Geoff Roberts Framebuilding course - first and second, and third frames. And fourth (now finished). And fifth.

I'm happy to say that Brommers Bike #2 put in a sterling performance in Mallorca. 300 miles, over 11,000m of climbing, and the only mechanical problem was the self-destructinating stem. It tracks nice and true, and by the end of the first morning I was happy riding hands-free so I could tweak zips and furtle around in my jersey pockets. I set a fair few PBs both up and downhill, so it appears that a mofo great big freewheel and gravity aren't that bad a combination in terms of performance.

The one bit of the frame I really like is the wishbone seatstays. I know they're not particularly efficient from an engineering viewpoint, but they're so damned elegant...

I'm also rather taken by the flip paint. It is, however, pretty difficult to photograph well. I may have to splash out and get myself a half decent camera, just for photographing bike frames. The best shot I got of the paint doing its flip thing was with the bike inside the hire car:

And having spent many months telling me I shouldn't paint this one using flip paint, @Cycliste has now decided she wants her frame painted in a navy/plum flip paint, rather than the quietly understated pale blue she'd specified previously. Happily I have a litre of navy/plum flip paint I got cheap off eBay. Anyone need any pale blue paint?

Although the flip paint is supposed to be a red/gold flip, it actually goes from dark purple:

to a bronze/purple mix:

to a pale bronze:

and even in bright sunlight to a pale greeny gold:

I think I may try using flip paint over a metallic base next. No idea what it'll look like, but it'll be fun finding out.

In the meantime, Brommers Bike #2 is being converted to fixed and a 48/18 gear ratio rather more suitable for the flatlands of the Fens.