I (Ande at The Vandal Metalworks) bought the Honzo frame last year and while I loved riding it, I was feeling like I
was neither riding it often enough nor to the fullest of it's potential. I moved the parts I had on it onto another frame, a rigid bikepacking/gravel/adventure thing, and I was left wondering what to do with the Honzo frame. It's not a great time for selling used bikes or frames I don't think so, rather than selling it for a real low price I decided to chop it up and make something with it. Customising and re-using existing frames is something I'm really into, whether it's adding features like disc tabs or dropper cable routing to bring a frame up to date and keep it in use or more involved customisation as with this project.
I've definitely taken some inspiration from the Stridsland Boom Boat with this build but I've also been into small wheeled bikes/minivelos for a while. I've built a couple from scratch and made some out of bmxs. I currently have a pimped up Raleigh Twenty that I've built a fork and stem for and customised the frame, it's got Paul Components brakes and stuff and I have another little customised shopper bike that I keep at work for running around on. I've also got a customised Brompton and have built and modified forks and stems for Bromptons for other people.
With the mini Honzo, I kept the bb shell, chainstays and dropouts as a 'sub assembly' just to make my life a bit easier. I already knew that the adjustable dropouts worked great as I'd run the Honzo both singlespeed and geared when it was full sized and I really like the yoke that it has. I used the Honzo top and downtubes along with a new headtube to build the front triangle. I did cut the tubes down a bit but I think I've kept within the butted part so it's nice and strong. I was also keen to retain the original decals as much as possible. The headtube is a 38mm tube that you braze integrated headset cups onto. I like integrated as it's neat and tidy and it adds that bmx vibe. I really like the Brompton front carrier block and the bags that go on it so I've included a mount for that. Wishbone seatstays are a bit of a trademark for me so that's what I've done, in a segmented style to match the fork which is a jump fork cut down and re-made with the segmented crown. Reusing tubes means there are some breather holes to cover up, I've done that with a little copper upside down cross on the front of the seattube and a coin on the rear.
I had to build the wheels for it but the rest of the build really came from my spares box. The handlebars are also made by me, from 4130 chromoly tubing.
I plan to use the bike for a bit of everything. Riding around the city the 200mm dropper means it transforms it from a sensible pedalable bike into a chuckable, hoppable bmx. I've done some gravel riding on it and hopefully it'll be able to handle some mtb trails too but I'll be getting some knobblies for it before taking it offroad again as I slid out on some slimy gravel the other day and am currently laid up with a broken thumb!
