Joined: Dec 25, 2001 Posts: 33,826 Location: Liberty City
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 3:41pm Post subject: Kiddie Bike Madness
Nostalgia Time! - Here's some rambling from yours truly from around 812 years ago...
Welcome to the strange world of Kiddie Bikes where a 16" wheel children bikes can be turned into a downhill-monster- funhog-dodgy-deathtrap-fiend-bike. We shall show you how to design and build your own kids bike, bring you the lastest in technological break-throughs and keep you informed on just how fast and dodgy these bikes have got.
Morrison Gremlin Super V - The original kiddy bike. Has been recorded doing 56.8kph offroad.
History: One fine Sunday morning of August 1995 I found myself wondering the streets of Wellington after a very successful dinner party. Dressed in my "best" clothes a little voice started demanding "Need to ride, need to ride" but where to get a bike? I found myself in one of the sheds at Mud Cycles looking for a suitable bike. And there it was, a 16 inch wheels Morrison Gremlin that we were selling on behalf of someone. Ringing Jono on his cellphone I got him to pick me up and lend me a helmet. Jono was test riding a GT LTS so we headed off to the resiviour. Attempting to ride a bike with only a coaster brake, no gears and 90mm cranks proved to be more fun than a ferret down your trousers. Many small children were left staring in surprise as Jono blew past them on the LTS only to be followed by me, wearing my job interview clothes and a doctors jacket, my rear wheel locked running into bushes in a bid to slow down. The ride finally ended when my left hand crank fell off on the local BMX track. All ready a voice was whispering "Kiddie Bikes fun, dodgy riding, head-rush, multiple accidents, fun". The next major improvement came when the Hutt Valley Mountain Bike Club ran their totally rad Dual Slalom series. Having never raced before I thought it would be good for a laugh to enter while riding my new toy. Evolution came quickly, I was snapping one seatpost a day, So the frame was sent off to Ritchie who re-welded it into the V-Frame you can see in the picture. This gave the bike good stability on fast downhills. More Kiddie bikes appeared at every Dual Slalom as mountain bikers realized that you could have buckets of fun on something you picked up for $50. In the near future Jono and me plan to conquer the Tip Track, 400 vertical metres of berms and jumps. If we manage it expect to see photos.
Mongoose MityGoose
This is the front of Jonos' Mongoose MityGoose. The front wheel consists of a 36H Sachs Drum Brake radially spoked to a 28H 16" steel rim. Nathan, who built the wheel used 100mm spokes and long nipples. The drum brake gives incredible stopping power enabling the rider to take all the skin off their shins and go over the bars. Jonos' Mitygoose is more manouverable than my Morrison Super V, but not as stable at high speeds.
Last edited by Tama on Wed 9th Jul 7:57am; edited 1 time in total
Joined: Dec 25, 2001 Posts: 33,826 Location: Liberty City
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 3:54pm Post subject:
Yes, I bet you could of never guess that Jono and I were doing dratered things on bikes 9 years ago
The Kiddie Bikes were best on singletrack. I can remember one time when about 8 of us mobbed "The Reservoir Track" on 16" bikes - that was so much fun.
Another time I attempted to ride the Roller Coaster on a 20" cruiser with only a rear brake. Left the track at speed - went through quite a bit of shrubbery and ploughed into a rock...
Joined: Jan 06, 2002 Posts: 13,496 Location: dreamland
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 3:58pm Post subject:
Tama wrote:
Another time I attempted to ride the Roller Coaster on a 20" cruiser with only a rear brake. Left the track at speed - went through quite a bit of shrubbery and ploughed into a rock......
Joined: Mar 10, 2004 Posts: 328 Location: Ye Olde Christchurch
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 6:07pm Post subject:
And thusly, I think this is another good example to be at Bowenvale Ave (CHCH) with your rummy (under $20) bikes at 1pm this Saturday. (Weather looks like might be all go).
I kind of lost the DH/Hucking forum, and the post within, then I couldnt add an event to the calendar (the date picker was broken). But yes, all the same. Come everybody.
Joined: Dec 25, 2001 Posts: 33,826 Location: Liberty City
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 6:19pm Post subject:
quantumMoose wrote:
And thusly, I think this is another good example to be at Bowenvale Ave (CHCH) with your rummy (under $20) bikes at 1pm this Saturday. (Weather looks like might be all go).
I kind of lost the DH/Hucking forum, and the post within,
Why not type something relevant like "Bowenvale" into the Search box at the top right and click Search?
quantumMoose wrote:
then I couldnt add an event to the calendar (the date picker was broken). But yes, all the same. Come everybody.
Seamus
No the date picker is not broken - most likely your browser - User Firefox or IE6
Joined: Dec 25, 2001 Posts: 7,803 Location: Wellytron
Posted: Tue 25/May/04 7:53pm Post subject:
Hmmm...my mongoose (see above) is still in one piece, under the house. All it needs is two tyres being pumped up, and I could go mental all over again...
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Should be fun to river jump as well
