Home made hack, need some advice from the pros.

[Bloominghack]

hey guys, so in my welding class i just finished making my own side hack cause im a broke college student who could afford an impakt even if they were available haha, anyways they are way fun and im hopin to hit a skate park soon but i need assistance. my chain ring is way big like a 40 t and i can barely pump with another guy on it. is there any place i can get a small one like you guys? thank

[littlejohn bmxer]

will one of my advice is ree think your footing looks like if you slip off you well brake your anckle

other than that its cool

[Bloominghack]

well i have to finish adding things liek the wheel cover and i just put the foot pegs there for now till i get some diamond plate or something

[littlejohn bmxer]

cool i'd try epanded metal like the one on old school hacks. its prob cheaper than diamond plate and lighter to

[trulyodd]

remember the monkey should be pushing at any chance he can...he's not just along for the ride. the gearing you're running is too high for sure....either try a smaller front spoket or a larger one on the back.

good advice littlejohnbmxer,
bloominghacks, you definitely need to have something for he monkey to stand on.

[Larry63r]

Gearing is relative. I like to run around 55 gear- inches. This is how you figure it out.
front sprocket/rear sprocket X wheel size.
44/16 X 20 = 55
25/9 X 20 = 55.5
39/17 X 24 = 55
36/17 X 26 = 55
It's that easy!
That concludes your one-minute bicycle lesson for the day!

P.S. Gear- inches = How many inches forward you travel for one rotation of the cranks.

[trulyodd]

nice breakdown larry, thanks for posting that info.

[Bloominghack]

oh sweet thanks again you guys i have a 16 rear and about a 42 i beleive in the front. so i guess im about there. ill make that monkey push more haha. ok one last question for now, braking blows what should i do? i tried polishing off the black powdercoating on the rims but its not to a mirror chrome like finish yet. will that help? also i would it help alot if i get rid of the gyro? any pad suggestions? thanks again. also i finished her off yesterday so heres what it is now...

[Larry63r]

I hate gyros. They can work but they do rob some of your braking power. I always take them off for the kids around my house. One cable has much less drag and that puts more power to the brake pads. You won't be able to spin your bars but the only time i spin my bars is when I crash!
While you are at it take the front brake cable out of the stem and run it out in front of the bars. It will work much better without all the bends in it.
If you can find some cool-stop brake pads that are salmon color get them. They are the best. Cool-stop made the material for Mathauser brake pads. Front brakes are 70% of your braking power. You need them to work well. I have front V-brakes on all my bikes. I even orderd a pair of Landing Gear with brake posts on them so I could run V- brakes on the front of my 20" BMX bike. Of course that was back when SE made forks. Now they are owned by Fuji and you can't get custom made forks from them anymore.
You can get one of these.
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/ ... Mount.aspx
I have put them on several bikes. They work great! I have one on my Redline 544 cruiser and I put one on my son's freeagent 20". I have also made something like that buy taking the fork brace off an old set of MTB forks and mounting it to the fork of a bike with a long bolt and some hose clamps. It works just as goob but it doesn't look as clean.

[trulyodd]

yea...remove the gyro for sure. with the extra weight of the monkey and third wheel the brakes need to be more responsive than normal.

[DiscipuloDuo]

Ay noone asked what size are your cranks relative to the gear ratio you'll be running. Also important. Per the brakes, have you 'toe'd' in the brake pads? take off Gyro.