Let’s check out this fully custom State Bicycle Co. Klunker, crafted by Klunkers.ca top-commenter “Gordon S.”
If you’ve perused the comments section of this website, you’ve very likely read some lengthy, fun and interesting comments from “Gordon S.” Well, I eventually convinced him to send in my next “Reader’s Rides” submission.
Gordon is a legit old-school Klunker from the heyday of Marin County. And this is his latest. He calls it “Cat Nip.” In his words: “She’s a fast one and will pick your wallet if you’re not lookin’.”
The Build
This is one of four State Klunker builds Gordon currently has in his garage. Here’s his breakdown, in his own words:
This one can scoot, as it sports the Stermey-Archer 2C polished hub. The bars are Flanders flat-track motorcycle racing handlebars (34 inches wide), with Salsa Hand Grips.
(This will bring the animal out of any Klunker.)
I installed a D K stem, White Industries G30 crank, 42-tooth chain ring (like stock) as well as the Stermey-Archer 22-tooth cog (like stock). I kept the low gear range as it will get you about everywhere. Plus, the 22-cog and 42-ring will drop right in… kick back into second and it puts a smile on your face!
Seat is a Brooks B-67—not too springy, saves your rear rim and most importantly your back if you plan to go fast over the rough-stuff while sitting vertical.
I put in a Kriss King 11/8 headset and an UNO 25.4 602 seatpost, in silver. (Hard to beat for the price.) What else…? TIRES! The HOLY GRAIL. The right tire can make junk look COOL. I think the rear shot of the bike shows exactly that. Tires are Surly Extra Terrestrial 27.5×2.5. They fit no problem and have a flat-resistant belt. The pedals are VP.
The Ride
Cat Nip is built for aggressive rides and set-up for popping wheelies with the leverage you get with those flat track bars, as well as laying it out through the corners with the lower height profile. The bars keep your arm weight down, which I found to provide a lower centre of gravity and more control.
Although there is no crossbar, these bars are made of seamless thicker stock, are far stiffer than they appear and can really transfer input. This is the same bar I ran on the Marin County fire roads from the late 1960s through the ’70s. As you can see, though, this particular bike is not for trail.
That covers about most of the mods. There is one important thing to bring up—if you plan to run this rear two-speed hub, you’ll need to fabricate a bracket for the coaster-brake arm.
Ride your way and have fun!
I just want to clear up the not for trail comment is that the bike is set up for dirt but what I mean by trail is the real tight between tree stuff as these handle bars are quite the clothes line. The Mone 4.5 rise with the cross bar Klunker handle bar is a very similar animal as they are only two inches less in width the rise is close and are notably pulled back as a good 👍 period correct option for a Klunker build may I add. Best suited for the brisk wide open thing not the stop and sniff the flower stuff. What is klunkin? At the end of the day it’s about meeting up with your buddies at the local Pub sipping on a sun downer telling a story about how you just dodge being a wet spot on the base of a redwood with the cross and them flowers I’ve been talkin about next to it just a few hours ago. Now that’s the true celebration of life.
Thanks Gordon! Hope you get a chance to share this post with your Klunker community.
Gordon,
RE: if you plan to run this rear two-speed hub, you’ll need to fabricate a bracket for the coaster-brake arm.
Does the State Klunker not come standard with a coaster – brake arm?
Or are you just building from the frame set?
Please clarify..
The State Klunker comes with a brake arm as stock. However where the brake arm bolts to the frame there is a bracket welded to the lower chain stay that doesn’t float left to right or right to left like the average coaster brake set up with a sheet metal strap as found on like your old three and single speed Schwinns. What I ran into with the Stermey Archer 2C hub was the brake arm on two different State klunkers that I installed these hubs on the brake arm was right in line perfectly with the welded anchoring bracket on the frame and did not fall to the left or right to allow the install of the bolt to hold the brake arm in place. So easily done I made a template to suit the look and function of adjustability and transferred into a drop bracket with a little offset and is fully adjustable for and aft when adjusting the chain. All it took was a little peace of flat steel a hack saw center punch and a hand drill a rattle can of black paint plus a vision plus some nice dressy stainless hardware to give it a vibe like no other. Kind of 🤩 fun for this old Hot Rodder. The other option is to remove the brake arm and put it in a vise and give it a bend to off set the supplied brake arm to accommodate the welded frame arm bracket. That is if you run into the same mounting ops tickle I did. What I found interesting is that using a three speed coaster brake Stermey Archer hub on one of my State Klunker bikes the hub with supplied brake arm bolted right up. I highly recommend putting either hub on these rides. My three speed is excellent on the hills but in high gear can keep up with traffic and in some cases pass it the bike is fast and kept reasonably clean looking 👀 with no extra un needed chain rings etc. to lug around. Too many people buy to much bike. As featured the bike above is one of my favorites nice and clean looking aggressive handling and with the two speed hub you can just get enough speed out of it, not to mention it’s comfortable to ride all day and is a pound lighter than my Wethepeople Avenger 27.5 single speed Klunker cruiser rides if you run a White Industry 30 G crank. The G stands for gravel. Anyway probably more than you need to know but I hope all out there have vision for your bomber bike and get them posted. Mine are all a blast to ride even if time is limited it ‘s fun just to jump on one and sprint down the street, pop a few wheelies hit some banked asphalt for a few minutes and put it away. Have some fun let off some steam / time out and then go back to the stuff that is in the way of fun freedom.
Thanks for the clarification Gordon.
Is the three speed Stermey Archer as dependable in your experience? Shifts the same way as the Stermey Archer Duce speed, just with an extra back peddle…
This is to Mark. At first my first ride on the Stermey three speed hub was running outstanding but after about two hours into the ride on the way home the set up started not holding gears. So I limped home. I had a strong feeling that this was nothing to do with the hub it self but the adjuster as well the cable it self. Or in plane language something simple. After inspection 🧐 I noticed doo to bumps on the trail and rough un maintained streets in my area Nor. Cal. the adjuster lock nut or for you young unns the new name is jam nut vibrated loose normally tighten the jam nut by hand after adjustment so one dose not need tools if needed to adjust do to maybe cable stretch out on a ride. Some mechanics use pliers but after a while the adjuster gets shredded after repeated adjusting. So I found if you use mechanics gloves and for me that’s what I wear when klunkin the gloves give you an excellent grip on the adjuster and jam nut to snug without buggering up the adjuster. “SO!” Problem fixed? Well sort of. The bike would shift well and then sometimes not hold either low or high gear. Do to the heat of the nice sunny day the cable housing got relaxed and developed a sag going down the lower frame tube as routed that was not like that at the beginning of the first ride with the new set up. This can cause un accurate shifting on a three speed as cable can kind of bind or not be the true position of the shifter it self translating to the hub witch gear chosen. The easy remedy was just to add a extra cable support fastener at the middle of frame tube just above the water bottle lug so tie will not be allowed to slide down the frame and the cable will stay true and straight down the frame. After just snugging the adjuster with wearing mechanics gloves 🧤 and adding the extra cable support fastener I have put on about six hundred miles of brisk riding with no problems at all dependable yes just needed a couple of simple finishing details. Things to know about three speed internal hubs is when shifting it is not recommend to peddle or putting a load on the hub until after gear has been chosen. Simply a pause in peddling like letting off the gas when shifting a car with a manual transmission. So the only down side of the three speed is that the bike is touch more cluttered looking with running the one cable but with the hub sporting a coaster brake there are no hand brakes to add more weight or clutter. Saving weight on a bike is a big deal. Think about it if one adds one pound to your favorite bike if you spin the crank a thousand times you just moved a thousand maybe un needed pounds. In the end and this is just my opinion , three speeds that cover just about a lot of different conditions no hand brakes or derailer means less weight not to mention the possibility of the chain falling off with the Stermey not likely really has turned the State Klunker bike along with other mods has really turned the bike into a whole new animal. Light in it’s class fast and aggressive. This set up says bring it on powder puffs. For some reason I could not get the images through of the three speed to the Klunkers Ca. Site. However I tried posting it on the State Bike Co. site under the reviews for the black standard model and it got through as they posted it on page eleven under reviews. Tap and scroll the pictures and you will see how I have the cable run the bike title is the Widow and also next to it is the Bandit dressed in black and gold with the theme description. Last I looked on the black State Klunker bike reviews there are about 270 reviews and 26 or 27 pages plus images good to look at to give you ideas how or what you want to get out of your ride. In the end Klunkers should be kept simple and fun, are you riding too much bike? Long answer but I hope this will help you decide witch hub the two or the three. If your only going for one build go the three speed you’ll pretty much will have it all / 18 rear cog and the standard 42 teeth up front but when possible dump that standard crank set State furnishes. It’s horrible.
Correction State Bike Co. now has 272 so the images of the Widow and the Bandit bikes are at the top of page twelve now. It’s good to look at if for only one reason to see same that model bike with different trim color theme’s. Here on this page it’s black and blue. The Widow black and red. The Bandit black and gold. The three different images of the same model bike will give you a good idea if you want to spruce up your ride. If the bike looks cool 😎 then most likely you will want to ride it instead of collecting dust. Klunkers are about as much fun as you can get on a budget. Ride while you trick it.