Posts in Category: Minson
A Brand New Unridden Minson Skatebike (Roller Shuttle)
Brett from England acquired an unridden Minson skatebike, circa 1985. This is a first release version. In the UK it was called a Roller Shuttle. You can tell it is a first generation from the stripe on the seat, the brake mount and the secondary curved tube to the front truck.
For someone looking to restore a skatebike, this is a nice photo collection of what a new one looked like.
Aussie Minson Skatebike Restoration – Anthony – Australia
Andrew’s Minson Skatebike Rebuild – Australia
Andrew C. from Australia’s skatebike restoration is done. Here are Andrew’s comments on the restoration.
Well the re-build is complete and I have been out on the street riding my Skate Bike and reliving memories from many years ago. Of course I am much older and bigger now plus I rarely ride even a normal push bike but was still able to do a couple of laps of the street.
I will visit the local skate shop at some stage to replace the bushes as the ones that came with the truck are too soft (I think you previously mentioned this) as I remember the old ones were quite stiff which would give more stability.
Overall pretty happy with the build and looking forward to my son being able to ride it. I am looking to organise a new sticker for the little plate at the back “Life’s pretty straight without a Twistie” to finish it off.
After Pictures
A Few Answers on Minson SkateBikes
Eric has been restoring his skatebike. Eric asked me a few questions about mine. I figured others restoring a Minson Skate Bike might find the answers helpful.
Brakes
The hand brake is one of the unique things about a Minson Skate Bike. To use it looks unusual to say the least. The Skatebike came with the hand brake setup only. My wheel was rusted badly so when I replaced it I bought a 16 inch wheel with a coaster brake. They are by far the easiest ones to find. I often wondered why the bike didn’t come with a coaster brake originally. Then I used it. The problem is the crank arms are short (100 mm). This means to work you end up skidding. I wanted to replace the arms but could not find any that short. There is about 120mm of ground clearance so a slightly longer arm may work. The sprocket is only 36 teeth so the combination of the small sprocket and short arm is hard to find. A slightly longer arm with a smaller sprocket may even work better.
Another Skatebiker – Eric Alley – California
Skate Bike – Eric Alley 1986
Got an email yesterday from Eric Alley. It said:
I saw your site regarding the skate bike. I just purchased one off Ebay. Unfortunately, it did not include the brake system. I was wondering if you have any, or if you know of a source for one.
During high school (Walnut High School, California) in 1986, I was given one of these as I raced BMX for a local bike shop. Had to give it back after a few years though. The picture is of me at 17 on halloween at school. The principal actually let me cruise around on it the whole day.
Twisties edition of Minson Skate Bike – Joel Leek – Australia
Joel Leek of Australia has a Twisties promotion edition 1983 Minson Skate Bike. You had to collect 10 Twisties packets and then mail in with the money to get one. Joel has never found another Twisties edition with the rear sticker – life’s pretty straight without a Twistie and also the red frame with yellow wheels and tyre (red and yellow Twisties packet colors).
GoPro on a Minson Skate Bike
I have been trying to figure out a good location to mount my GoPro camera on the skate bike. My original mount was on my helmet. As there are no reference objects in the field of view it gives a floating in space view. When I watched the GoPro video on using the bike frame mount most shots show enough of the bike to give a context to the shot. With a skate bike the problem is one of frame geometry. As the bike is basically vertical, you don’t see part of the bike. I even tried on the tubes going to the back wheel but then too much of the view was blocked. Also I do not want the camera hanging out to the side where in a wipe-out it would be damaged. I tried on the seat post looking down but you get too much of the legs. I think farther down the frame. Might try behind the down tube in front of the thin tubes going down to the wheel. This could be a nicely protected spot and give a nice shot.
Note: when the bike falls over the camera has a tendency to change angle. Check after a fall.
One last thought, I learned last weekend that knee pads only protect you if you wear them.
Minson Restoration – Rich Helms – Canada
My old Minson skatebike before I restored it.
In the mid 1980’s while shopping in Eaton Centre in Toronto, Canada I spotted this SkateBike in Collegiate Sports. It was love at first sight and I bought it. After we moved to the country it got little use as we lived on a dirt road. For years it sat in my barn rusting. In June 2013 I pulled it out and restored it.
My bike is badly rusted and the tire cracked. I have been collecting up measurements to replace parts. Fortunately most of them are common. As I intend to actually use it I want to replace the wheel with a coaster brake one. The tire is 16×1.75 so finding a coaster brake unit should not pose a problem.
A longboard truck will work on the front. The included truck is an old-school mounting with 2.5″ holes front to back. Once I settle on the tire and truck/wheel I can select the appropriate riser thickness.
The biggest challenge is the cranks. The old bottom bracket is a common British/ISO unit but the cranks are only 100 mm long. The shortest unit I can find is 115 mm for BMX riding. You can see from the videos there is room for a longer crank and as I recall the short length makes for hard pedaling. This weekend I will investigate the bike parts. I may have to just restore the old BB/crank.