My 1941 Elgin skip tooth bomber to be.

[Tazio]

I had a little smile to myself when I saw the photo of the rims with "Japan" stamped on them. I'm not sure they would have been too popular in 1941 in the states

 

[sandmangts]

I had a little smile to myself when I saw the photo of the rims with "Japan" stamped on them. I'm not sure they would have been too popular in 1941 in the states

Your're right but keep in mind this bike is going to be a little different. In the late 70's and early 80's a bunch of guys started taking these old cruiser frames and modifying them for off road use. They were some of the first to start taking Japanese parts and building them into mountain bikes. UKAI rims and Araya 7x rims were very popular on those early klunkers because they were lighter and stronger than the original steel wheels. This bike is meant to be an homage to pioneers of the sport not a restoration to original spec. Gary Fishers bike was a pre-war Schwinn frame with Japanese, french, english and American parts. It is considered by many to be the first mountain bike. Anyway, that is kinda what I am going for here. For the paint I decided on just a high gloss straight black. It should look cool with all the chrome. If you want to know what a skip tooth bomber is look here:
http://www.clunkers.net/blue1938/blue1938.html

 

[Tazio]

It's going to look pretty special when it's finished. I like the idea of the plain black with super high gloss chrome.

Do you know the original reason for the skip tooth rings? Seems a bit of an odd idea.

 

[hamster]

They originally had 1" pitch chains. However, so few teeth on the back turned out to be a bad idea...

Fortunately the standard is 1/2" nowadays, so it still fits. The best way to run it is with the tooth through the inner link, so it fits snugly. It's only ever outer links that fail.

Shimano at one time got their dumb marketing caps on and tried to get us all to go to metric chains.... :roll:

 

[fingers]

The chrome is fantastic, looks a really good job from the pics.

 

[street]

Oh yes! Lovely looking parts and a great base for the project you've found.
Really looking forward to seeing the finished product!

 

[sandmangts]

This build is coming along much faster than I expected. Everything is falling into place. The wheels are coming along and the old parts turned out to be in quite good shape.
A little paint:

Threw some of the parts together:

And a lot of polish

and some vinegar

And a few brews: Life is good.

 

[Enid_Puceflange]

That last picture just confirms to me that your "living the dream"

Nice work!

Gc

 

[sandmangts]

That last picture just confirms to me that your "living the dream"

Nice work!

Gc

More like living in a dream world.
Garage+Bikes+Beer=sanity

 

[Tazio]

Looking great, and I do like a Sam Adams when I'm in the states.