There’s more than meets the eye with Mike Weber’s custom built Klunker, it’s not just another beach cruiser. Much like the original Klunkers from the late 70s and early 80s that inspired the build, it’s made up of miscellaneous bike parts found laying around to allow it to handle the trail better than the neighborhood.

Here’s what Mike had to say about it.

“The frame (with the cranks installed) came through a used bike shop in which I worked in high school and college. That frame design, with the flat parallel bars beneath the top tube, was only made for two years and I thought it was cool. I mentioned I liked it, so my employer / partner gave it to me in 1985 after it sat around the shop for a few weeks and we didn’t get around to building it for sale. I had the rest of the parts on a cruiser my friend had built from his dad’s 1950’s Schwinn 3 speed and then had sold to me.

Frame, fork, cranks, handlebars, grips, stem, chain, and seat post are all as I installed them when I built the bike in 1985.

Wheels were changed as I ran across what I thought were better options, when I found them at little or no cost. It started with chrome plated steel rims on old hubs, then went to a set of vintage steel tandem wheels. The durability was awesome, but they weighed a ton. Current rear wheel was given to me for parts by a customer of mine at my shop in Summit County after it was taco’ed in a crash. I straightened it by jumping up and down on it and then truing it and have been riding it ever since. Front wheel came off a $5 craigslist vintage bike purchase.

Saddle came from my old Bridgestone MB-1 when I went to a lighter Ti saddle on that bike.

Headbadge came from my mom’s mid-’50s Schwinn Racer she got when she was a kid.

Tires have always been whatever I have lying around. Rear tire was a swap purchase from Georgia Gould. When I ripped a sidewall, I wasn’t confident using it on my MTB , so I patched the sidewall and threw it on the cruiser.”

Build List

Frame: 1964 Schwinn Typhoon

Fork: 1982 Cyclepro 26” BMX cruiser

Headset: 1” generic BMX

BB: 1 piece American to 3 piece cotterless conversion

Gearing: 44 x 18

Cranks: 1980 Shimano Tourney BMX 170mm w/ 44 tooth chainring

Chain: Generic single speed

Pedals: 1st generation Ritchey Logic SPD compatible clipless

Front Hub: Suzue sealed bearing

Front Rim: Specialized GX20 26 x 1.5

Front Tire: WTB Velociraptor 26 x 2.1

Rear Hub: Shimano CB­E110 Coaster Brake w/ 18 tooth cog

Rear Rim: Red anodized SUMO 26 x 1.75 (Copy of ARAYA 7x)

Rear Tire: Maxxis CrossMark eXCeption Series Silkworm 26 x 2.1 kevlar bead

Saddle: 1988 Selle Italia Rolls

Stem: 1982 Diamond Back BMX

Bars: 1982 steel paperboy style

Seatpost: 3⁄4” chrome plated steel

Seatpost clamp: 1985 Tioga BMX seatpost clamp

Grips: Early ‘80s Taiwanese knock off of Grab­on MX2

Accessories:

Mickey and the Beanstalk bell

Odells IPA beer coaster in rear spokes