Noah's HomeGrown

What follows is the story of a boy, his Pop, and a bike.
There will be many to thank along the way but first and most to Mark McGrath(MMcG) who pointed me in a new direction. I was hours away from settleing on a used bike and sought the council of the question master himself, and that has made all the difference.
So begins the journey, with a bid, and a win on ebay

I had never heard of a Schwinn Homegrown before. Turns out a little handmade frame company was commisioned to build a number of frames to carry the Schwinn badge, using their special light weight alloy. A little company called Yeti.

Now if you google the name you willl find the reviews and the awards this frame has won. But that was 1999 and now the frames are old, but the little ones still gather dust and if you need a 13" frame that weighs under 3lbs, well you cant do much better

The color is the boy's favorite and the size suits him too. We mocked this bike up to check stem length and rise. We worked on it together and together we will ride, Father and son, on the trail side by side.

Just a few more pics for the bike porn obsessed. There is something about a hand built frame. you know it when you hold it. I just love the curves in this one.

[nhiker]

Very Nice Bill, As my old Granny Used to say " May he Use and enjoy it for years to come" Also it is really cool that you guys can do this together. This will develope memories that he will carry with him for the rest of his life. Even a few good ones ;D ;)
Harry

Last night i won the fork, same vintage same color, Manitou bulge Ti 3lbs, and the brakes.
I'm going for the truss form design as a theme to tie the bike together. You see it in the frame casting where the chainstays meet the BB. The fork has a similar design in hte arch. I imagine it was a popular style of the era but i can see where dirt will harbor in htose nooks and crannies. Regardless i am stickking to it. I found red brakes of that style and the Azonic shorty stem will match too.
We skooterd around the parking lot on it as you see it, no brakes or chain. A little pump in the corners and you can keep it going and i could turn it tight enough to touch the bars on the pavement.
I just have to keep reminding myself, it's Noah's bike.
Stay tuned.

[gnurider1080]

those tires kinda look like holy rollers. are those the tires that were on your beater bike from work?

[Quo Fan]

Nice, Bill. I wish my son shared my enthusiasm about biking and maintenance. He doesn't tell me his bike doesn't work right when we are loading it on the rack to go riding.

[radair]

....We worked on it together and together we will ride, Father and son, on the trail side by side.

Find some singletrack and let him lead. Then you can sit back and enjoy watching his moves.

Nice thread Bill, keep us posted.

[bdee]

Nice ride, I've owned too many Homegrowns to count at this point. Be careful or you'll spoil him at a young age, he'll never go for anything less than perfection after riding that one.

[MMcG]

wooh! That is one sharp looking Homegrown you've got there!!

I'm sure Noah is going to love it!

Do you still need the red ano riser bars?

[Rip]

Looks great so far.

[iceman]

Bill,
NICE!!! , I know your little man will do it justice.

[splat]

Bill , That is Nice .

But its not blue ?

[Quo Fan]

He got a red one for his son so he can tell if his son is on his own bike. ;D

Bill , That is Nice .

But its not blue ?


Noah: "Pop, i think i need a new bike, a mountian bike"
Pop: " Hmmm, well your birthday and Christmass are coming, Do you know what kind of bike you want?"
Noah: "Yes,... Red"
pause "and with big wheels like yours but smaller so i don't hit my p.. on that bar thing every time i fall. That really hurts"
Pop: " yea buddy, it really does"

[iceman]

Bill , That is Nice .

But its not blue ?


Noah: "Pop, i think i need a new bike, a mountian bike"
Pop: " Hmmm, well your birthday and Christmass are coming, Do you know what kind of bike you want?"
Noah: "Yes,... Red"
pause "and with big wheels like yours but smaller so i don't hit my p.. on that bar thing every time i fall. That really hurts"
Pop: " yea buddy, it really does"




Thats too funny, thanks for the smile Noah!!!

[radair]

Get him one of these:

http://store.airbomb.com/mmAIRBOMB/Images/large/q/SM6000.jpg

Cheap insurance for your p...

[Slider]

Good idea. I'm sure Justbill wouldn't want to cut short his son's opportunities for his own family before he even knows what it's all about!

Slider

Some one help me. I cant get off the ebay.

It's a homegrown obsession. 6-8-10 hours a day searching the internet, rummaging through dusty boxes in bike shop back rooms, clandestine meetings with trench coated strangers. ("thats not the stem i was looking for"... shudddder)
Is it all worth it. Will the effort be appreiciated, the value recognized, will there be praise and attention galore. Probably not. So it is in the quest i revel. The little discoveries along the way that make it worth it.

That and listening to my son show off our project to Nana and Grandpa, "look, Pop found the matching wheel things, this bike is going to be so kewl"

(sigh) time and money well spent

If you are looking for one of these Homegrown frames there are a bunch of different colors and sizes at bensbike on ebay brand new for $279.
Heres the brakes. Crap for sure and heavy, but right color and design and 5 bucks so i figure use them for the build and pictures then trash them for some avids the first time they fall out of adjustment. Levers are Avid Ti in copper color.

[steve_b]

Bill:

Do you still want the seatpost? It's a 26.8. Also, I have a deal for you. I have a bag of Avid SD-3 parts I will give you for his bike. They are brand new, never used. The only catch is there's no screws or shims. Just the brakes and shoes. If you would like, I can put everything in the mail to you Monday, and you can have everything for whatever shipping will be. If you aren't in a hurry, I will be in the Worcester area sometime in the next few weeks, and can give them to you or maybe someone else to hand them off to you if I can work in a ride.

[steve_b]

Here's the brakes.

Thank you Steve,

I left my cell # in your pm box. I'm not in a hurry, give me a call Monday.

bill

[splat]

Bill , That is Nice .

But its not blue ?


Noah: "Pop, i think i need a new bike, a mountian bike"
Pop: " Hmmm, well your birthday and Christmass are coming, Do you know what kind of bike you want?"
Noah: "Yes,... Red"
pause "and with big wheels like yours but smaller so i don't hit my p.. on that bar thing every time i fall. That really hurts"
Pop: " yea buddy, it really does"


was that Because the Trek I had him on he was a little s t r e t c he d e d out on ? but he did want to continue ridining which is a great thing . We defiantly Need to get the boys riding together again! I know Peter and I both enjoyed it!

There is absolutly nothing more fun than riding with your kid on the trails. and they will scar the crap out of you when they decide to ride down something that looks like it is over there head, but boy are you proud when they make it !!!

[MissJean]

There is absolutly nothing more fun than riding with your kid on the trails. and they will scar the crap out of you when they decide to ride down something that looks like it is over there head, but boy are you proud when they make it !!!


*sigh* I wish I had known about mtbing when my girls were young and impressionable. I would love to ride with them.
They were in their late teens when I started biking and it was simply not possible to be seen w/mom on a bike. ::)
The best I can get is the promise to ride the rail trail with me some day.
But I do tell them that it is in their genes, they can't fight it. One day they're going to find themselves out in the woods having a good time. They'll say, damn! Here I am in the woods & Mom was right!

[steve_b]

I left my cell # in your pm box. I'm not in a hurry, give me a call Monday.

Whoops. Haven't been checking my PM's. I'll give you a call Monday.

[Quo Fan]

Not long after my son learned to ride a bike, I took him into the woods. He had a bad crash, and wouldn't go into the woods for a while. I got him back in the woods, and his skills are slowly improving. He was supposed to join us on the "secret" ride in Nam, but bailed on me when I woke him up in the morning. Maybe next time.

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Bill, I used to have a homegrown for 3 years, I absolutely loved the bike.

Unfortuantely, my bottom bracket shell began to seperate from the the seattube, so the frame is no-more. I should still have the hot-tomato topcap and the skewers if you still need them.

Bill, I used to have a homegrown for 3 years, I absolutely loved the bike.

Unfortuantely, my bottom bracket shell began to seperate from the the seattube, so the frame is no-more. I should still have the hot-tomato topcap and the skewers if you still need them.


Thanks Kevin. I di'nt risk losing an auction on those parts and bought them outright. I do need the rear skewer if you have it.
Nemba Membas are so kind and generous.

Do you recall the BB size?

I admit i probably overpaid for this.

I wanted it, and i sniped it with 2 seconds left in the auction.

[boingboing]

I saw this on E bay and thought of the homegrown project. Seeing that you are already shopping on ebay you have probably come across these by now. But anyway heres 3 items.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42317&item=7114466 882&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58089&item=7114358 651&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=58089&item=7113059 908&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[sizlinseagulsoup]

You can't use a Kind headset on a homegrown... (take a look at Bill's pictures)

Bill - I'll try to come across it next time I go back to the Berkshires, it's probably in my parents garage (I couldn't find it in my parts boxes of Fun in my Waltham place)

[boingboing]

I didnt realize it was integrated. In the picture it looks like the fork was placed in the head tube for picture purposes only. I had a Haro like that.

Thanks Boing,

That ebay is addictive. Be carefull. If you happen across one of the Cris King headsets like in the picture (Perdido) below i would be very interested. King does make a replacement for the intergrated design but it requires a shop with King machining tools. I have read all the info on their site about how the design sucks and i agree it needs to be changed out while the headtube is not yet damaged. Its a cost i did not budget for but not doing it means 1/2 life on the frame.

Bill, I used to have a homegrown for 3 years, I absolutely loved the bike.


Did you have much trouble with the intergrated headset? If there are precautions i should be taking or avoiding please let me know.

[MMcG]

Bill, I used to have a homegrown for 3 years, I absolutely loved the bike.


Did you have much trouble with the intergrated headset? If there are precautions i should be taking or avoiding please let me know.


Bill I would think the headset would be fine with Noah aboard it. He's under 75 pounds or so soaking wet I bet right? If the fork has 80mm of travel it shouldn't put any extra stress on the HT area of the frame so you should be good to go I would think.

Can you re- email or PM me with your address for those riser bars? They are a little bit faded from the sun, but they should still fit in nicely with all that red going on with the Homegrown.

Mark

[minkhiller]

You need one of these also Bill.

[MMcG]

You need one of these also Bill.


hahaha!

Excellent!

[sizlinseagulsoup]

Bill, I used to have a homegrown for 3 years, I absolutely loved the bike.


Did you have much trouble with the intergrated headset? If there are precautions i should be taking or avoiding please let me know.


Not really, although I did have to replace the bearing once in a while (not that bad). If you want to know my luck with bearings though, I've had to completely overhaul my Hugi 240's about 4 times and my intergrated BB was destroyed after a month...

I also had a 63 mm fork on the bike...

[bdee]

When you really go overboard you can get him this stuff - the messenger bags show up on Ebay every now and then, you can pick one up cheap. I've had my original one since 96 and they are indestructible (vinyl and made by Chrome). Can you tell I worked in a Schwinn shop in my previous life ? ::)

What was my budget again?

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Yes?
Perhaps for me its more like anything worth doing is worth overdoing. At any rate I am over budget and i can see an easy $200 to go.
Noah was not able to operate the shimano shift/brake pods i had left over. His hands are small and there was not enough adjustment. So Sram gripshift esp and derailleur as well as the avid ti levers were an extra. Probably need short grips too. I had to have the old school Homegrown skewers, headset plate, and chainstay guard.
The bike is running as a single speed. I have some pics to post when i get to work. He loves it just the way it is, and i love him for being like that.

I still wish these cranks had a mtb spider.

[Quo Fan]

Those cranks would have looked sooooooooo cool on the Homegrown.

Here's a happy boy :)

How's that feel Noah?

"Good.....can we go to the jump?"

I'd like it better if you got used to the brakes and bigger size for a bit on the flat.

"Pop, it feels perfect, lets go"

[AA]

Nice job Bill, Noah sure looks happy... one suggestion, put a top tube pad on that bike so he stays happy if he stops short.

"Pop, the pedals are going down too easy and i cant go fast enough"

Ok let me up the gear , there now your a SS in 32x18. Thats not to hard to pedal?

"No Pop, that feels right"

[minkhiller]

Ok, i'm in for the ride with Noah at the Turkey Burner.

[Luckybikes]

Thats one sweet ride noah a lucky kid

[Quo Fan]

Nice job on the bike, Bill. Looks really good in the pictures, I'll bet it looks better in person. Noah is lucky to have a dad that is willing to build a bike for him.

[steve_b]

Great job, Bill. Noah should have some awesome times on it. Glad to see you were able to get all the parts so quickly. 8)

[Ranger]

Those Silver Streak cranks look alot like an old maxi crank I used to have, only mine were blue. There was a crank adapter that allowed you to run a 3rd ring on a regular crank. Looks like yours is machined to take the middle and outer rings. It bolted onto the middle ring mounting bolts and worked great for smaller riders.
I just may still have one of those adapters that I would gladly donate to Noah's project bike. Keep you posted if I can locate it. Those cranks would make the Home Grown look awesome.

[If_Rider]

Very cool Bill!! Where did you get his helmet? Online? FF is a great idea for the little ones but I wonder how small they make them.

Thank you to all for the positive comments. We all know thats why i start threads like this anyway ;D

Ranger- thanks, i have a few questions out to the ebayer who is selling those cranks. Using them will break restrictions i have set for the project both on budget and weight. But i am still considering them, thats how much i like them. Let me know if you have that peice and when i get my answers back from England(the shipping is gunna kill me) we can see if they are still viable for the project.

IFrider- yes online, but not at a bike shop. My son picked out the 661 Full Comp on sale at Beyond Bikes but they never came back in stock(fill in poor service rant here). I searched the internet stores for one his size and color only to find no one had them any more. But i dont give up easy and i got lots of free time at work. heres the link to a mountian board site that had all sizes and colors and at less then half the Cycle Loft price. Sizing info and head measuring chart is all there. Service was competent and shipping prompt, I highly recomend.
http://www.mtbz.com/mountainboard_accessories/661_comp.htm

[Slider]

Justbill - watch out for chain line issues with those cranks. If they aren't offset properly, you won't be able to add the additional rings. I suppose you could play around with BB spindle length, but front derailler issue will probably crop up then.

If you do decide to go that route, RaceFace BB's are adjustable, unlike Shimano. Not sure of the total range they have, though.

Slider