No secret Im a massive Rickman fan & Ive always wondered Why didn't they make a cruiser
As far as anyone I've spoken to can tell they never made one as no one’s ever seen one & they are not listed in any of the catalogues that we've managed to drag up between us, so It kinda got me wondering (if they ever made one what would look like)
Well all Rickman frames have the following characteristics (Bronze braising good geometry a loop-tail ) so it stands to reason this should have these too & would obviously be dressed in the beautiful Rickman race decals.....
The more i thought about it the more i wanted one (which was stupid right ?)... But anyway I started to keep a look out for something that might resemble a Rickman shape with similar characteristics in an attempt to try to (create a Rickman Cruiser)
I looked for a while & finally a few weeks ago I found a suitable donor frame & forks Via Patric In Holland , it was advertised on here & not getting any love, a 1982 Akisu 24” loop tail Chromoly cruiser it might have originally been branded Cycle Pro as Akisu made frames for these guys & Kuwahara along with others (from what I've read) so they are decently made frames.
The frame set has very similar drop outs front & rear to the Rickman in over all shape, the rear’s are missing a hole & the fronts have holes where the Rickman dropouts are solid but the general shape of both were close enough….
Now i did think about doing an Akisu build but there’s only one Akisu 24” loop tail on the museum & that doesn't have the right graphics so i had no clue or point of reference to be able to do a bonafide Akisu / Cycle pro build so it now doubly made sense to try to create something a little different & create a Rickman (doppleganger) !
The frame finally arrived last night, it didn't look amazing from the pictures on here but after a quick clean down & ((peek)) it’s come up really nice & i was really surprised at how good it looked.
I loosely built most of it last night & finished it this morning before taking it for a 10 mile spin. i’ve never had a cruiser i didn't know what to do with the gearing either, I've been told a total of 55 teeth is the norm but i wanted something that would be a good all rounder & went for a 44/16 combination which turned out to be perfect for me on the flat so I trailed this on a 1 piece crank today & plan is to fit some NOS 3 piece Sugino Fuji cranks with 44t chain ring that i was saving for the Curtis cruiser that i had on order but have now canceled.
So i guess this is a small homage to my favourite BMX company and my take on a bike which was never made but maybe should have been…
Not so much a Rickman Pro 24” but more a Rickman Faux 24” !
Anyway hope you like:
Spec:
Rickman I mean Akisu loop Tail Cruiser F&F
Skyway Cruiser Bars
Suntour Power stem
Tange LP440 headlock
ODI Toadstool Grips
Nos Dia compe Tech 4 Lever
Dia Compe MX900 Rear calliper
Kashimax Aero
DC seat post camp
Victor DX Pedals
KMC Chain
Sealed Veronique hubs & Rims
Cheng Shin Comp 3 Skin-wall tyres
Power disc
44t Chain ring
1 piece crank
16t Dicta rear
Rickman pad set (Firebird)
Rickman Decals (del)
Roughly photoshopped this one on the dropouts:
