 mm.

Highly enjoyable watch. The history lessons were fascinating! Looks incredible and like a solid build. Nice transformation.

I think I found my favorite RU-vid video

Good Work! Good story! Good vibe! Cheers from Romania!

I'm not a bike fan and haven't ridden one in about 20 years, but I watched your whole video. I didn't understand some of the terminology but this was awesome!

Beautiful job !

Really nice job on this one!

This is that same concept in the Jeep offroad Community. You have your new rigs that are 100 times more capable then you have the rigs from years back yeah the older stuff is not as capable but everyone in the new stuff looking back at the guys in the old stuff thinking " man those guys sure look like they are having alot of fun." Sometimes, being so capable and having all the new tech does take some of the fun out of it. I am sure the adrenalin rush is more intense on a clunker compared to a modern dual suspension 29er. Or the like. Great video. 👍

Great video! I love the history and storytelling with your video! Having worked in a shop years ago I appreciate the work you did on the headset, the care taken with the chain line and the reuse of components. Again great job.

Fantastic build! Absolutely enjoyed it!

Amazing work thanks for sharing your skills and time in production very inspiring to many im sure. Cant believe Ive only just found the channel. All the best Andy

New subscriber here! I wish I could turn my Japanese bike into this kind of awesome work 👍❤️❤️ I'm finding people who can do it for me but I guess they can't treat my bike as careful as you shown in the video😅

Old meets new....Nice project build and thank you for sharing. Greeting;s from the U.A.E.

I put green locktight on those bb adapter cups when I instal them. Helps lock them in, stops creaking.

Looks like his college bike shop days were very useful in this build.

NICE LABOR , BUEN TRABAJO , THIS HERMOSO BEATIFULL CONGRATULACIONES , SALUTEZ , FROM DESDE AGUASCALIENTES CITY, MEX. 9,11,2021

subbed, commented, liked. I can just listen to the commentary and music all day. good content, Sir.

My next project! Thank you for this upload! 🙏

Beautiful work 👍

What a captivating video! I’d love to find one of these.

Seriously cool! Well done

What a nice Bike rebuild. Respect. Stay well, best regards from germany ✌😁👍

This is the kind of klunker vid i am looking for. It has lots of information that can help people like me seeking a solution about convertion. Keep up! and wish to see more vids!

Good job!

Beautiful ride….. done perfectly and jealous, lol !!

man, you answered all the questions i wasnt sure there were answers for! i bought a beach cruiser for cheap on craigslist, that i want to put mountain bike components on, along with an 80cc motor. i had no idea what i was gonna do about the bottom bracket and derailleur, and figured i would be fabricating something myself. good to know there are adapters ready made! all my bike experience is modern mountain bikes, so the very different diameters of the bb and headtube has been a headscratcher. i still have to do a bunch of welding, but you saved me a ton of bother! thumb'd and subbed!

awesome bike, i can only dream of with my skills set. thank you for sharing

Say hello mr cool bike, great build, well explained, please, keep sharing more of bikes, thankcs, joe, from panama.

thats so dope!!!!!!!! awsome build!!!!!!!!

Nice!

Wow realy well done. very professional video

nice build there love the old school frames from yesterday with new school of late 80 to now, just found a old GIANT Rock 4000 series mountain bike for trasher bike, thanks to you and oldshovel for some great ideas...cheers

For the cords you could use a pull tie to hold it to the frame

Just stumbled upon your channel. I guess that's what you call it anyway. Thanks for the brief history lesson. I'm taking a single speed adult tricycle and I'm going to convert it to look like a 70s trike chopper. Hopefully I'll have it done by end of summer. Or it'll have to wait for spring.

Great build. A pleasure to watch.

I'm fixing my bike up and I think I want to try to build a bike like this

Nice job, Rusty! (Now if we're just a class 1 eBike...)

Wow! Amazing build! Thanks for sharing!

Well done , thanks for the step by step instructions .

What a sweet looking bike!😊💙💛 Awesome project! Thank you for sharing!😎👍🏻

Damn that turned out really nice!!!

Great vid!