Hiya I stumbled across this thread yesterday & it’s ACE!
Brilliant seeing some old pics & hearing tales from different parts of the UK.
Thought i’d share a pic of my lastest version of my ‘tracker’
There’s a couple of pic of it on page 4 of this thread (I think)
Here’s an old article from about 10years ago too
https://theradavist.com/2011/07/beautif ... launchpad/I used to import Brooklyn Machine Works bikes into the UK. They mainly did bmx & mountain bikes, but when they brought a track bike out (the Gangsta) with straight bladed forks I thought that’s it I’m gonna build me a tracker!
Originally I was gonna use 26” mtb rims, then they ran out of the bladed tubing for the rear stays and the Lauchpad frame was born. This was even better for building a tracker. I told the lads in the US about these bikes with cowhorn bars & they’d no idea what I was taking about!
Joe built me a frame with a plate to fix a coaster brake hub.
The shop where I got the bars in Bklyn had an old 2 speed kickback coaster hub of an old schwinn. When I went to pick it up the dude gave me the whole wheel & I had to cut the hub out of the spokes to bring it back to the UK.
Currently the bike has 700c rims on it with cyclocross tyres & a 2 speed Sturmey Archer rear hub.