Giant Simple - Board Track motorbike inspired

[hewey]

I got this Giant Simple beach cruiser off ebay. The Giant cruisers arent a common bike, they've got your typical Giant quality, but I dont think the style is quite as nice as a Dyno, Electra or Felt Cruiser. With this I decided to give it look inspired by 1920s and 1930s board track motorbikes.

The night I got it home


Mocked it up with the ape hangers. Still hadnt got the chainguard off completely at this stage

Time to raw the frame!



Ditched the OEM stem and got a threadless convertor, so I could run a mountain bike style stem.


Another mock up to play with the style




My girl got a Felt ladies cruiser bike, which came with some cream quick brick tyres which just didnt go with the mint paint, so I swapped them for the whitewalls that were on this. The cream tyres look great with the black rims, very happy.


Playing around with different bar set ups. Board track style - looks great, not great for riding



Non-flipped bars - Real comfy cruiser feel, looks okay


Straight bars - Stretched out riding position, kinda like the look



Cracked out the pinstriping paint for some detailing

Blacked out the fully sic chainring...


...and the handlebar centre, the seat rails and the slither of the stem adaptor that shows


First ride pics.











At tweed ride a couple of weeks ago

[18htan]

Hewey...

I love it!

You made the right choice on the bars. I have a similar set of bars on a Dyno Glide Deluxe Girls Frame for the missus.

Did you give it a coat of clear? Or are you going to paint it?

Love seeing build threads. I am about to start the final build on my Pedal Scraper.

[j-ho]

I love it mate! Love it! Man, I really need to get my cruiser up to scratch...

[hewey]

Did you give it a coat of clear? Or are you going to paint it?

Love seeing build threads. I am about to start the final build on my Pedal Scraper.

No clear coat, just wire brush and a half assed 5 minute hand polish to give it a little more brightness but still keep the wire brush marks for that industrial look. The plan was keep it raw and see how it faired, its been ridden in the rain and through mud and looks fine so Im just going to keep it raw and not worry about a clearcoat.

I love seeing build threads too, post up some pics!

[hewey]

[Mulger bill]

^That is a great pic.

Love what you did Hewey

[j-ho]

it took me a quick minute to realize that was you in that photo! I thought it was a pic that inspired your bike...

[18htan]

Outstanding pic!

I love it, bloody nice work mate!

[hewey]

Thanks folks And thanks to my girlfreind who risked life and limb and a lungful of dust as I skidded towards her for the pic! (multiple passes were made, not to her pleasure)

[Roc_Doc]

Great Stuff. I love the stripped back look but was always scared that I would end up with a rust patina after 24 Hrs. Keep us informed as to how she looks.

[brauluver]

Great Stuff. I love the stripped back look but was always scared that I would end up with a rust patina after 24 Hrs. Keep us informed as to how she looks.

I think you may find that the frame is ally, not steel, so rust isn't a risk.

[retro racer]

Love this bike, its my screen saver. What are the bars please mate?

[sjdonne]

I was a bit worried when I saw the first pic (just purchased) but the pics got better as did the bike cant decide on the "industrial" Sydney Harbour Bridge Arch bearing image or the sepia "action"shot.Top effort .

[trailgumby]

Was thinking "How is that an improvement? "

And then I saw the photo. Nice work!

[hewey]

Thanks guys

What are the bars please mate?

Bars are stock bars from a GT Windstream (hybrid/comfort bike), just flipped upside down and with bar tape on them. The Windstream is a stalled project... Heres a pic I found online of one, so you can see the bars in their natural habitat


I think a much prettier option would be some moustache handlebars, like these ones made by Nitto. I didnt go down this route as I wanted to keep costs down. Likewise a Brookes saddle would be awesome too.

Great Stuff. I love the stripped back look but was always scared that I would end up with a rust patina after 24 Hrs. Keep us informed as to how she looks.

I think you may find that the frame is ally, not steel, so rust isn't a risk.

Yup. Frame still looks the same as in the pics, and she's been ridden multiple times in the rain and not even hosed off afterwards.

The wheel/tyre combo has since been taken off the Giant and put onto my Dyno though

[sean-b]

It looks even better witha paint job. Straight to the pool room

[hewey]

Different bike Just raided the seat and wheelset for the orange bike

[sean-b]

Different bike Just raided the seat and wheelset for the orange bike

So it is my eyes played tricks on me at 2am