Make a Portable Tallbike!

Step 3 Disassembly and Frame Attachment.

Strip the bikes down as much as possible. Leave the forks and headset in place on the bottom bike. The top bike you can leave the fork, headset, stem, and handlebar all on. You might as well remove the cranks and chains and wheels and stuff. Now would also be the time to overhaul the headset bearings if they are rusty (bike piles are not a friendly environment).

Now it is time to begin assembling and aligning the frames.

On the bottom bike, if you haven't installed the front hub into the stem clamp, do so. Make sure it is centered left to right and clamp it down as hard as you like. Tighten the stem expander bolt so it is secure to the fork.

With the bottom frame standing up, resting on the fork ends and the bottom bracket (the fat tube that the cranks went through), lift the frame that will go on top up above it. Bring the upper frame down with the works and slide them onto the axle of the stem hub. Tighten down the axle nuts. Now your bikes are connected on the front end! Hold them up one on top of the other. I figure this is at least as strong as a decent weld job up here. The axle is probably the weekest link. This clamping system is also a little more forgiving of misalignment than a weld.