Ok, so I've been around bikes for a long time, since I was a little kid I've dreamed of a cool custom 20 inch bike.

When I was a kid, I never had the money to build it "right". I always had a good bike, totally dialed in, and solid, but everytime I broke a part, I would replace it with what was availalbe. Not what would look the best. So I tried to stay with chrome as it looked best the longest.

But, today I am older, and I finally want a custom bike, so for the past few years I have been looking for the parts that I wanted for "My" perfect build. It may not appeal to others, but it is just right for me.

When I built my dream home in 05, one of the things I did was buy a new bmx bike, as I knew I would finally have a little bit of time to ride again.

I started with a K2 DMC Pro, which had similar geometry to my old Dyno pro compe, but was built stronger, (way stronger). Which at 210lb's I figured I'd need the strength.

Here is a picture of it.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/Thinker.jpg?t=1175612644[/img]

After riding it a while, I decided I wanted to go lighter, so I searched for a while for an aluminum frame, I was thinking about a show, but Guav was buying all of them at the time...

So I picked up a WTP Stud frame. It was brand new, with not a mark in the paint anywhere. (obviously not ridden).

I decided I wanted to do some forward rope a roni's, but I am too old to be watching for that pedal to come around and smack me in the shin so I started looking for a freecoaster, and when I found a set of wheels with RADIAL laced spokes (I've always loved the look of radial laced wheels) I was sold.

It felt soo much lighter that I decided to continue my lighter part search. But, here it is at that point.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/Stud019.jpg?t=1175612890[/img]

If you like my flames, you can get a set for your bike on ebay search "bmx clear flames" or "bmx white flames".


I was talking to Catfish one day and told him I wanted to build a forkbike, well, he donated a suelo fork for the cause. But after seeing how light they were, I decided to put them on my flatland bike, and after using the dremel tool to make the 14mm axles fit, I was in business.

Man, did that make a huge difference. These forks are about 1/3 of the weight of the old forks.

Plus they are faster, which makes a big difference in flatland.

Here she is after putting on the new forks. And by this time I had lost 10lb's to put me at 200lbs...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/squeeker19-1.jpg?t=1175613456[/img]

So now I'm only dissatified with the bars. My bars are boring. Actually they don't feel right, they are a little tall, and they hurt my knee when I'm grabbing them on front wheel stuff.

Since I don't have a stash of peregrine Q's like Timo. I went over to system cycle (DK) to see if they could help me out.

After goofing off a while on Catfishes bike, we went into the warehouse and tried out tons of bars, some were too long, most were too short (narrow), but I finally found a set that was just right. (and they were really light too).

So today I took it over to my friend Josh Shaw. If you are into hot rods, then you know him. He is one of the best pinstripers in the country. And he is a heck of a hot rod builder too.

I gave him full creative liscense to do with it as he wishes. The only part that can't change is my Circus sprocket, RIP Colin.

I stripped the bike down last night, and did my last firehydrant on my "ugly" bike. So here it is in the back of my car, going to be "pimped".

I'm pretty excited. And I'm down to 190lbs...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/bike2.jpg?t=1175613833[/img]

gm

It'll be cool to see when it's done.
Down 20 lbs. Congrats!
What are you doing to lose the weight?

I've been eating less and "working out". I try to exercise three times a week. Be it run through the woods with my paintball gun. Or ride flat for 15-20 minutes. Or cut wood. Something to "feel the burn".

But, this has been over the past 2 years. So I'm not going gangbusters or anything. I figure if I lose a pound a month until I hit 180, I'm good. Then it will stay off as it wasn't a "diet"...

I love junk food, so "diets" don't work for me. and did I mention cheese... I love cheese...


mmm.

Later, I'm going to lunch.

Wendys spicy chicken with cheese is calling. (hold the mayo, I'm watching my figure... Ha ha)

Grats on the 20 lbs. Got a pic of the sprocket?

nice bike.i thought that was a circus chainring.i have a green one,they rule!!!!!!!!!

I went over to the hot rod shop, and they told me to look in the paint booth...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010049.jpg?t=1181243945[/img]


OH YEAH!

Pinstriping next... He is redoing my tech 77's too.

Wow, I thought the white looked awesome with the flames. Can't wait to see what she will look like when she's done. By the way what kind of bars are on the white Stud above that you did not like ?

looks like you have a pretty sweet "manroom" as well.

That's looking bloody sweet, can't wait until it's pinstriped.
I got those same forks, I planned on painting them, until I got them, with that effect on the finish felt like i would've been destroying to nice a finish, but I would've just been spray canning them black.

Hey I think I've seen you mention about buying and selling houses somewhere, I was just wondering in what essence like investment house or something of that nature?

Stussy, I don't know the name of the bars, they came on my K2 DMC Pro. They just didn't feel right to me, I kept hitting my knee where the bottom clamp comes out of the bars.

you can see my new bars on that "what handlebars thread" below this thread. I forget what kind they are too, I peeled the stickers off right after I got them... Some new-fangled "street" pro's bars. Actually they had a nice paintjob on them, but, for once I'm gonna have a bike that doesn't look like skittles... "chase the rainbow" That reminds me...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/backyard-1.jpg?t=1181301605[/img]

That bike was a trip! (it was catfishes before he redid it)


Bully, I had a custom cable guide welded onto my suelo forks, which is way better than a zip tie or something. So, I needed to paint them anyway. Plus they didn't "match". They are great forks though.

As for houses, my wife and I bought houses, fixed them up and sold them from 95, until 04. When we built our dream house.

Our first house we bought in 1995 for $58,000 and sold in 1996 for $73,000, but I redid the whole kitchen and bathroom (all the way down to the studs) painted, new plumbing, windows, and landscaping.

Second house was a HUD house, we painted, redid both bathrooms, painted cabinets, all new woodwork and doors, new landscaping, a couple of new windows, new back door. Bought in 1996 for $74,500 and sold in 1997 for $114,500.

Third house we bought in 1997 for $142,000. Painted, landscaped, and pretty much just lived in until we sold it for $174,000 in 1999.

Then we "stole" a totally custom brand new house on 5 acres, ranch with 2200 sq feet in 1999 for $212,000. I put in a pool, painted, window treatments, garage door openers, (it had a 30 X 40 three car detached garage too) along with the 2 and 1/2 car garage on the house. It was a sweet house. Did landscaping, planted about 60 trees, built a stone wall, put in an above ground pool, ect. Sold it in 2002 for $274,000.

Bought a nice older custom house on 2 acres for $178,000. It had a 20 X 60 garage, we painted it, fixed the screened in room, and cleaned, and in 2004 sold it for $224,000.

Then we built our dream house. I am digging the hole for a pool this weekend.

It was a lot of work, and we "lived" real estate for those years. Looking for houses that were underpriced, and then offering rediculously low offers... We made offers on over 30 houses during that time... So you have to learn to pass, if it is not a good deal. I looked for houses with sound heating and cooling systems, and good foundations, and structure, as that was something that would be expensive to replace. Then we did the work ourselves. My wife is an amazing painter, she always has the knack of knowing what the next "popular" style is. And our houses sold really fast. Two of them to the first people that looked at them. We sold a bunch of them without realtors. (the forms are available at the library)

Check out the laws in your area. Here in the states, you don't have to pay tax on your "profit" as long as it is your primary residence. We used to be able to stay for 1 year and sell, and keep the profit, but they changed the law, and now you need to keep it for 2 years before you sell, or else you pay a tax... Which I did on my last house... I only lived there for 21 months.

Its a lot of fun, if you are willing to put in the time, and work on it yourself. I learned tons of tricks (like buying from builder outlets, and getting books from the library).

I've considered buying some investment property now, but I don't want to deal with renters, so I would probably just "flip" the houses. But, I am relaxing for now...

Thanks for the reply, yeah I was just wondering as I've been thinking about trying to do something like investment properties when I get out of school, There seems to be a bit of money in the area, and seems more my sort of style than, say getting a 9 to 5 for someone sorta job, although I'll probably need to get something to be able to say get a loan. Atleast when/if I can, I get the first home buyers grant for my first one, although certain strings do apply to it.

Catfish has MAD skills!!

Plus he has some good stories. (thats one of the best parts of freestyle, the difference between average and great riders is the amount of stories they have...)

I spent the weekend digging...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010053.jpg?t=1181648015[/img]

Almost done with the foundation for the pool. I only had to dig down 4 feet in one corner, through clay and rock of course...

Here is a better pic of my bike at this point.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010052-1.jpg?t=1181648121[/img]

what color is that? like a copper-ish?

it depends on who you ask. I'm a printer, so I look at color all day, but I don't even know what color it is...

Its kind of gold, or burnt orange, or copper.


All I know is that in the sun. It really Shines... (Tons of metal flake)

The guy that painted made the mix custom for this bike, he has some left for future touch ups, but he mixed a few different things in there.

The base was left over from this car.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/0724163sVintagePoster.jpg?t=1181830558[/img]

Nice base!

its being pinstriped right now...

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010002-1.jpg?t=1183052275[/img]

WHOA!

It looks amazing. Clearcoat next, still waiting on my custom leather seat coming from NC.

Should be able to put it together next week...

do i see gold leaf? wow.

Yeah, gold leaf, silver leaf, bronze leaf...

I was blown away!

Check out the forks. These forks don't come with cable guides, so they welded on a custom one for me.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010010.jpg?t=1183054882[/img]

I can't wait to put it together.

Holy cow!!!! That is some kick *** paint right there. Cant wait to see it coated.

Old-skull

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/p1010003-1.jpg?t=1183062796[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010006.jpg?t=1183062823[/img]

Its got clear coat on it now. I'll be putting it together this weekend. I can't wait to do some tricks on it. I'll be taking it to the midwest flat jam on the 14th if you are gonna be in Indy and want to see it in person.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/p1010012.jpg?t=1183730844[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010019-2.jpg?t=1183731024[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010016.jpg?t=1183731049[/img]

gm

Wow....now that a sweet finish

damn.

what shop painted it?

damn.

Jamie over at Speed Kings put down the custom burnt copper color, and clear coated it.

Josh Shaw did the graphics, gold, silver, bronze leaf, and pinstriping.

It looks crazy in person. The sunlight shining off of it is amazing.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010007-1.jpg?t=1184002806[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010015-1.jpg?t=1184002832[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010008-1.jpg?t=1184002858[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010011.jpg?t=1184002884[/img]

I just took it over to show Catfish at system cycle, and all the guys were tripping out over it.

That looks absolutely insane Glenn ... I can't believe you're going to ride it haha ... that should be on a shelf on display, it's art.

[ July 10, 2007, 06:58 PM: Message edited by: Guav ]

Please say you are just going to ride flat on that and no park...or any sort of grinding because that pretty chain stay will be destroyed. I'm thinking you should post that in the Cafe or at least somewhere else so the whole world can see this artwork.

No grinds, just for flatland, maybe a little ramps. But, I have knocked off a piece of gold leaf on the forks already... Oh well. It was bound to happen.

Here it is with my new custom seat. Ostrich leather, made by John Herlacher.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010027-2.jpg?t=1184327984[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010028-2.jpg?t=1184328013[/img]

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010029-2.jpg?t=1184328063[/img]

I'll be taking it to the midwest flat jam tomorrow in Indy. Hopefully I can get some decent video.

You can see the piece I knocked off on the forks...

I was doing a tailwhip. I guess the clear wasn't as heavy on this part.

[img]http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j29/GlennMehltretter/P1010030-3.jpg?t=1184328220[/img]

Thats one bad thing about painting bikes that you are gonna ride, no matter how much clear you use, its gonna chip.... GUARANTEED.

I use this clear thats for industrial use(they use it on cranes), and I use ALOT, and no matter how much I use, it always chips.

Wow... this is amazing...
What's the total weight of the bike... Seems like you're into flatland.. but still want an all-around bike....

Which is what I'm looking to build too. I only have old school bikes.. but I'm really getting back into riding.. and I find all new bikes to have awkward geometry and too HEAVY.

Is this frame a smaller one? (i only say thatbecause you're coming from a Dyno Compe.. which had a perfectly small wheel base. ... Plus you were talking about the GT show... which I've always wanted since I saw it.

I'm really interested in building a new bike that weighs like the good old (lighter ) bikes.. but has updated features like a freecoaster, etc.... and is light as hell. with smaller geometry. I'm only 5'8"...

I don't know exactly. I would guess it is around 27 pounds, but I need to weigh it. The frame is 5.1 pounds, and it has suelo forks, and light bars, but the pegs are heavy, as well as the triple wall rims and freecoaster... Which are super heavy.

It feels pretty good as it sits now, it is very well balanced. The only thing I am still getting used to is the short rear triangle. I am thinking about trying another link in the chain to move the rear wheel back a bit, as it is still pretty short and manuals feel loop out easy (which explains my ankle injury).

The bike that feels the most like a old school dyno pro compe is the k2 dmc pro model. It is almost the exact same geometry.

But, I actually like this geometry better. The forks are really fast, and there is still enough room on the front triangle, so you don't get bound up in it.

I had fun building it. Trying out stuff and if I didn't like it I would put it on ebay and sell it. The only thing it needs is some new pegs, and a new wheelset, but I'll probably wait a while for that.

New bikes are really amazing. Shoot, I hated how headsets always loosened up on old school bikes... And 990's up front is amazing.

but(t) my seat is the best part.

reminds me of my lazy boy recliner.

Awesome..Kicks ***...

This bike, your weight loss, this bike (had to say it twice, and your story is very inspirational to me. I'm considering trying flatland.

I love the bike Glen. Very well done and reminds me of a custom hot rod.