This is very short account of how I was repeatedly informed how one cannot alter the gearing on a child’s bike, especially one without a drop out.

To me, the problem was painfully simple to solve. Hack-saw the virtual hanger in half, extend by ¾” to clear the jockey wheel from the large cog, linish, paint fit …ride. Oh, and commission a top-fettler to turn out a mounting spacer for the crank spider and granny ring…. and we’re off.

I give you son #1’s 22 – 34 ‘climbs like a mountain goat on phets’ mtb. Son #2 has similar.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uxkZ5IAWOpI/Tq7sga4shoI/AAAAAAAAANE/_zTkcVr73BA/s400/DSC02498.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TpAXR4xGUI4/Tq7sYq4-g_I/AAAAAAAAAM8/VslciBBXhjA/s400/DSC02493.JPG

They are 6yrs old and on day two are climbing stuff I expected them to ……..by next summer.

The guys below have agreed to me shouting how great they are er on STW. They were both awesome to deal with. Bot of them have conducted work for me in the past and have been brills on both occasions.

So thanks to John at Yorkshire Fabrication and Brendan at his machine shop.

“Yorkshire coast Fabrication” yc_fabs@yahoo.co.uk

brendan2709@gmail.com,

Have you put this post on because you think it will help somebody else who may have the same problem , because you want to look clever or to give your buddies a plug ?

that is pretty cool tubs
lot of kids bikes have crap gearing
that is a neat solution

ramsey bloke…….pretty off mate, had a bad day?

Have you put this post on because you think it will help somebody else who may have the same problem , because you want to look clever or to give your buddies a plug ?

Or because quote a few of us enjoy a good home engineering thread?

I think it’s kinda cool n interesting Ramsey Neil.

I apologise if my original post came across smug. My intention was only to pass on some info/inspiration to others who can’t afford an islabike, or in my case 2 of them.

Folks are more than welcome to borrow the taps and bits I have.
I don’t personally know the lads who helped me, but they deserve a mention because they were so helpful.
I didn’t mean to offend.
LT

you should be smug. good work.

Nope, can’t be done

good effort. i see nothing wrong with you aiming for all three of the responses suggested!

Nice one, for folks putting a kids bike together it’s pretty hard to find suitable bits at decent prices. This is a useful chainset though:

Short triple at EBC

just shows nothing is impossible without a bit of thought and effort

Awesome
Thats one bashring I don’t think will be getting bent any time soon

Fair play good effort.

Couple of years ago my daughter’s islabike got nicked and we couldnt afford to replace it.

A few weeks after a horrid orange kids bike was in a skip for a few days near my house. Took it home and it was knackered, rusted, tyres were wrecked and it just didn’t work. Took it apart, cleaned each part up, sanded the frame down a d painted it pink. Put it back together and replaced a few parts and my daughter loves it and it looks great.

I just wish I had some before pics.

Really satisfying project and the bonus is seeing my kids loving her bike. She now want to fit some knobblies and come off road with me 🙂

Looks good, however there appears to be a massive gap between the two biggest cogs at the back

That’ll be a Shimano megarange cassette that will.

Yep, bigyinn’s spot on Steve, the megarange comes with that wopping cog (relative) as standard I for one had reservations to it’s buttery scale. Yet, it snicks up from 2nd to 1st without so much as a complaint.

Bushwacked, shame about the Islabike as they are lovely. But it’s great fun to fettle, and like your young-un mine were happy as larry with them.

Yeah, the bash ring wasn’t planned but the guy (Brendan) who turned it added that feature, it’s not as thick as it looks due to it being turned inwards to accommodate the spider – I could quite get into the ‘home-brew’ look, it has a hint of what Hope had a few years back? Would like something similar on mine 😛

Have you put this post on because you think it will help somebody else who may have the same problem , because you want to look clever or to give your buddies a plug ?

Ramsey Neil – Do you want me to make you one?

Oh and the answer to your question no “Love Tubs” was not a buddy, but i would class him as one now!!!

If i can in anyway help other with Custom parts please get in contact. 😉