Archive for the ‘Bike Painting’ Category

The latest restoration here at the shop was on this 1976 Team Raleigh frame. It came in with a busted fork so I built another with Reynolds 531 blades, Campagnolo fork tips, and a Cinelli crown. This bike apparently has quite the pedigree after the owner did his research on it. This is what he found out:

“According to people who know these things, the bike appears to have belonged to Jan Van Katwijk of the Dutch TI Raleigh/McGregor professional cycling team in 1976. This is evidenced by his initials in the bikes serial number (JK176 which indicates that this was the first frame built for Jan Van Katwijk in 1976). In 1976 Jan rode in both the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain. I haven’t been able to confirm if he rode this exact bike in either event but it’s probable because he was only with the team for a year. Jan’s brother Piet Van Katwijk also rode for the team and must have been a better rider as he was with them for six years. I bought the bike from Mike’s Cyclery in Boca Raton, FL in the early 80′s and was unaware of its history until I researched it for the restoration.”

 
 

In other news, I had moved last year to a location that was about 7 miles away from the shop. Before the move I had been doing my 3 mile commute on a single speed as that was fine. But for the past year I’ve been riding either my race bike or my cross bike and finally decided to build up a light touring/commuter bike for myself complete with front rack (soon) and fenders. This multifunction bike also survived the D2R2 this past weekend as there’s room for cyclocross tires on there. I was looking for mustard in the color and I got it. A mix of our yellow and gold came out with this classy number. Some subtle logos, a pearl coat over the whole thing, and a little yellow tint in the clear gave it some extra detail as well.

 
 
 
 
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This road frame and fork(s) is ready for some high speed club rides or road races. Full True Temper OX Platinum tube set and seat mast will keep the weight of this bike well below 17 pounds…and having the Edge carbon fork on there won’t hurt either.

 
 
 
 
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In non-bike building news, a bunch of Providence locals travelled over to Deerfield, MA for the 2010 D2R2. This was my first time doing it and it was one of the most fun rides I’ve ever done on a bicycle. Maybe it was the weather or the great group of riders or all the steel bikes or a combination of everything but I can’t recommend it enough. There were a lot of hills and our group did the 100k version. Maybe next year we’ll get brave and do the 180k.

  

Our kitty turns one year old this month too. Since she’s joined the Circle A team, morale has been up and productivity down (kidding). She’s the best thing that’s happened to the shop…aside from the Bridgeport. Here’s to many more years of her walking precariously onto bike stands while we try to file your lugs.

 

To continue on with Circle A’s world domination, we’re sending this one to one of our neighbors to the north. This fillet brazed single speed cruiser will soon be rolling around the streets of Edmonton, Alberta. The Jack Brown 33c tires and the Nitto Albatross bars make this an incredibly comfortable bike to ride. It’s built with Dedacciai Zero Uno tubing throughout. There’s something about gloss black paint on a smooth brass joint that makes me smile. I’ve always been obsessed with smooth fillet brazed bottom brackets and continue to try and perfect a very liquid looking shell. I’m pleased with how this one turned out. I’m aware that no one is really looking down there after all the components are installed but we try to pay attention to the details. Check it out.

 
 
 
 
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When Bob brought this Tanguy in, I had no clue as to its origins. Bob enlightened me that Tanguys were built in Somerville, MA by Ron Horowitz and that in the 70′s he had apprenticed with him and built this frame and fork. I was impressed with his work and was happy to do a couple of modifications to the frame to make it more of a commuter style bike with 700c wheels. After the changes, we gave it a nice blue and cream paint job.

 
 
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It has been 1,000,000°F pretty much everyday this summer so we’ve had to alter some of our paint techniques to accommodate Mother Nature’s cruelty. Here are a red Lemond and a purple/black single speed that are fresh out of the booth.

 

And finally, I got married! Hilary and I made the leap late June. Now it’s back to work and build, build, build! Coming up next is Brian P.’s road bike, John #1′s single speed, John #2′s Rohloff bike, and Jay/Josie’s tandem. Yowza!

If this Serotta could talk, it’d probably complain about its achy joints, but that’s only because it has been ridden in countless brevets, centuries, and double-centuries as well as ridden across the country two and a half times! The endurance rider who owns this frame and fork, John, bought it new from Serotta in 1981. The reason it came into our shop was because of two significant cracks that formed over time in the head tube and the top tube. Not from an impact but just from excessive wear and tear! We replaced those two tubes and the head lug and then did a complete repaint. Check out the results.

 
 
 

This large Trek also came through the shop recently for some some paint after it had some alterations done by the talented Chris Bishop in Baltimore. It had a Silca pump and some Honjo fenders painted to match but I failed to take pictures of those. Oh well. More repairs and another stainless 953 frame are coming up next!

 

Repeat customers are the best! They’re already happy people and getting a second bike makes them twice as happy, right? This is Hannah’s road bike and partner to her cyclocross bike. This is the most sparkly frame I’ve ever painted/made. It’s also the first time I made my own headtube reinforcement rings from stainless tubing. I think it looks pretty nice with the stainless headbadge and seat collar.

 
 
 
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In other news, this Zanconato was a collaboration between Chris and I. It came in with a seized seatpost and broken rear dropout. Chris took care of the post and dropout replacement and I took care of the paint. This is how it’ll be leaving the shop. Next up are the 953 frames…finally!

 
 

My latest projects coming out of the paint booth include a Hetchins restoration and builder paint work for Pi Cycles, Royal H Cycles, Icarus Frames, Quiros, and Grominger. I’m currently finishing up Noriyuki’s road frameset with polished stainless lugs and Hannah’s fillet brazed road frame. Check back soon for those!

  

  

  

  

  

  

This was my first time making a front luggage-style rack. It was based off of the Cetma 5 rail HALFrack but I mounted the stabilizing rods to the fork crown and not behind the brake. Isaac will give me a full review of how it performs. The frameset is fillet brazed with 6° sloping top tube for a comfy ride. Campagnolo long slot rear dropouts were used for this frame because this bike is a single speed and will have fenders. For those of you with a single speed with fenders, getting the rear wheel on and off is much easier with forward facing dropouts. The dropouts were modified by removing the hanger, filling the adjusting screw holes, and then shaping. Check it out!

 
 
 
 
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And coming out of the paint booth is Jeff’s sparkly red Lemond Zurich. The transformation from the original rusted and chipped blue and silver paint is quite dramatic. Makes me think we need more before and after photos so you can get the full effect. You’ll just have to settle for the after photos right now.

 
 
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The latest frame and fork completed here at the shop is Leif’s cross/commuter. The Zona tubing, top tube cable routing, horizontal top tube, fender mounts, and rack mounts make this cross bike a great commuter as well. The white and green paint was a scheme that Leif came up with complete with the Unibird on the seat tube. Leif’s is guaranteed to win his commute with this one.

 
 
 
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This Bruce Gordon Rock ‘n Road touring frame/fork/stem was a respray in our popular dark blue pearl. This bike will be a real stunner in the sunlight. The blue over silver has a real bright candy effect. I’m pretty sure it makes the bike go faster too.

 
 
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So things are still busy here at the shop with lots of repairs and repaints. Get ready to see a revamped Serotta, Lemond, and Hetchins. But right I’m focusing on the current bikes in the queue. Isaac’s commuter with custom rack was just finished as well as a couple of the steel Gaulzetti frames. The 953 tubesets have arrived and Noriyuki’s polished stainless lugged frameset is in progress!

My blog might indicate that there’s not a whole lot happening at the shop but that’s definitely not the case. I just finished four frames and forks and many paint jobs. The most recent ones are this gorgeous Molteni Merckx which has been brought back to its original luster.

 
 

Other paint work has been for various local (and not so local) builders.

 
 

And when I’m not in the paint booth, I am building bikes. I’m finishing up a front rack for Isaac’s single speed and then it’s back in the booth for these four. I promise I’ll post more updates soon!

 

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.

 
 
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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!

 
 
 
 
 
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