Recreating my '98 Quadangle. Come with me on a journey of epic proportions.

[Midschoolfool]

Right. Will take me a while this one.

OK, so I am Andrew. I am 43 and live on the beach in West Sussex. I've been into BMX since its inception but had a pretty hard time of things as a kid. I have Aspergers and in my mid 20s was found to have Bipolar 2. This has made life pretty tough, plus my dad died when I was 7 so we weren't rich. My first BMX came from a toy store and was called an Atlas. It had a cotter pin crank. It also weighed a ton and wasn't very nice. I did own some nice bikes as a kid (TRM, Ultra Burner, Numerous GTs and so on) but I found old skool bikes to be unreliable. As an adult I was a good 15 stone, too much for an early bike. During the mid school was where it was at for me and I was sponsored by JAD during my 20s. Just street mainly, but a lot of long distance riding too.

Any way, in 1998 I decided I wanted to retire from riding Street. It was taking its toll on my body and I wasn't getting any younger so I bought myself a 1998 Quadangle. It looked like this.



All candy red, but it had this decal set.



It was a beautiful bike, with Fusion 3PC cranks (made in USA not Taiwan) and some seriously nice parts (Chrome Peregrine 48s etc). Any way, one day when leaving work (at a bike shop) I was assaulted by a crack head (bar over the back of my head) and the bike was stolen. I stopped riding shortly after.

So the mission was to basically rebuild that bike. I kind of knew that it wasn't going to be that specific Quadangle because they are hard to find (SB still owned SE Racing then) and they are expensive. Last one I saw (the red one in the pic) was in Australia and he wanted £450 for the F&F before customs charges. Any way, I then found out that during the noughties SE made a very similar bike only in Cro Mo. TBH? with my fat ass it is a better idea.

So I put the feelers out on a US based forum and was soon offered this F&F for £100.



As you can see, it is very similar The postage was cheap at around £75 so I decided to go for it. Around eight days later.



All the way from its spiritual home in Cali



OK so I decided to strip off the decals.



And then get it powder coated. I was all set on the original red, but then saw this which turned my head.



Ooo, god that looks nice in yellow ! so I poked around and found that with powder coat they use an RAL chart. I soon found that RAL 1018 Zinc Yellow was a good match !



OK, so then I needed some parts. Back in 2013 my wife bought me a SE Ripper which is like a cut down version of the PK Ripper. This is mine here.



I had in the entrance to the building locked, but not locked down. Sadly the bloke in the flat upstairs had a row with his wife, stormed out and left the building open and it was stolen. But, as you can see I replaced most of the parts on it, so I had a box full under the stairs lol.



The bike has now been replaced with a Mike Buff PK Ripper, but I want my Quadangle..

Any way, I then put the feelers out for a set of pre '99 decals. These came up, for forty quid (again USA, again excellent people helping me along)



OK, then to decide on the colour scheme. Just after my dad died my mother got my brother a Burner. This one, to be exact.



And I remember falling in love with it. Sadly it was stolen about a week after he got it and he then got a racing bike instead.

So, it was time to start hunting down parts. As I have said before I am not a huge fan of early bikes. They were worryingly light (racing that was fine but not when you are an adult) stupidly expensive and modern technology was so much better (990 brakes, better headsets, sealed bearings etc).

Here is where I am up to.

Grips and pegs. ODI Mushroom 2 in yellow/red with Colony pegs. (X2, just for some flatland fun)



Brake levers. Tektro Magnesium (made in 1999). These came from Sweden.



Chain disc. Crupi billet made in USA. 42t.



Cranks. Salt Rookie mid, 3pc sealed bearings.



Stem. Exposure Infinity.



Bars. Snafu Greg Illingworth. These are being powder coated.



Seat post. Anodized red micro adjust.



Tyres. Panaracer Mach SK (bought from Portugal). Made in 1998.



Gyro/detangler. Blank.



10-14mm axle converters.



Seat. SE racing padded seat made during the mid to late 90s.



ICT



Chain.



Headset.



Potts mod bolt and Kona cap.



Seat clamp.



Plate.



Brake cables.



Brakes.



Nipples.



Stickers.





Misc/tools.

[Midschoolfool]

The journey continues...

So today it was finally time for powder after two delays. I wanted to go last Friday but they close at 12 and that's a bit too early because it's out of the way and we go to my mother's on Fridays usually and she would not have been there. I then wanted to go yesterday but something came up so I finally got it out today. First I labelled up the parts.



And then put it in the Mini



And finally it is at the powder coating place was a PITA to find because there is a railway in the way so you have to go miles around and then back on yourself.

[deeman]

This should be interesting! I am not a fan of the new graphics though... I would probably be tempted to put 80;s Quad decals on 

[Midschoolfool]

The graphics I'm using are the last produced under the SE Racing brand owned by Scot.

They're not for everyone I guess but I love the pop art style

[Taipan]

I'll watch and see as this unfolds  hopefully you'll have better luck with this bike fella 

[Midschoolfool]

I'll watch and see as this unfolds  hopefully you'll have better luck with this bike fella 

haha thanks ! yeah not been very lucky with SEs. Never had another brand stolen tbh.. I did have an 81 looptail that I crashed and ended up having to have surgery on my elbow though

So this time I am being careful. Got myself a lid, gloves etc.

[Midschoolfool]

Just a quick update.

So the pegs I am using are Colony. They RRP for £25 each. So I managed to find those yellow ones for £4.99 each. I bought two initially, but last night decided to go back and look and see if there were any more left. There were five, so I bought another two. They say they are only for the left and rear, but when I looked at the ones that I have already it was clear they can be mounted on any side front or rear, you just have the logo at a funny angle/upside down.

Obviously I don't care about that as I will be using some form of grip tape on them. So yeah, got four now. Currently thinking "Do I really want to mount them?" but probably will. I am building the bike to be a DSR (dirt, street, race) so pegs are fun.

I also ordered this last night.



In red. It's a cable hanger.. Will look much better than that nasty steel crap.

Also I forgot to mention. I have a plotter. So basically I can cut single colour graphics.



As an example. You may have noticed that the 90s Quadangle was 6061 alu and mine is Cro Mo. So, I need to design (done) and cut a graphic that looks similar to the 6061 graphic only "Cro Mo".

So I have also ordered some vinyl. I have the yellow and the silver, just need the black now. Then I can make that up and complete the sticker set

[Midschoolfool]

SHINY !!!



Hopefully the centre tube is the right length so I do not have to cut the one I have.

[Avro]

I can see that you are having so much fun with this!
Great how you can pick and choose from such an large pool of parts and suppliers, makes me very jealous.

[Midschoolfool]

I can see that you are having so much fun with this!
Great how you can pick and choose from such an large pool of parts and suppliers, makes me very jealous.

Yeah it's lucky. I could build five bikes for what some guys spend on a F&F. I'm glad I rode the mid school and old skool tbh. I'm glad because it made me realise that things move on and tech improves and gets better and better.

I wouldn't mind a couple of the bikes I had in the 80s, but having rode an 80s bike during the mid school I realised that yeah, things had improved an awful awful lot.

In the late 90s I was walking past a bike shop one day. One that we used to go to when we were kids on the bus to buy parts of a weekend. Any way, he had a brand new NOS (term didn't even exist then !) Skyway Street Beat in white. Very early 80s. He also had a brand new white Skyway hot seat and a few other Skyway parts. I decided I was going to build a second bike, phoned him when I got home and asked what he wanted for it. I paid about £50 IIRC.

Any way over the next few weeks I stocked up on parts and built it.. I remember bolting the back wheel onto it and thinking "Jesus these dropouts actually flex !". Any way, I took it over the park to the tennis courts (kinda concrete) and tried to pull a few tricks on it but each time ended up on my ass. The back end was almost unbelievably short. It was light though, but I reckon one serious gap and I would have left the back end of it behind.

Few weeks later I sold it to a mate who was hard up for £30 and he gave it to his little brother for his birthday.

It's crazy, because during the 90s 80s BMX stuff was practically worthless. It's only been since the dawn of the internet and guys reaching our age that these parts have become worth anything again. The PK Ripper I paid £250 for (complete with Z rims the lot, all NOS) in 1998 is worth about three grand in parts now. I sold it for $400 after having a bad tumble on it out in the USA.

But yeah, my favourite bikes are all mid school. Schwinn Hydramatic, '98 Quad, Standard Shorty).  I do have a PK Ripper but mostly because that was my dream bike when I was a kid. After riding one however? they look a bit odd and skinny when you are sat on one haha. One of the very few bikes that has really stood the test of time though, and I have a gorgeous '17 Mike Buff.

Once I have this Quad I have what I want, and with me not being attached to old parts etc it does make it nice that I can buy all of the really nice mod cons for it.

It also helps that I live in a flat with no outside space at all. I can fit two bikes in the hallway and that is it. And I pushed it for two and it caused massive rows with my wife. She's good now though, now she knows I will stop at two

I think TBH bikes are like computers. You can only really settle on one, get used to it and do the best with it.  That would be why I have three computers lmao. Mind you they are smaller and easier to explain

[Midschoolfool]

Quick update. The Yoke/hanger arrived. It's really nice quality. Has dual lock bolts for the cable too, so should never come loose. I also got the second set of pegs I paid a tenner for. Just as lovely as the first two.

Sadly I am getting the runaround from the powder coater. I phoned on Monday because they were supposed to be done (the parts) on Tues and they said today. So I called today, they are now promising tomorrow ffs.

I'm going down there tomorrow. If they are not done I am taking them with me and finding some one else, I don't have time for messers.

[Midschoolfool]

Got the parts back. Not seen them yet as they are wrapped in bubble wrap. Will get some pics tonight

[deeman]

Got the parts back. Not seen them yet as they are wrapped in bubble wrap. Will get some pics tonight

Look fwd to pics 

[Midschoolfool]

It's torture lol. Not leaving til 9pm either..

I want to fit the decals soooooo bad. Got the proper ALU head badge too.

[deeman]

It's torture lol. Not leaving til 9pm either..

I want to fit the decals soooooo bad. Got the proper ALU head badge too.

Just don't rush the decals! I have fooked loads up cos I couldn't wait to get em on! 

[Midschoolfool]

I will plan them out first and put masking tape guides on.

But yeah, won't rush. They cost a lot. Thankfully they're transfer decals so a bit easier.

[Midschoolfool]

Happy Birthday (about two weeks ago) to me happy birthday (about two weeks ago) to meeee.



As you can probably now see I decided to do the F, F and bars all yellow. So let's take a look at the finish. (apologies for the potato pics, very dark, flash added later to show the correct colours).



Flawless. The willy powdered the steerer tube though so I will have to scrape it off some.

OK so the actual colour.









Boomshanka

[deeman]

Sweet!! 

[Taipan]

Love stories like this  looking good  keep the updates and pic's coming 

[Midschoolfool]

Thanks guys.. Here is an actual daytime pic.



So the colour is somewhere between night pics and flash pics, definitely a lot less lairy than it looked. It's kinda like a mellow banana milkshake colour

Oops wrong pic.



I will leave that other one there though to show exactly how I do not want my bike to look. You'll notice I have slipped in a load of black stuff? there's a very good reason for that, you can ride it during summer without blinding yourself.

[Midschoolfool]

Bummer. The headset is too big for the gyro to drop, and after spending all day busting my ass on it I am going to need another headset.

Problem is finding one. I hear the FSA Pig works but I am broke now for two weeks.

I forgot what a bitch scratch building a bike from a pile of parts really is lol.

[Midschoolfool]

Here is where I got to, then got stuck.



And then my amazing lady bought me this.



I think I will just use the top and leave the red bearing cup in the bottom. Shouldn't hurt it any

[NORTY40]

Looking good Andrew 

 I see you got the headtube badge on    If you need another or a spare just give me a shout and ill pop one in the post 

[Midschoolfool]

Thanks mate. I managed not to smack it (yet).

Will let you know

[Avro]

Super work and fun read.
Looks like a very shiney fruit salad chew