match 'em up!
As a longtime titanium bike owner, I’ve always been jealous of a beautiful painted frame but Ti and carbon frames don’t need paint like a steel frame needs paint. But I want some painted beauty. It’s like buying a white car; I can’t do white, need some color. So between a Ti frame and a carbon fork…I got nothing.
Well, a little knowledge is dangerous and throw in a compressor and an automotive spray gun and the potential for mayhem goes up. You want to paint your fork celeste green? Good luck with that as you go into your local auto refinishing paint store and try to describe Bianchi’s celeste green or De Rosa pink – blank stares. They will hand you huge stacks of paint samples all related to cars. Celeste green is a big problem, the nearly celeste green of a 1981 Fiat, no problem.
I found a used, top-end Trek Madone frame on eBay a few years ago, to bring my wife out of the Ti age and into the Carbon age. It was a project one frame, meaning it had been custom painted at the Trek factory. When we had the frame in-hand someone pointed out it was Subaru Forester green. Yep, that is correct. Who wants a bike painted Subaru Forester green? I was not ready to take on that repaint so I had it done somewhat professionally, at the local surfboard fabrication and repair spot. Years later the front fork needed to be repainted and I knew I could handle it. I practiced on an old alpha-q carbon fork and decided the Merlin’s fork was going to get it too.
Who wouldn’t want to match the stem to the fork? There are no Rules about this, but visually I think it works. Stems like paint. If I was going to paint forks I was absolutely going to paint some stems too. I think the secret to this might be the clear coat that goes on after the color coat. It is a catalyzed product, tough and flexible. It’s why your car still looks good after a few years on the road.
You can do all this with a rattle-can of color paint from the hardware store but you can’t spray a catalyzed clear coat on top so it might not hold up well. And this spraying is nasty but fun when it’s done, if it goes well.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
I love my white bike with white frame, white for, white stem- but although it originally had white wheels and white bar tape (white saddle stays) I figured I was bascially riding a Ghost Bike and that's bad juju. So it now has black wheels, blue tyres and blue tape.
And the next time I get a new bike, I'm going colourful. But not lime green and hot pink. Ewwww.
@Al__S
That ghost bike comment got me thinking about my newest bike (although it's five years old now), but i reckon there's enough red and black on it to keep the juju positive.
P.s. I am fully aware that the above photo clearly shows my flaunting of rules #29 to 31, but in my defence I will say that the Lezyne saddle pack and pump are at least colour coordinated.
It's a slippery slope........
@Steve Trice
I don't have strong feelings about the pump (you've hidden it pretty well), but just think how MUCH better the bike would look if you ditched the EPMS.
It's tiny, anyway, you can fit that stuff in your pockets. Obey the Rules.
@RobSandy
On short summer rides maybe, but on longer rides on cooler/ wet days when I'm carrying food, clothing and an extra spare tube, it's a struggle. Moreover if the kit's attached I ain't going to forget it. Last week I was 5km down the road when I realised I'd not taken my bidons out of the fridge. I probably wouldn't have missed the saddle pack gear until (if) I needed it.
@Steve Trice
Rule #3!
Ha ha, I stand corrected but, by definition, rule #3 is the one that I (and most other transgressing adherents/ non-adherents) break the most frequently. It remains top of any list of "other offences to be taken in to account"
@Steve Trice
That thing is not tiny. It's huge. What have you got in there? A full dining set?
Food in an EPMS does not compute. You can't eat on the go. A little and often is preferable in my book.
Jelly Babies are great for this and I make my own energy bar and wrap easy bite bars in Rice Paper so I have nothing to unwrap and no rubbish. You do need to keep the bar in a waterproof bag otherwise the Rice Paper descends into a soggy mush. I have a waterproof zip bag that I put in my jersey pocket with the top unzipped for easy access.
Dang how did this get to EPMSs again!
It's not that big, contains one tube, 2 levers, multi tool with chain breaker, spoke key, patches. Food goes in pockets, but for longer rides I just use Hammer Perpetuem formed into a paste which means I can carry 700 to 900 calories in a small, soft plastic flask. Only on rides up towards and above 150km though. Never bother with solids on rides, in fact if I start craving solid food it's a certain indicator that I'm about to meet the man with the hammer.
Nice shot of your wife's bike. What about yours?
what's next, the right haircut?