Swanny's Addict Chopper

This bike started out as another bike. Recyclistas had an auction and had a homebuilt stretch cruiser bike frame up for auction. I loved the frame and my low bid won. This was back in early July 2006.

Fast forward to late September 2006 and it has now taken the builder almost 3 months to weld on some dropouts (the guy was nice but damn he was slow). Finally he gets the thing built and he goes to put the hub in...and it doesn't fit. 3 weeks later, he says he's got it fixed. He drops it at Recyclistas to put together and damn...the back forks aren't straight and the chain rubs against the frame. I get mad. I give up. I tell them I want my bid money back and they can keep the damn frame. They are very nice and agree.

October 2006 I find I have gotten hooked on the idea of a custom frame but I can bear the thought of buying one of the factory made cruisers. I check around on the internet and come across the Bike Rod n' Kustom web site and in their gallery is the Jakz profile..."holy s---! I want one of those frames." And then my spouse comes into the room. Instead of saying "no bloody way" she says I want one too. So we order two frames, an Addict (for her) and a Scythe (for me).

The last part of December and the beginning of January are spent getting the frames powdercoated and collecting the bike parts we need. We then took everything out to Recyclistas and for a very low rate their bike builder, Ryan, spent 3 (sometimes hellish) days helping/teaching us to assemble the bikes from the cranks to the shifters.

We get the bikes built. Take them out into the parking lot for a spin and...my frame is too small and Tracey's frame is too big. We call Jay at Jakz. He insists that is just the way those frames are. Well, to hell with it. We just do the old switch-a-roo and I throw all my accessories on the Addict. Hell, they are both amazing looking frames.

It was extremely satisfying to build these bikes and it really makes them feel like they are our own. And to ride them? We are both in our 40s and it must be hilarious to see us grinning ear to ear like little kids. We get so many comments from people when we ride them. "Hey nice ride!" Oh yeah, very nice.

Now we are moving to East Van from Victoria on June 1, 2007 and we can't wait to ride with all of you on Summer Solstice.

The short story is that this bike is built up from a Jakz frame. FYO here are a few of the long details:

Frame is an Addict built by Jay MacPhearson of Jakz cycles in Lumsden Saskatchewan (www.Jakz.com). The fenders are Electra Stubbys and the handlebars are Electra Outlaws both bought online from Bikeworldusa.com (great site - email Deb. Great lady. She will find pretty much anything, even if its not on her site and will mail any way you want, ie. regular postal to avoid custom broker fees). I also got the springer fork and chainwheel from Deb at Bikeworldusa. The mirrors and bee light I got from lovelylowrider.com (also a great site for cruiser accessories - but not as flexible on the shipping).

The bike also has a Shimano/Nexus Inter-7 hub which was ordered online from Universal Cycles in Portland Oregon (again, flexible shipping policies saved a bundle on brokerage fees and even with the exchange rates back in summer 2006 I saved about $100 on the hub kit compared to quotes from local shops). The rest of the bike was scavanged from bins at local bike shops and a lot from the bins at the Recyclistas Bike Collective in Victoria BC (another great place).