Top tube relocation?

Do you know anything about brazing?

Quote:Originally Posted by VeeDaub [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]I have a really old Skyline Criterium that's seen some better days, it's a Womens drop down top tube style frame that I would like to convert to a Mens style top tube with a straight across bar. Where could I find the parts online to do this? I was hoping to keeping it looking as retro as possible by using tube mounting "Lugs" as I've seen so far but I also don't wanna be throwing every cent I have into this project bike.

So how do I go about converting a Womens style frame into a Mens frame?

While the task is admirable on one level, it is probably foolhardy if it is just for cosmetics.

As is, the seat tube appears to be too short if you were to extend a 'horizontal top tube' to it from the existing head tube ...

FYI. Lugs which are readily available will be expensive ... I suppose that if you are [B]really motivated[/B] then YOU could fabricate lugs from some steel tubing IF you know how to weld + have done some OTHER metal working prior to this project ...

FWIW. If 'I' really wanted to modify THAT frame then 'I' would plan on replacing the seat tube, too ...

The most economical way would be to cannibalize an old MEN'S bike whose seat tube was at least an inch longer than I wanted ...

I would canniblize said MEN'S frame for its TOP TUBE & SEAT TUBE by cutting the BOTTOM BRACKET away from the bottom of the over-sized MEN'S frame + the HEAD TUBE below the upper lug (on the MEN'S frame) ...

The SEAT TUBE + "girl's" TOP TUBE would need to be cut away from the Skyline Criterium frame ...

I would then clean out (ream and/or "grind"😉 the old seat tube out of the Skyline Criterium's BB so that the cannibalized frame's SEAT TUBE can fit snugly into the Skyline Criterium's BB shell ...

If the cannibalized TOP TUBE is too long, then it needs to be removed from the lug & the lug "cleaned out" so that the TOP TUBE & HEAD TUBE Can fit into it ...

How one treats the seat stays depends on how they are attached to the cannibalized frame ... YOU can either braze-or-weld the Skyline Criterium's stays to the cannibalized SEAT TUBE or possibly [I]splice[/I] the Skyline's stays to the cannibalized stays ... or replace the Skyline's stays with the cannibalized stays in which case you keep them on the cannibalized frame when the MEN'S frame is being disassembled ...

If you were to use the stays from the cannibalized frame then you would probably need to move the BRAKE BRIDGE ...

After fitting, then BRAZE it all together ...

Clean the flux/etc. from the tubing ...

Paint.

IMO, unless you are in a Third World country OR a remote part of the World where "vintage" bikes in the appropriate size may be hard to come by and/or you have a limited budget BUT a lot of time & you have the appropriate brazing torch + other tools, then 'I' think you will be much better off locating a MEN'S frame that fits the intended rider ... [B][I]unless[/B][/I] you are using this project as a stepping stone to building another frame from scratch.

BTW. The preceding is NOT the only way to modify your Skyline frame AND cannibalizing one frame to use with the other is not necessarily your best option (i.e., it can be done without cannibalizing a second frame BUT ...), but if you found reading the description of what you can possibly do was tedious, then you should know that the actual project will probably be many times more so.

Great detailed response, Alfeng!

Another option would be to modify yourself. Or even simpler, just dress in drag when you ride it.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by AlanG [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

...... just dress in drag when you ride it.

I've noticed many older guys riding "girls bikes". Besides being much easier for an arthritic old guy to mount.... they are generally cheaper and in better condition than used men's bicycles.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I've noticed many older guys riding "girls bikes". Besides being much easier for an arthritic old guy to mount.... they are generally cheaper and in better condition than used men's bicycles.

I don't know why he wanted to change it. I'm not at all biased against men riding girls bikes. As a matter of fact when I was a young guy it was fairly easy for me to get into girls' pants.

You can buy a used bike that is of better quality and fit for less money and aggravation than your retrofit.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by AlanG [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I don't know why he wanted to change it. I'm not at all biased against men riding girls bikes. As a matter of fact when I was a young guy it was fairly easy for me to get into girls' pants.

When I was a young guy I tended to prefer girls with short skirts. Easier to get into that pants...

For a rebuild of a vintage old bike a girls [like model] bike could provide some decent parts. I had a 1963 [coppertone, mens] Schwinn Varsity [back in '64] and have been thinking seriously of recreating the bicycle. The idea of picking up a similar girls bike for drive train parts has crossed my mind.

A couple of years ago I sold two "Mixte" bikes, a Peugeot and Jeunet, both from the 1970s. Both had the twin downtubes which continued past the seattube to become the seatstays to the rear dropouts. Always thought the Mixte name meant they were marketed as a mix between a mens and womens frame, but in the US they were sold as women's bikes.

Hard to believe that 40 years ago when a woman walked into an LBS, she was shown "girl's" bikes.....I can only imagine a salesman trying that today with the women riders I know.

I was on a group vacation earlier this year and a few of us rented bikes to ride around the island. They gave a woman a "girls" bike and she was a little miffed when she had no down tube to grab when we had to carry the bikes up stairs and some other places.

You mean no top tube. "Girls" bikes have TWO down tubes.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by dhk2 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Hard to believe that 40 years ago when a woman walked into an LBS, she was shown "girl's" bikes.....I can only imagine a salesman trying that today with the women riders I know.

Of course... since I am a man... and never looked at the "women's" line of bicycle at the LBS I really can't speak authoritatively about the selection they carry. But I do know there is a "section" [or collection of sorts] of nice road bikes sized and designed for female adults at my LBS's. For some reason... I had in my mind that a woman's bike might have smaller-grip break levers and such. But I really don't know that to be true.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by swampy1970 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

When I was a young guy I tended to prefer girls with short skirts. Easier to get into that pants...

This is also a good way of knowing that the girl was willing. Girls run a lot faster with their skirts up than guys can with their pants down.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Dave Cutter [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Of course... since I am a man... and never looked at the "women's" line of bicycle at the LBS I really can't speak authoritatively about the selection they carry. But I do know there is a "section" [or collection of sorts] of nice road bikes sized and designed for female adults at my LBS's. For some reason... I had in my mind that a woman's bike might have smaller-grip break levers and such. But I really don't know that to be true.

WSD bikes are available in all bikes today. I have just recently purchased a Trek 7.4 for my wife. The drive train components are the same as the men's model. The frame geometry is different to be more in line with the female anatomy. The saddle is also different designed to apply pressure in different locations of the heavenly region. Women are a large market sector that value being comfortable while riding a bike.
The step through frame was an etiquette measure allowing women to mount a bike without showing her bloomers during the Renaissance error.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by jpr95 [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

You mean no top tube. "Girls" bikes have TWO down tubes.

Yeah I wasn't thinking.