Rick from the US sent me an email this week.
Attached is a picture of a skate bike I found at a flea market. The label says “Roller Bike” and it has a Made-in-Taiwan sticker on it. Have you heard anything about this brand?
Rick
I forwarded the pix to Jon N from the UK. Jon is our LeRun expert.
Hi guys, that is an amazing skatebike! Definitely echoes the Lerun design although yours looks to have the fitting to use regular skateboard trucks with standard hole spacing whereas Lerun models were designed for smaller trucks normally found on penny boards.The other difference being the rear wheel dropouts, yours look to be larger, which is interesting and I’ve not seen that before. I’d imagine it’s a Lerun clone but it’s super cool!The bottom bracket is one of the cottered cranks as opposed to the later one piece cranks so I would say mid/late 80’s or early 90’s.Jon
I had seen this chrome Lerun for sale and had a vision of how it could look with a few changes. Whilst I’m not able to verify a production date it has a few differences from the other Lerun models and I believe this is from towards the end of the Lerun skatebikes, if you have a record of when you bought your Lerun from a shop please get in touch!
The crank has 36 teeth like the previous Lerun models however the rear wheel has a 12 tooth gear on it rather than 14, the serial number is different in that now it is a sticker with the number on rather than being stamped into the metal on one of the wheel-stays. There was no seatpost housing when I purchased it but I did try it with the housing from a different one, do you think it looks better with or without it?
As it has a mirror-like chrome finish my vision was to swap out the rear black 5 spoke rear wheel and put in a chrome wheel with as many spokes as I could find and put some distinctive skateboard wheels on to top it all off. I managed to source a 52 spoke 12” coaster brake wheel through ebay and was shipped from the USA with a 16 tooth gear pre-installed and I also purchased a Duro whitewall tyre that was wider than the previous Kenda whitewalls I have used on other models and also has a wider whitewall section than Kenda tyres.
I tried some 70mm skateboard wheels initially but they were slightly too big and were changing the angle of the seatpost to be leaning back slightly so I switched to some 60mm shark wheels which maintain the 90 degree seatpost angle. Shark wheels are fantastic and definitely get more looks and interest from people with their unique design that looks like it would be a rough ride but have a perfectly round end-view profile.
Riding with the 16 tooth gear means it’s more of a cruiser rather than speed demon however this could be made faster by switching to a gear with fewer teeth. This isn’t one I’ll be using down at a skate-park anytime soon but definitely widens the spectrum on how skatebikes can look!
Jon N (UK) at Instagram: @SkateBikeUK
See Jon’s Chrome Minson Restoration
This second generation chrome Minson needed some serious TLC to bring it back to life and I could see the potential of how it could be with a good clean and some new parts!
The rear wheel was in a poor state and full of rust and whilst I’m into the distressed, relic and steampunk aesthetic it wasn’t in keeping with the vision I had for this one so I sourced a 72 spoke 16” form ebay which has a coaster brake built in. The new wheel gives it a much cleaner and lavish look, I had taken inspiration from low-rider bikes I had seen online and thought it would be interesting to see if it was possible to try and do something similar for a skatebike.
The seatpost was an issue as it had rusted and fused to the frame. I had to send it off to a specialist who has a device that can pull out pretty much any seatpost without damaging the frame. This was an added expense however this Minson needed saving! Whilst it could have been used by younger people at the height it was stuck at, it was far too low for me (just over 6 foot) and so it was a necessary spend. It’s a 25.0mm seatpost and I opted for a 400mm long model to give me the greatest range and also still leave ample depth in the frame.
The brake cable and callipers were yellow/gold initially so I switched these to blue options to try and match the saddle colour and the brake leaver colour. As the saddle is higher I got a slightly longer brake cable that I had sourced from ebay and that was designed for a Raleigh Chopper but had a good length for a skatebike.
I also put on a new chain and gave the frame a good clean with cola initially and then used some Autosol on a shammy to try and bring out more of the shine. The skateboard truck was switched as the rubber had eroded in the pivot cup and I couldn’t locate a replacement that would fit so switched over the full truck.
Riding the Minson is different to the Lerun and Max/AXL models and feels more sturdy due to the increased distance between the front and rear wheels and the crank is slightly closer to being directly underneath the seatpost. The 16” wheel does feel a bit quicker than the Lerun with it’s 12” wheel, however, the biggest change difference is the braking. Personally I prefer the coaster brake option rather than the handle and callipers however it’s great to have the ability to use both!
This Minson has come a long way since I took receipt of it and I’m pleased with how it has turned out, if you could do something different to a skatebike, what would it be?
Jon N (UK) at Instagram: @SkateBikeUK
See Jon’s Chrome LeRun Restoration
Nick W (UK) contacted me August with questions on rebuilding a LeRun Jr. I connected him with Jon N (UK) who has written most of the LeRun articles here. Turns on they live close to each other. As you can see from the before images, the scoot was in pretty rough shape. I love the colour. Here is Nick’s story in his words.
So the story begins when I was 8 years old, living in Holland. My parents bought me this new contraption called a skatebike, supposedly Michael Jackson had one! I remember tearing around on it as an actual mode of transport, bike lanes being superb in Holland and me living in a sleepy suburb meant it was actually viable. Always loved speeding along and then pulling a massive skid with the back pedal braking.
Fast forward 34 years and the skatebike has made various appearances over the years in gatherings, parties etc and always provides a ‘woah, what is that?’ kind of reaction, followed by a rush of the more adventurous people wanting to give it a go. Sometimes it sits dormant for years at a time, but always comes back out to play when the time is right!
So we’ve been getting a pool build done. The guys laying the surrounding patio are onsite in the beautiful sunshine and baking hot temperatures, and somehow a unicycle comes up in conversation. I say nothing, but the next day I’ve got the unicycle out ready, freshly pumped-up wheel… and also the skatebike. Cue all 3 of the patio guys leaping at the chance to give them both a go. And as always, everyone fails miserably on the unicycle, but get to grips with the skatebike nice and quickly. The video I’ve shared is of the ‘pool chase’, one riding the skatebike and the other on my latest of crazy contraptions, my onewheel. Lots of fun had!
But the skatebike is looking tired, paint flaking off everywhere, severe rust showing all over, dirty and sad. I’ve thought to myself many times over the past decade that I really should clean it up, and now, finally, I’ve found the motivation and impetus to do so.
Into the workshop I go, and begin the teardown, carefully photographing everything along the way as I’ve never done any work to any kind of bike, beyond pumping up tyres! Most things came apart fairly easily, but I definitely got caught out on the crank arms. After much googling and some advice from Facebook friends, identified that the LeRun has a cottered crank, found some videos about how to remove and they came apart pretty easily thereafter.
Once I had the frame free from all other parts, I began removing the paint and rust. Used a hot air gun on the paint, although realised afterwards that some wire brush attachments I got for the drill would have done the job perfectly well without the heat. Once the frame was mostly clear of paint and rust, I treated it with a rust converter and my canvas was ready.
I mocked up a range of 14 colour schemes in total and between my 8-year-old daughter Ella and I, we chose a sky blue with yellow scheme. Ordered the spray paints and then primed the frame, followed by 2 main colour coats.
I’d also manged to steam the original decals off the frame. With photos of these I used photoshop to create a template which I then printed on to stencil film and after some careful work with a craft knife, I had a stencil ready to use. I sprayed the secondary colour on to the frame i.e. the letters themselves – and had a load of yellow overspray on my freshly painted sky blue frame. In hindsight, I should have sprayed yellow first and then masked the letters themselves before laying down the main colour.
After that I applied a metal varnish to try and protect the paint. I’ve realised now I need something more durable (after the skatebike fell and left a nice sky blue streak on the living room wall) so will be getting some 2K acrylic clear coat laquear and recoating the frame with that.
I tried the coke and tin foil approach to remove rust from the other metal parts, but it wasn’t particularly effective. Then tried vinegar but that had basically no impact either. So got the wire brush drill attachments going again and used them to clean up every nut and bolt, as well as the crank and crank arms. Came out nicely and seemingly no damage inflicted either, will definitely take this approach on my next one!
Then began reassembly, putting everything carefully back together. Thank god for the teardown photos! After seeing the price of skate/longboard wheels I looked around on Facebay (A UK Facebook selling group) and picked up a penny skateboard for £3 with some yellow wheels on it. They seem perfectly acceptable for now! Got a cheap coloured chain and pedals delivered and popped them on. Realised I hadn’t done anything to the seat handle so stripped that and painted that up too, and then some yellow faux leather to recover the seat.
And there you have it. I’m really pleased with the result, I’m so glad this relic has stayed with me throughout the years, and I’ve taken the time to give it the makeover it deserved. There’s plenty of things I could have done better, and I’ll learn from those mistakes on the next renovation – I managed to pick up another one off Facebay for a stupidly low price, and it was actually advertised as a unicycle! Looking forward to when that gets delivered and starting the next project. I’m thinking hot pink and neon yellow…
Nick W (UK)
Jon N (UK) found a skatebike like I have never seen. No idea why it has a brake as unicycles are fixed pedal to wheel. There is no coasting. Unicycles never have a brake (except in unusual situations).
We call this a uniskate for lack of a better term. It is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Unlike the LeRun skate bikes that have the skateboard truck in the front and are chain driven, this vehicle has the skateboard truck in the back and the drive is direct like a unicycle. The uniskate has a 20″ wheel and brakes and overall is decent shape. It is a real attention getter at club meetings and parades and is quite popular with children.
unicyclist.com/t/for-sale-very-unique-uniskate-vehicle/75220
Here is the 1989 French poster for MAX in France and the component price list from Joh N’s collection. MAX was clearly going for a more hip older audience.
By Jon N – UK
The Motobecane Rodeocycle was the precursor to the Garel Monocycle and shares multiple similarities including 32 tooth chainring and 16 teeth at the back, 16 wire spoked wheel, 110mm crank arms and cottered crank, although the bottom bracket shell on the Rodeocycle has a smaller diameter. The Rodeocycle has a two piece seat tube rather than the continuous one piece that is curved on the Garel and Lerun designs. My example has the clip missing from the coaster brake, which is easy enough to replace, the body did have stickers on when I acquired it and I used some WD40/3in1 Oil to help remove the gum left from the stickers. Overall it is in good condition and just needs a coaster brake clip to complete it.
The skateboard truck uses old school hole spacing and displays the Motobecane ‘M’ logo underneath. I believe the orange/red wheels in the pictures are original as I have seen them on other examples and are some in the 85a range firmness (comparing them to 78a wheels), measuring 62mm diameter and still have life left in them however I have changed the bearings to a fresh set of Bones Reds.
The plastic body sections screw together and are fixed to the frame via three screw points, one by the skateboard truck and one either side of the rear wheel axle nuts. It was a simple case of removing the pedals, then the screws and gently removing the two panels. Once removed I gave the panels a wipe down, replaced one of the axle nuts that had been rounded off and was then able to adjust the chain tension (which at that point was slack and rubbing on the plastic panelling).
Having given it a test ride on a running track I felt it was very similar to the Garel though depending on your viewpoint the Rodeocycle is arguably more eye-catching. It does feel a little heavier than the Garel or Lerun models however not by much and is likely going to be the same with the plastic panels removed.
Locating one for sale was difficult and I spent a good amount of time looking at pictures on the internet try to find recent images to see if they are linked to for sale adverts. I managed to locate one on a Polish classifieds website and reached out to the vendor, thankfully he was willing to post and even sorted out the courier from his place in Poland to mine in the United Kingdom, although it was definitely a risk so I would advise doing your homework before transferring money, if it doesn’t feel right then don’t do it. Luckily the vendor, had been registered to the website for years and was friendly, it took 3 days to arrive safely and after a good clean and a couple of parts it’s ready to roll!!
By Jon N. – UK
The Motobecane Rodeocycle designed by Yves Garel is the starting point for what would become the Lerun skatebike and locating one to purchase is rare so if you see one buy it! If I ever manage buy one I’ll go into more detail as to how it is constructed and the differences to the examples listed below.
The Garel Monocycle was produced in Italy and is the next step in the design by using a single tube rather than the multiple welded sections of the Rodeocycle. The Garel Monocycle featured a 32 tooth chainring at the front and 16 tooth chainring on the rear wheel. Unfortunately my example does not have the original skateboard truck however the hole spacing is the same as the Lerun examples being reviewed here that were produced after the Garel Monocycle. It also features a 16 wire spoked rear when and 110mm crank arms. It’s hard to put a date on when this examples was produced but predates the others here.
The blue Lerun example is the next step in the design, the frame has remained the same however the front chainring was increased to a 36 tooth and a 14 tooth chainring on the rear wheel, which is now a 5 spoke hard plastic wheel, the crank arms have also been amended to now be 130mm. The increased tooth count and longer crank arms means it is easier than the Garel to go faster and have a lower cadence. The former owner of this example said it was from 1982, it did have a red reflector mounted under the seat which I have removed, the seat post clamp was a quick release format and I have switched it to a fixed clamp, the tyre was changed to a Vans Cult blue camouflage tyre and the Lerun branded skateboard wheels were changed. The sticker on the bottom bracket shell states it was produced in Malaysia.
The black Lerun examples is the last of the design steps with the only notable change being the crank whereby it was switched from the cottered crank format to a one piece crank with a larger bottom bracket. The 32/14 ratio remains as does the 5 spoke rear wheel. It’s difficult to place a date on the production however when MTV paired up with Lerun in 1989 Lerun were still using the cottered crank so my guess is that it is 1990 or after. The wording on the sticker references Garel rather than Lerun (as shown on the earlier blue example) and does not confirm the country where it was produced, although I have seen several examples of Lerun skatebikes stating they were part of the Raleigh group (who had a factory in Malaysia).
Each of the 3 examples here offer something slightly different, the Garel is great for learning on and cruising however the shorter crank arms can mean your legs will get tired quickly on a long ride. The blue Lerun is great for longer distances and better speed whilst the black Lerun is equal to the blue for speed it also has the benefit of having a more maintenance friendly one piece crank, which means it’s gives the option for an amateur like me to change the chainring and try and disc chainring or even try and go for a larger chainring with more teeth, which would then increase the torque going into the back wheel.