Cjell Mone from Mone Bikes is having fun. Case in point: he just posted up this prototype Step Through Cycle Truck and is curious if he should offer these to the public. Check out the full 411 below from Cjell himself.
1956 Schwinn Step Thru meets Cycle Truck—a holy marriage of practicality. Fiz wanted a bike that was easy to get on and off, could haul lots of things, and had a built-in generator light.
Let’s start with the cargo rack. There’s a couple people doing the small wheel cargo fork thing, which I Love. This is that, with one key improvement. The rack doesn’t turn with the steering. If you have a heavy load, it stays pointed straight ahead with the frame, subtle yet important. You can see the head tube is extended, and the rack supports are attached to it, as well as the downtube. It makes for a stable platform to attach the net/platform, which is great for hauling, say, a frame box with some padded envelopes below.
Next, that drivetrain tho. Fiz requested a derailleur hanger and a 1×12 drivetrain. Translation, “this bebe needs gears.” I thought, how can we do gears without messing with the OG Schwinn Style? How about a fully internal, cable-less 2×2 setup. The crank/bb is a Schlumpf drive that gives us a direct drive and a mild overdrive. The rear hub is a 2-speed kickback. 4 nicely spaced speeds that will let Fiz go up and down all the hills in Singapore.
While we’re at it, let’s go with a matching Sturmey drum/generator setup for a strong front brake with an always-on headlight…mounted under the rack for better contrast and no box interference.
Here we are at the 6th paragraph, where we quickly mention the beautiful brass bits, brazed stem, and Oddmonē bars. And then there’s the goings over of the 70 year old Chicago brass. Handbuilt by Erika Mone wheels with our raw brass nippies. Oh, we snuck in our fave Paul Component canti lever. Crazy disc, 20″, longboi steerer fork from Velo Orange off of their Neutrino. A Brooks England piggy spring saddle for big butt support. Only this bike could result in 6th paragraph like this one.
I’m so excited for Fiz to hop on his new truck. I appreciate his trust in the project. There are lots of heady bits I’ve been sitting on for a while. I love it so much that I will make another post after we add new crank arms, fenders, and a Hite-Rite.
So… what do you think? Should Cjell offer these in a small batch production run? Let him know in the comments.
