Bikes 2017 and a build log for my Quadangle.
- Thread starter AlienALX
- Start date
AlienALX
Well-known member
Crap, I forgot to upload the final pics !
It came out really nice and rides superbly. I've not done much riding lately because of my uncle dying and divorce and just life getting me down and getting in the way. Any way, for about a month I was watching this thing on Ebay.
Ultra Burners are very rare. Mostly because they were very, very expensive. I mean you went Burner, Team Burner, Super Burner and then Ultra Burner. Only one person I ever knew had a Super Burner, and only one had an Ultra Burner and I owned the frame for a while and it was the lightest bike I've ever had. So yeah, dude wanted £160 for the frame fork and headset which isn't bad considering it's a 1983 and in good what is called "survivor" condition. No cracks, no dents etc stickers all there (though they are manky). Any way, after weeks of haggling he finally accepted £130 delivered which I gotta admit is bloody cheap for an Ultra Burner. So I bought it ! then I remembered sitting reading mags back in the 80s and drooling over the even rarer silver model.
So I have decided to build it using that original advert pic as my guide. Got the absolutely 100% correct tyres ordered.
The even rarer brand new anod alu bars.
And a seat clamp.
And because they were cheap I got these grips. They are kinda like a mash up of Ame round and Oakley B1B.
And of course a decal set.
I won't be riding this bike. Mostly because it's very old (35 years pretty much) very delicate and very, very short. Look at the space between the seat and the bars. So this will be my one and only "carpet queen" and payback for my dad dying in 81 and me having to ride around on a ton of pig iron for nine years because my mother was so broke.
The best part? right near to my mother is a shop that sells stuff that is nearly out of date for cheap. You know? like crisps, drinks etc. Well right nextdoor there is this place and I always wondered if it was a metal refinisher. So I dug up the number and called them, yup they blast, yup they powder coat and yup they have every shade of metallic silver you could need. Best of all? well not only are they a stone's throw from my mother's house but they also quoted me £50 for frame fork and bars. And I am not having the bars done any more. Last place charged me £120, was woefully late on the date it was supposed to be ready and just continually ed and whined. Not only that but he commited a cardinal sin, he f*****g powdered the steerer tube on the forks and all of the effing brake lugs.
So yeah, really feeling this one. Kinda emotional too.
It came out really nice and rides superbly. I've not done much riding lately because of my uncle dying and divorce and just life getting me down and getting in the way. Any way, for about a month I was watching this thing on Ebay.
Ultra Burners are very rare. Mostly because they were very, very expensive. I mean you went Burner, Team Burner, Super Burner and then Ultra Burner. Only one person I ever knew had a Super Burner, and only one had an Ultra Burner and I owned the frame for a while and it was the lightest bike I've ever had. So yeah, dude wanted £160 for the frame fork and headset which isn't bad considering it's a 1983 and in good what is called "survivor" condition. No cracks, no dents etc stickers all there (though they are manky). Any way, after weeks of haggling he finally accepted £130 delivered which I gotta admit is bloody cheap for an Ultra Burner. So I bought it ! then I remembered sitting reading mags back in the 80s and drooling over the even rarer silver model.
So I have decided to build it using that original advert pic as my guide. Got the absolutely 100% correct tyres ordered.
The even rarer brand new anod alu bars.
And a seat clamp.
And because they were cheap I got these grips. They are kinda like a mash up of Ame round and Oakley B1B.
And of course a decal set.
I won't be riding this bike. Mostly because it's very old (35 years pretty much) very delicate and very, very short. Look at the space between the seat and the bars. So this will be my one and only "carpet queen" and payback for my dad dying in 81 and me having to ride around on a ton of pig iron for nine years because my mother was so broke.
The best part? right near to my mother is a shop that sells stuff that is nearly out of date for cheap. You know? like crisps, drinks etc. Well right nextdoor there is this place and I always wondered if it was a metal refinisher. So I dug up the number and called them, yup they blast, yup they powder coat and yup they have every shade of metallic silver you could need. Best of all? well not only are they a stone's throw from my mother's house but they also quoted me £50 for frame fork and bars. And I am not having the bars done any more. Last place charged me £120, was woefully late on the date it was supposed to be ready and just continually ed and whined. Not only that but he commited a cardinal sin, he f*****g powdered the steerer tube on the forks and all of the effing brake lugs.
So yeah, really feeling this one. Kinda emotional too.
AlienALX
Well-known member
Wow. So today I had a lesson in how far some guys are willing to go.. And it's madness. Seriously, how can some one end up dropping £3k+ into an old bike from their childhood? 
The thing that confuses me the most is how they can do that (drop £3k+, I have seen guys spend $15k on a resto build*) and then sell it afterwards? if it meant that little to you why even bother
I mean let's take this as an example right. A stock standard crappy Burner bike was £79. I know, by bro had one. My BMX cost about £40 and was gash. Any way, here is a standard Burner.
Crappy steel, crappy components etc. A good bike for a kid, though. Any way, the ultra burner was the top of the pile. Weighing in at around £180. That was *a.lot.* of money back then. Any way, the stem that comes on the UB is a Suntour. It looks like this.
But teh price... You don't even want to know what a NOS (new old stock) stem would cost you. North of £300. Utterly mad. Any way, thankfully I found a company that make reproductions and it cost me £26.99
I can live with that.
* I s**t you not. $15k on a 24k gold plated Hutch Trickstar. Then trying to get $4000 for it on Ebay and failing.
My bikes will remain with me until the day I die. If I did not want them I would not build them. They mean sod all to some one else, they mean everything to me. That is the part I don't get. How can you dump that sorta cash, then try and explain it away and THEN sell the bloody thing?
The thing that confuses me the most is how they can do that (drop £3k+, I have seen guys spend $15k on a resto build*) and then sell it afterwards? if it meant that little to you why even bother
I mean let's take this as an example right. A stock standard crappy Burner bike was £79. I know, by bro had one. My BMX cost about £40 and was gash. Any way, here is a standard Burner.
Crappy steel, crappy components etc. A good bike for a kid, though. Any way, the ultra burner was the top of the pile. Weighing in at around £180. That was *a.lot.* of money back then. Any way, the stem that comes on the UB is a Suntour. It looks like this.
But teh price... You don't even want to know what a NOS (new old stock) stem would cost you. North of £300. Utterly mad. Any way, thankfully I found a company that make reproductions and it cost me £26.99
I can live with that.
* I s**t you not. $15k on a 24k gold plated Hutch Trickstar. Then trying to get $4000 for it on Ebay and failing.
My bikes will remain with me until the day I die. If I did not want them I would not build them. They mean sod all to some one else, they mean everything to me. That is the part I don't get. How can you dump that sorta cash, then try and explain it away and THEN sell the bloody thing?
AlienALX
Well-known member
Maybe I just see it logically and rationally. Things like "Don't spend beyond your means" and "You can never get your childhood back" spring to mind. I dunno man. I mean, respect to the guys who dump £3k on a bike and then keep it forever.
I really just don't see the point otherwise. Things like these bikes and my PCs are icons of my life. Modern icons I suppose.. You know? how your gran had an old clock on the mantle or something?
AlienALX
Well-known member
I always wanted a Raleigh Burner when I was 15 that would have been 1983#Oldgit
Blimey yeah, get in line for your pension
I was only 9 !Sadly my dad had just died and my brother got the long straw that year. I got some POS from a toy store called an Atlas or something. It was a fake Mongoose looking frame but the worst crime was that the crank was cotter pin. So every time I took it over jumps or did anything heavy on it the sodding pins would work loose and you would have to smack them back in with a hammer.
Oh well, I shall have my Burner soon, just how I would have wanted it
Greenback
Active member
I always wanted a Raleigh Burner when I was 15 that would have been 1983
Don't worry you're younger than me. JUST!
I have fond memories of a Chopper, but know getting 1 wouldn't live up them, for now I'm not so fit and looking down that flight of steps my fear would jump in and reminds me I'm not invincible and healing is slow
Tolemac
Active member
Don't worry you're younger than me. JUST!
I have fond memories of a Chopper, but know getting 1 wouldn't live up them, for now I'm not so fit and looking down that flight of steps my fear would jump in and reminds me I'm not invincible and healing is slow
There was the Grifter as well
AlienALX
Well-known member
Don't worry you're younger than me. JUST!
I have fond memories of a Chopper, but know getting 1 wouldn't live up them, for now I'm not so fit and looking down that flight of steps my fear would jump in and reminds me I'm not invincible and healing is slow
Choppers are very hard to ride as an adult. So are most 80s BMXs, because they were basically designed for children. It was only in the mid 90s that they started making bigger bikes with longer top tubes. I have seen people set up a Burner to ride it as an adult and by the time the handlebars are facing so far forward and the seat sitting so high they look stupid.
And you are right man. The older you get the more the slams hurt and the more it takes ages for things to heal. My last bad slam was in 2001 and I tell you what it scared me so bad I did not ride another bike for five years, and even then I rode it once and crapped my pants. My confidence was gone.
Now? gloves, helmet etc. Don't ride on the road and keep the probabilities of an accident at basically 0. And I have some of my confidence back now but nowhere near the amount of control I had back in the late 90s when I was pro riding.
That feeling of immortality for me has long gone. All to be replaced with fear. When I think back to some of the things I did I can't believe that I did them and lived to tell.
AlienALX
Well-known member
There was the Grifter as well
Oh you mean that turd that was always stuck in 3rd gear and every one hated riding.
Tolemac
Active member
Oh you mean that turd that was always stuck in 3rd gear and every one hated riding.
Yup that one lol
AlienALX
Well-known member
One of the worst bikes I ever rode that. Never had one (thank god). It was amazing how Raleigh could smack it out of the park with the Bomber (remember that? that was a fookin cool bike !) and then make the tank Grifter with the dodgy sturmey archer mech that always snapped (small chain that selected the gears). Also, the tyres were 30 PSI like most back in those days but the Grifter was so heavy that it made them squash which meant you really had to work hard to get it moving.
Remember putting a coke can on the front wheel? or a playing card to make it sound like a motor bike?
I had a Boxer (mini Grifter) but it wasn't terribly heavy. My brother had a Striker (one up from the Boxer) and then a racer, then my dad died and BMX came in the year after that.
AlienALX
Well-known member
The only ever Sturm/arch 3 speed I ever used that worked were on girls bikes. The boys always broke the connecting chain lol.
Well last night I got my first true scare. I spent about five hours looking for parts that look the same, almost to come up empty handed. There were period correct parts, but I was looking at around £150 just for a chain ring, bolts and spider. I can't be paying that it's just out of my league. Eventually I did find a NOS spider for £11 (which I was so relieved about, felt like I had dodged a bullet)
A chain ring Sugino copy for £18
And the bolts at £3.79.
But one thing became pretty clear, building bikes that even so much as look old is expensive. Too rich for my blood tbh I won't ever be doing it again. It's hard to believe that I paid £16 for the most beautiful Crupi alu chain disk yet £35 for what you see above. I shouldn't complain though, as the only other chain rings available were £60+ just for the ring, then £50+ for a spider.
Thankfully the arms and bearings are peanut money.
Tolemac
Active member
The only ever Sturm/arch 3 speed I ever used that worked were on girls bikes. The boys always broke the connecting chain lol.
The Raleigh Shopper lol there was another one but I can't remember the name
AlienALX
Well-known member
My mate Sam's sister Sallie had one of those. I used to nick it from her. Rode lovely tbh but you looked like a total bell riding one ! They did a few variants of it IIRC to appeal to young girls
Also worth a mention - Tomahawk and Budgie. Both great bikes
