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[proline-II]

a while back one of our American friends (i can't remember who, it may have been coastwheels) started a thread here about the schwinn sting from the late '70's early '80's. this got me thinking about aquiring one to have in my collection. easier said than done, especially here in Aus when quite a few of our bmx "brothers" across the pond won't sell overseas, even with continuous bumping in the wanted section of museum forum. i thought no big deal one will pop up eventually, meanwhile the hunt for  schwinn specific components began. redline microline bars were chosen mainly because the droopy crossbar schwinn bars are rarer than a one night stand with Kylie, oh, and i had 3 sets of the micro's already here to choose from. mid september 08 a fella sends me a pm saying i can buy a June 1980 frame set from him at a very reasonable price (and no post ripoff) and 2 weeks later it'ss here. the finish on these frames is awesome to say the least, beautiful tapered tubing, double butted and flared joins brazed to perfection. then another redline bug hit and i built another couple of prolines with the poor old sting lying there waiting. then early 09, my good friend Gnarley was getting some chrome work done through Skywaydays, so i joined on and had the sting frame set and a set of microline bars chromed. the result was staggering and pics just don't do it justice. i finally built it late 09 and must say i reckon the result was well and truly worth the wait. oh, do-not ask how much this one owes me in case the wife is watching 

strangely the only before pic i can find is this one with the other class of 08 (basically the frames i bought that year) the sting is the red one on the left



beautiful chrome job











about 300 bucks worth of geunuine decals
yes i was shaking a little bit putting those on 



some pretty bits



....and finally after nearly 2 years fromthinking about getting one, the finished bike
well nearly, i decided to go to black rat trap pedals very similar to the catalogue as i think it suited the black chen shins better





here it just before Yandina with my other keepers, maybe 

[proline-II]

some of you old farts might remember this ad from the US magazines

[Phil Kaye]

NICE!!!!

[Troyboy]

Great work Al, then again all of your builds are sweet
Troy

[GTHODAD]

Wow.Awesome job. I remember BMXA with Donny Atherton and his Sting-thats about the time I got the bug. Frame looks amazing butted tubes, 5 inche head tube-are they welds or brazing? and did you let the chomers do everything?

[proline-II]

brazed joints. the chromers did everything, just one blemish was a ding in the down tube that if i had seen it before going to chrome it would have got filled.

thanks for the replies fellas, it really was a great build for me.

[COASTY]

Stunning bike. The welds are just beautiful to look at. The rest just improves the frame. Awsome bike.
Oh and Poulson rode with Graphites too!

[proline-II]

Stunning bike. The welds are just beautiful to look at. The rest just improves the frame. Awsome bike.
Oh and Poulson rode with Graphites too!

LOL imagine how much faster he could have been on laces 

[RL20II]

Thats a gorgeous bike m8! welldone

[K8SY]

Yes amazing job youv'e done there. I know you cant say how much for the entire build but what about the cost of chroming and who did it for you?

[proline-II]

Yes amazing job youv'e done there. I know you cant say how much for the entire build but what about the cost of chroming and who did it for you?

the cost of the chrome was over 400 but less than 500. i can't remember exactly. it was done in Canberra.

[Adrian H]

Ive seen this bike up close and it is a work of art. The frame is sweet but what I think turns this into an awesome bike is Allens attention to detail. The parts chosen to compliment the frame make it I think. I love the black rat traps, when you see chrome builds like this, most people will go the blue,red, or gold pedal option (myself included) but its the little things that make a great build an AWESOME one.

Now show em the Proline with the Robertos custom red Allen, thats my favorite bike.

Adrian

[proline-II]

thanks Adrian, that's very rewarding mate 

i'll do a write up on the proline next week when i finish my shift.

[Tim]

I'm not 100% sure a bike can be sexy, but if it can that Sting is dead sexy.
Beautiful work.
cheers Tim