Archive for March, 2008

So many bikes since my last post! I finished Sarah’s cyclocross/touring machine, Ken’s bike looks outstanding, I built a single speed for myself in the after hours, and Adam’s number 150 is well underway. Chris and I also did a couple of paint jobs for Dwight Bowen of Bowen Bicycle Works out of Connecticut. I spent the greater part of last week in the paint booth so forgive for the delay in these updates.

First off, Sarah’s paint scheme was amazing. She came to me with an idea that included a damask pattern. I didn’t even know what the word meant and when I saw the sample patterns I got a little nervous. The vinyl cutter we use is pretty old and has difficulty doing detailed patterns but everything worked out in the end. I’m especially pleased with one of my premiere forays into lug lining. The gold is subtle and gives it that classy Victorian look.

  
 
 
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Ken’s frame and fork wasn’t that shabby either. I used some Richard Sachs Nuovo Richie lugs for the first time and really like the look of the cutouts. I also used a new (to me) seat stay attachment style which I borrowed from the recently restored Viking. Ken did a lot of tweaking in Illustrator getting the final paint job down. I was skeptical on how the coffee milk colored fork would look but I think he made the right choice. The dark chocolate/coffee milk scheme has me craving mousse. And more lug lining practice here. There a whole lot of lug action going on so the pressure was on to have a steady hand. It all came out fine in the end.

  
  
  
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I spent most of last weekend and early this week on a frame and fork for myself. We can never have too many bikes, right? This is a single-speed-all-around-town-and-then-some bike. My old single speed is racing through the streets of Philadelphia under its new owner, Jonny

 
 

And after a TON of carving on his bottom bracket shell, Adam’s is well underway. Totally starting to look like a bike. There will be more entries about mine and Adam’s next week when painting begins. Stay tuned.

 
 
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Micah came and built up his frame a couple of weeks ago. We spent a small part of a freezing Saturday afternoon putting some nice parts on his beautiful new frame.

Ricardo picked up the 3RENSHO which came out wonderful as well. I was very pleased with the lug matching (thanks in part to Joseph for tracing the old ones for me).

   
  

Joe’s Viking is another inspirational restoration. This was an old one but definitely worth redoing with its Nervex lugs. The seat cluster in particular was my favorite. I like the way the stays clasp the seat lug so much that I ended up using it on Ken’s upcoming single speed. Here are the pictures of the completed bike.

   
  

Sarah’s cyclo-touring machine is ready for her super fancy paint job. I finished it last week but we’re still working out the details of the paint. More to come soon.