This last week I was able to get the 51 Rambler switched over from its original drop bar build:
There was nothing really wrong with the way the bike was built up, and it fit my wife well. The thing is, it just was not how she wanted to use the bike. She prefers to sit upright, be able to put our minpin in a front basket of sorts, but still have the bike preform at a high level. I sourced some new parts, others were already on hand, and set to work on the conversion.
It came out fantastic. Some details worth note. The Wald bars work just fine with bar end shifters. The newish Tektro city levers are stylish and work great with the Paul Racers. The Pari Moto tires were swapped for a set of Soma B-lines to add a bit more durability as well as the look of the red tires. The Porteur rack is a Soma Fab offering as well. I modified it slightly so that it worked more gracefully with the front dropouts as well as having a couple of struts welded on for mounting the top end to the crown bosses. The whole thing is rock solid. The cherry on top is the new Crane mini hammer strike bell.
Only a few test ride miles in so far, but all smiles. I still need to do a final wrap on the grips and work out a basket or box for the dog, but it is pretty close to her dream bike at this point.
Which Wald bar is that? Very cool.
It is the Wald 867. They are heavy compared to a Nitto at 534g. The grip area is short as they are meant for cruisers whit coaster brakes. But when paired with a bar end shifter and a brake lever wiht a thin clamp they have been fantastic and the price is hard to beat.