Jamal Spelling

First build in a few years, it felt really good to finish it. It was a swap meet score, and I think I had it hanging around for about 6 years or so. It was in rough shape, but I worked my magic on it. I had plans to powder it, but I was able to clean it up to where I was happy with it. Funny thing, at the time I never dreamed I'd be building it for my 3 year old. Topped it off with a fresh set of Skyway's, and my boy installed the trick aluminum black anodized valve stem caps last night. I pushed him around on it about 2 miles today. If anybody has a frame ID, that would be great..I'd like to track town a set of decals for it.

Just so you know, the 1st two are one in the same, and as far as I'm concerned the black one is a mirage. The nickel plate one is the one that was reviewed in the 1979 Mini Cycle magazine complete with track test. I got it from the writer of that magazine review. A couple more for your viewing pleasure, I'm sure I still have this tucked away somewhere.. This has factory front/rear canti's as well. And this has always been one of my Fav's

Good Score. Sounds like you have the skinny on it, just don't bring it up to Jack, he's a bit touchy about it. Nice job getting the paint off. Leave it just like it is now & build it up.

Just like electrical wire, the lower the #, the thicker the wire. Spoke technology has come a long way. For all intended purposes, when buying spokes you're pretty much gonna deal with 10 thru 17 gauge spokes. Theres bladed spokes, double butted (thick at the ends and thin in the middle), straight gauge (same thickes throughout), carbon fiber & straight pull (they don't have the j-bend at the end for use with special hubs. There's just as many variations on the nipples as well, length, brass, aluminum alloy, hex head, splined, self securing. For those special conversions there's also spoke washers and nipple washers. Spoke washers for using smaller gauge spokes in large holed hubs, and nipple washers for helping seat the nipples in the inside curve of some rims. For most BMX applications your gonna stick with straight gauge 10,12 or 14 gauge in varying lengths. Older really heavy, heavy duty rims will use the super thick 10 almost like motorcycle spokes. Most heavy duty rims, like older Schwinn Cruisers will probably use the thick 12 gauge. The majority of rims on most 20" BMX will most likely use 14 gauge. If you're building a wheel and you have some spokes that are too short, sometimes you can make them work by using longer nipples. You can also make your spokes longer by reducing the number of times that you cross them. If you do a 2x then the spokes will be shortest, if you do a 3x (most common) it will require a longer spoke, and 4x will require the longest spoke. So, if you are lacing up a rim two cross (not very common) and the spokes poke through the rim a lot, you could try lacing it up three cross, then you would see that the spokes don't poke through the rim as much. If you have built up a wheel and you are happy with it, but the spokes poke through the nipple head way too much, so much so they could pierce the tube, you would use a spoke nipper, a special cutter that cuts the end of the spokes after the wheel is laced. Sometimes this requires finishing as it may still leave a sharpened edge, so you would need to file, or dremel them down with a grinding bit. This is fine too, but makes it almost impossible to dissasemble and reuse the spokes in the future. Using used spokes!? Not recommended, but this hobbies about scrounging! We're not Nasa here, so go ahead and reuse anything you can. Spoke length? Are you building for light weight or strength? A radial laced wheel will have the shortest spoke length possible and the shortest nipple all to reduce weight, but will not be as strong. A 4x laced wheel will be super strong, but will have more material and be heavier. Want a heavy duty strong wheel, but not super heavy duty? Then try a thinner gauge spoke. Depends really on your application. So you have some cool spokes from a 26" and you want to use them on your 24" or 20" wheel? No problem. No need to cut and rethread, you can wrap or twist them around each other. Not very conventional, but produces a cool effect. If there's a will, there's a way. Spokes too thick? No problem, drill out the holes in the hub flange or drill out the holes in the rim. Remember, it's only NOS once. So finally, get yourself a spoke ruler. It has inches and mm for those quick length conversions and a diameter checker. Learn to use it correctly. This tool is less than $10 and invaluable! For the beginner or pro. Makes rebuilding a breeze. If you're simply relacing with new spokes all you need do is pull one spoke and measure length. Then reorder new spokes. Really speeds things up if your replacing, you only need one spoke intact, then you can just snip the rest and you've dissasembled your wheel in 60 seconds! Beware of snipping, those suckers can fly when cut under tension. Also, if you're using different hub/rim combos when rebuilding, it may require a different length. Uh, oh.. ordered the wrong length? See above, modify build with longer or shorter nipples, lace using a different cross pattern, try a different hub with bigger or smaller flanges, wrap or twist the spokes, cut and rethread, or nip the end after building and dress the end.

I have fork decals left over from my last project, PM if you need them.

Hmmm, they kinda look bigger the 24"er's....... Coule they be...maybe 26...naaahh!? I wonder.. Killer looking rider Roc! Bummer, I was really looking forward to seeing your stuff this year!

Looks like settin up home's gonna be a trek. I see tired legs in my future. Last year I wish I had a road crew of more than 1. Will there be some relaxed provision for vehicle access to the grassy area before and after the show? Otherwise it's gonna be a bitch to bring stuff as I remember the setup there. Anyways, great job on getting an alternate locale so quick! Looking forward to getting some bikes on the dirt!

Thanks to Darren Chan for putting these out, Reilley for some advice on the wheel/tire combo, various Ebay sellers for parts, and BMX society for the inspiration to continue to put out these monsters. A special thanks to Marshall's industrial hardware for a great store and always having that nut, bolt, tap, tip, cap readily on hand for those special circumstances.

My latest conglomeration of parts... Haven't been building much lately, but it sure is nice to turn something out. Especially a piece that's just been hanging around for a while. The upcoming bro down at Elaysion Park sparked me to put this together in about a week once I had all the parts together.

Diggin It!

No, Maybe 26'er. I seen this chick in Pt. Loma on a 24 DB sometime last year. She lives in OB and was with some dude. They said they ride from OB to Kearny Moto park and she races on it. True Story. No chance they wanted to let it go, but I'm still keeping my eye out for the next time I see them. I work at a station on the weekends, so I see lots o bikers coming in for air. That was the case then, but I was busy and only had a second to chat. Next time...