Oh My Heart! a Backflip!!

Photo dump time of my shenanigans today, I'm pretty proud of it. I guess maybe this ends this blog. Whatever will the world do???

And you're going to pick me up how? On that dumb bike?

It is almost a bike! Ove the past week or so, I replaced the bearing cups in both the headset and the bottom bracket. The headset bearing cups had quite a bit of chrome pitting, so I replaced those and figured I might as well do the bottom bracket cups while I was at it. I also had the darn gold nipples replaced on the Pro Class rims to chrome nipples. Now the real Cru jones bike had the hard anodized Pro Class rims on it, but these rims are expensive and tough to come by in really good condition, so I was lucky to find these chrome ones when I did. So it won't be exact, but it will be close...and I like the look of the chrome anyway. Maybe if I ever run into a good set of the hard anodized ones I will switch them out in the future.

It is getting pretty close to being done. If all goes well I may have it completed this weekend, assuming I have time to throw everything together. Just a few more parts to add:

Bob, the name is Bob, not Blob. Smart-ass.

I suck at blogging. Luckily no one is reading this, otherwise I might feel bad about it.
I have removed all of the decals from the frame and forks. It took many hours and my fingers were sore for days, but it is done. I also got some blue mongoose grips for the handle bars.

I got the cranks I was waiting for so I have most of the parts I need to start building the thing, but before I do that, I've got to get the headset bearing cups popped out and replaced. The cups that came with the frame have some chrome flaking off so I need to replace them. Unfortunately I don't have the tools necessary to pop them out, nor compress the new ones in. I'll probably have to run the frame down to a bike shop and have them do it.

I also still need to replace all of the nipples on the rims. I am not looking forward to that, but I am doing this for the greater good.

God, what I wouldn't give to go ass-sliding with you right now.

Alright! Well I have made some pretty good progress since I first started this blog. I've been kind of lazy about updating it, so I'll try and get this up to speed.

The first few parts that I managed to get ahold of were the crank, power plate, and chainring.

Now the only original takagi 44t chainring that I could get my hands on had been anodized gold...which obviously does me no good! Luckily I have a friend in a metal shop with a sand blaster. Combine that with an NOS blue pro class power plate, and we have the beginnings of my replica!

The second obstacle was the pedals. I managed to get some old used SR-468 pedals, but they didn't spin so well. So I have torn them apart, and am in the process of rebuilding them. After some cleaning and some new bearings they should be good to go. All in all, it is coming together faster than I anticipated. I have a mongoose stamped bottom bracket and headset en route as well as a few other parts: seat clamp, seat, pads, etc..

The frame itself is in pretty good condition. I will need to strip the decals, and will probably give it a vinegar bath to get rid of the little bit of rust it has. It could also use with a nice polish job.

If this is done by Halloween then my costume is already picked out for me.

Cru, pretend it's the lumber yard, go balls out

Welcome to the first installment of what I imagine will be a long process to completion. After some re-ignited interest in BMX, I have decided to restore a 1985 Mongoose Californian into a replica of the bike  Cru Jones rides in the Movie Rad, possibly one of my favorite movies of my childhood.

25 years after its release, I still watch the movie Rad with as much enthusiasm as I did when I was 6 years old, and that excitement has brought me back into the world of BMX. I began researching bikes, reading BMX forums and searching for a possible bike to purchase and start riding again and that's when I came to the conclusion that if I were going to get another bike, it should be one that paid homage to the old school BMXing that I knew and loved.

So, rather than purchase a new bike with all its technological and geometrical advancements over the old school bikes of my day, I decided that I would start this restoration process.

Now I've never built a bike from the frame up before, so I've started this blog to document the entire project from start to finish. This is what I am starting with:

So far all I have obtained is the frame, forks, and stem. I am planning on using as many orignal parts that came on the 1985 Mongoose Californian Pro Class as humanly possible, so it will take time to gather and assemble this thing piece by piece, but it will be rad when it is done!

This is what the bike should look like once completed:

Stay tuned for updates as I begin the build!