Archive for the ‘Bike Painting’ Category

Our friend Ricardo brought this Masi Gran Criterium in a little while ago and it had a thrashed seat lug and seat tube. He wanted to convert it into a commuter and I was very willing to help. Having already replaced the seat tube on this frame and built a new fork for it, I didn’t see it as being sacrilege to do this conversion. Ricardo is going to be getting groceries and running errands on this bike with great style. The silvery metallic purple has an almost micro-suede look to it that just makes you want to reach out and touch it. And the super thin clearcoat really shows the definition of the lug lines and file marks from its original builder.

 
 
See the full slideshow.

In other news, we’ve been painting…A LOT. I will resume with the frame building very soon as we don’t want our wait list for frames to get out of hand. Here are some shots of a recently completed Royal H mixte — a very lovely bicycle. More paint work to follow suit.

 
 

Lastly, the weather in many parts of the country has been crappy and cold this winter. It has been taking its toll on my morale and my commuting bike. Salty roads and metal don’t work so well together (see pic of my Phil Wood bottom bracket). Just a quick reminder to take care of your bikes in this season. We don’t want you to get any seized seatposts or stuck bottom brackets. Take ‘em apart when you can to make sure everything is all right in there. Grease your posts and BB threads. Spray some frame saver in there as well if you can get the whole bike apart. Your bike will thank you many years from now by not rusting away.

 

Mike’s cross bike is finally done after lots of lug carving, crazy paint masking, and the most precise lug lining you’ll ever see. It had been 5 months since I built a lugged frame (the last 5 frames were fillet brazed) but it wasn’t hard to get back into the swing of things. This bike is going to be Mike’s winter bike as well as cross bike. Winter is far from over so he’ll have plenty of chances to ride it. The snow is melting away on the trails as I type so I anticipate this bike getting muddy very soon. The bike is a kelly green with lime green lugs and gold accents all over, in case you didn’t notice. The ever talented Josie Morway did the lug lining. I think if any other bike painter saw her work, they’d hire in a second. Next up is Adam’s BMX!

 
 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

It seems like I’ve been building some taller bikes as of late. This cyclocross bike is 67cm and looks incredible! The light blue with white panel paint scheme is gorgeous. And the dark blue painted on logos and bands look sharp. If there’s anyone who needs a custom frame it’s someone who can’t get something off the shelf at their local bike shop. Everyone should be able to enjoy cycling no matter what their size is. These bigger bikes are fun to build because of the design challenges that arise. Head tube angle, seat tube angle, bottom bracket drop, seat stay length, and chain stay length are all crucial as bikes go larger than 64cm. Restrictions in tubing lengths from manufacturers poses the largest problem which is overcome by using straight gauge chromoly or custom drawn tubes. So check these shots of Matt’s frame and fork out and contact us if you need a bigger bike built.

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

In other news, Dan Langlois’ cross bike was in for a repair and got a new paint job while it was here. It’s like a brand new bike again except now it matches his other one.

 

I also recently uploaded some riding footage from 2007 for Dan to see that was shot for a video that didn’t use all of it. Might as well share it with the rest of you too. Here I am riding my Circle A flatland frame.

I think I might’ve started about a dozen other blog posts with this but I have to say it again — Things are crazy here at the shop right now. Chris and I were both away from the shop earlier this month for family reasons, I recently got engaged to my amazing girlfriend Hilary, and on top of all that, I’m moving at the end of the month. Phew! Even with all that excitement, I’m slowly settling back into the routine that I missed so much. The bike that helped me get back into the swing of things was this single speed 700c commuter for David Way. It’s a lugged 68.5cm metallic brown bike with metallic brown custom racks and red details. Dave is a tall, utilitarian fellow and a nice guy to boot. Stop him and say hi if you see him rolling around on this beauty in Boston. If you’re lucky, maybe he’ll tell you the story of El Halcón.

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

So this latest frame is for letter press whiz Dave Wofford. This is a road/touring/commuter frame that was built specifically for use with the Paul Racer brakes. It has Henry James front and rear stainless dropouts, rack mounts, and fender mounts (including the secret one in the fork steer tube). The lugs were carved from the Richard Sachs’ Rene Singer set. I’ll be sad to see this one go as it totally brightens up the shop. The blue is definitely striking in the sun and works well with the champagne and copper accents. There’s also a secret pearl layer with gingko leaves over the panels. Check it out.

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

These two bikes are the only bikes that I’ve built and had other people paint. The first one is a cross bike for my friend Jay Nutini. He’s an amazing auto restoration artist who wanted to polish the stainless lugs and paint his frame/fork/stem/seatpost on his own. He put a lot of time into finishing this frame and got a big hand with the downtube design and lug lining from his girlfriend Josie. I think we made a pretty good team. He currently has it set up for road use and tested it by riding 150 miles last weekend!

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

The other frame was a cross bike as well for our good friend and painter Nathan Trombly. Nathan has an amazing amount of skill in the booth. He used to work at Independent Fabrications a couple of years back and at Circle A before he went to nursing school. Well, he’s back at the shop but we’re not sure for how long because he just passed his RN exam! Congratulations! He did his own design for the Circle A logo as well. It has internal cable routing, no polished headbadge, and he’s rockin’ the seatmast. I’ll make sure I get a picture of the complete bike up here soon as it looks pretty mean built up.

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

We also got some new additions to the shop. Our landlady handed me a bag with a kitten in it about a week ago. This little girl is Burger Time, Jr. Or possibly BT, Time Bandit, or maybe just Kitty. She’s cute though and is guarding the office so beware. We also acquired another Bridgeport milling machine via our friend Jim Frain. We now have two monsters of metal at the shop. Can’t wait to cut some tubes on it!

 

Dave Wofford’s bike is just about done so check back early next week for his new frame and fork!

The latest frame completed here at the shop is a stainless bike for Ralph. It’s a lugged single speed built with Reynolds 953…mostly. I say mostly because the head tube, fork blades, seat stay bridge, and rear dropouts are not stainless (hence the paint). The painted parts are black with a red pearl so it’s pretty fancy in the sunlight. The bike has a satin finish as opposed to the polishing I’ve done on stainless bits in the past. I’m a big fan of this finish not only because polishing stainless is a painful process but because of it’s raw feel. Ralph has chosen some pretty classic Campy parts to complement the frame. This one will be on display at the Maker’s Market in NYC from the 26th through the 28th of June. Stop by and say hi if you’re in the area and have a minute. In the meantime, check out the pics.

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

I also painted a lugged Nitto stem to match.

 

The open house we had two weeks ago was a great time. Lots of people came by to hang out in the “new” backyard complete with grass, eat some food, drink some drink, and mingle. This is the second one we’ve had in the spring and will probably have it every year around this time. So if you missed it, mark your calendar for next year!

 

There’s always another bike coming up and this one is a lugged road bike for Dave in North Carolina. The lug carving has already begun and I should have something to show next week.

 

So Matt’s single speed is polished, painted, and ready to be built up! This bike is probably one of the more over-the-top ones that I’ve ever done. It has the stainless logos on the downtube, stainless headbadge, stainless dropout faces, and polished stainless fork crown and lugs. Many hours went into getting the bike to this level. The stripes on the seat tube were inspired by some vintage bicycle painting styles to give the bike a little bit of a classic feel.

 
 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

I also built several fillet brazed stems recently and painted them to match the bikes they’re going on (including one for Matt’s blue bike). One quill and two threadless and all with recessed binder bolts. Check ‘em out in all their silky smooth glory.

  

And finally, this Sunday, May 31st is our annual open house eat ‘n’ drink shindig! We’ll have some stuff but please BYO whatever you want. Bring your bike! Invite your friends, and let us know if you have any questions. We also have a fresh stock of t-shirts for sale and finally are making prints of Alec’s famous Circle A poster, courtesy of IO Labs! If you’ve never been here and need directions, check out the map.

I just finished another Schwinn Paramount frame repaint for Andrew in New Jersey. This one came in as a blue bike and left a beautiful metallic green. Even though I didn’t do the lug lining, I’m very happy with the cleanliness of the paint to chrome transitions. If you have a Paramount you want refinished, it seems that now is the time to send it over for a refinish. It’s getting to be second nature for me.

 
 
See the full slideshow.

Matt’s single speed is ready for paint as I can now see myself in his fork crown and lugs. We’re still in the process of ironing out the paint. I’ll also be making a custom stem for this one.

 
 
See the full slideshow.

And speaking of custom stems, I just finished a 90° quill stem for Patrick over at Javaspeed. Here it is pre-paint. It’ll be yellow with a pearl coat just like his bike.

Check back soon as Ralph’s 953 bike is still in progress. I’ll have pictures to share very soon.

I’ll give you the background to this restoration as accurately as I can. In 1966, Dave bought a new, white, 24″ Schwinn Paramount (serial P605). It was gorgeous and he rode it very little because it didn’t really fit him. I blame the bike shop salesperson for that. Soon after the purchase, the bike was put into storage and didn’t see the light of day for 40+ years. In January of this year, our shop acquired an orange 22″ Schwinn Paramount (serial p631) from our friend Bob. Dave came to our shop with hopes of altering his original frame but then saw the orange Paramount that was his size. It was decided that the orange frame and fork would be restored to be the white Paramount that would fit him like a glove. Some changes needed to be made though: the frame needed chromed head lugs, the seat stay bridge needed to be moved for 700c medium reach brakes, the fork also had to be filled and redrilled for 700c medium reach brakes, and water bottle bosses needed to be added. So after many weeks of waiting for the chrome plater, I was recently able to complete this frame. Special thanks to Bob for aligning the planets for Dave and to Peter Weigle (who recently did a similar restoration/renovation) for tips on lug lining and antiquing the clearcoat. I have another one coming up as well so check back here soon (see the blue Paramount in the last pic).

 
 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

I was also busy in the shop doing other repaints and repairs including a dropout replacement on a carbon, aluminum and steel Lemond Zurich. Not the easiest of replacements but the operation was a success.

See the full slideshow.

The other paint jobs being done here include a Bianchi touring repaint. Let me just say that I have a love for brown bikes. So what about a bike with three different earthy shades? Well, the bike is almost organic at that point. Here’s Deb’s Bianchi, re-aligned and repainted.

 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

And finally I did a repaint on a D’Arienzo/Basso. I am told that Basso built the bikes for D’arienzo (which would explain the Basso pantograph on the bottom bracket). So we went with some Basso decals on Armando’s pursuit bike. Armando was the lucky winner of the Circle A paint job raffle prize at last year’s bike swap at Providence Bicycle. I also did some carving and added stainless faces to the dropouts that another builder had replaced. Here’s the finished product.

 
 
 
See the full slideshow.

Still in the hopper is Ralph’s 953 frame and Matt’s single speed. Materials have been shipped and I’ll be trading in the paint gun for a torch and file for awhile. In some sadder news, I recently dropped my Canon digital SLR and broke my favorite lens. Hopefully I can get a new lens before my next blog post. You’ll want to see these next few bikes.

But to end on a happier note, Nathan got his stolen bike back! Props to Andy for spotting it and taking action.