Those of you that have been to the Mid South‘s host shop, District Bicycles, are well aware of how much eye candy is on display there. Yet when I walked in the door this year, I was immediately drawn to one bike: Tyler’s Stooge CK Flyer. It just jumped right out at me with all its throwback, raw ti, gumwall, plus tire glory on full display. I spent some time documenting it that day, so you could spend some time ogling it from your desk this morning. Let’s jump right in…
These frames were made as a collaboration between Stooge Cycles (remember Morgan’s review?), Charlie Kelly, and Fat Tire Flyer. It’s designed to look like a modern rendition of the famous bikes of the late 70s Charlie made. You know, those truss fork, modified beach cruisers Charlie, Gary, and the entire Repack crew were scorchin’ fire roads on.
While the CK Flyer is a collaboration between Stooge and Charlie, I’d argue it’s its own thing entirely. A modernized Klunker through and through (remember, Cruisers = coaster brakes, Klunkers = gears, and brakes), the CK Flyer is a disc brake 27.5+ titanium bike that would have blown the socks off the Repack crew back in the day and it’s got a great story to boot.
Charlie stayed with Andy from Stooge in Llangollen, UK a few years back. While he was there, Andy showed him the local haunts, trails, and the like. It was on this trip that Fat Tire Flyer UK, Charlie, and Andy got together to work on the CK Flyer frame.
Photo via the TPC Museum
As Andy puts it: “…the pictures of CK on his Breezer with a fistful of seat-tube and sloping top tube heading the wrong way. I’ve always dreamed of owning one of the earliest bikes, so this is a nod and homage to those machines but with one foot firmly in the now, namely clearance and geometry designed around 27×3.00 tires, disc brakes, full titanium construction, and the finest all-conquering truss fork.”
The CK Flyer was limited to 10 framesets worldwide but in the end, only two were made. Andy from Stooge and Tyler have the only two. It’s a collector’s piece that demands to get covered in dust, not hung on a shelf, and see a long, hard life on the trails. Tyler loves this thing, as evident by the big, shit-eatin’ grin on his face. As shown here this beaut weighs in at 25lbs. Not bad!
So… what do you think? Does this bike do the early Breezer-built Klunkers justice or what?