Cheap old bikes and a new one too

After wiping the frame down with my DIY IPA solution, I went onto using SprayMax 2K clear over the frame and the stem. The stem was an afterthought, but I wanted a silver stem and thought I might as well paint it while I had the materials. The 2K is great, but not as thick as I'd expected. I hoped to do a few coats, let it cure, sand over the decals to flat it and then apply another coat. But I wasn't confident there would be enough in the can so put it all on at once. Here's me "PPE'd" up, jawbreakers and all.

1 Attachment

Wow! Which something I didn't think I'd say about a silver paint job.
But it looks really nice with the pale blue decals!

After a can of clear had gone on (and a fly had been badly removed from the seat tube with my finger), I let the frame cure for 24 hours. The next day I wet sanded the frame with 1200 grit, then passed over it again with 2000 before polishing with Meguiars cut and polish. I'm not sure if it was the best choice, I just had some left over in a jar and thought it was probably my best shot without taking yet another trip down the hill to Halfords.

Other than going a little hard on the sanding over the drive side decals (and a seat stay) the frame turned out better than expected. In certain lights on some harder to reach areas, the colour from the primer is a little visible. I guess that's what you can expect painting in a poorly lit, and at times windy, patio area. I guess the paint and flake from the Montana can don't travel the same in the wind. My tip for anyone doing this in the future would be to BE CAREFUL with sanding. Take it slow, with light pressure, and wipe down ares to check them periodically. Not all tubes will take as much paint as others.

4 Attachments

These are minor details, and as a whole the frame looks fantastic. Famously, paint jobs don't always photograph well, so I've tried to attach a couple of videos for visual effect. I'll be building the bike up soon, but I need to find a few more bits before it's complete. Bikes can get pricey once you try and make them nice all over. As is the theme of LFGSS, I think it's time for a mood board. If anyone has a fairly nice 11speed group set available, please let me know!

Looks like an excellent job, especially for a home patio effort!

It wouldn’t be the first colour combination to come to my mind either! Glad you like it

Amazing job man!

Thanks @Dexter!

Bent crank arm sorted, with these arms that look bent. But on purpose. Such nice looking cranks, look as if they would suit any ring

1 Attachment

Such nice looking cranks, look as if they would suit a Stridsland chainring perfectly

FTFY

It’s as if you read my mind. I would’ve written this but thought I’d keep my options open, now I realise I only have one option. I’ll go 3x until I find one

There are other options - like wolf tooth (hella spendy) or a french shop that has blatantly ripped off the Stridsland chainring.
Mathias @t0-ster Stridsland is a nice guy and I recommend buying from him.

Wolf Tooth are too close to road bike prices for this build! Avoiding road bike prices is what drew me to these bikes in the first place.

Although I'd put a fake King headset on the bike, I wouldn't buy a Medium ring. I know it's hypocritical, but I am a big fan of Mathias and have been looking for an excuse to put in an order with him for a while.

While I wait for cables to arrive to get the Kona ridable, I'm starting to wonder if the complete set up is going to look a bit dull. Silver ALL over? Maybe a silver frame is a dangerous option, should I have painted it a more interesting colour that could be accented across the build? Do I need to add colours elsewhere to break it up? My Giant looks great, and I think it's a great bike that hasn't taken a lot of consideration, built with practicality and fun in mind. It worries me that this Kona is taking too much consideration, and will end up a little disappointing.

I'm thinking I could go for a black cockpit and seatpost, with blue accents elsewhere. Anyone care to throw in their opinion?

1 Attachment

Nice work on the frame.
I get where you're coming from about the silver, black stem n seat post would work I think.
Are you really using gripshift?

Gripshift is absolutely not staying, I hate it! In negotiations on FB about some cheap 10spd XT bits, but would take anything as an alternative at the moment. Here it is with some black bits, I think it could look good.

1 Attachment

Phew!!
Yep, black bits work.

Nothing wrong with the silver it looks great. I agree to adding a bit of anodised blue.

Did you Photoshop in that single chainring?!

Go all out, blue ano all over the shop. You don’t have a choice.

Do not go blue ano all over the shop, you always have a choice.
Just say no!

I like the mix of silver and black parts as well.

to me the silver bits looks 1990s & the black bits looks 2000s ... I like both, but if it were me I'd probably go with the black bits...

Silver seatpost + black stem for me!

I photoshopped the chainring, it was actually much easier than buying a chainring and removing the existing two. I think I’ll finish this build digitally, and then mint it as an NFT to recuperate some of my outgoings.

@jontea thankfully we had a group of actors come into out secondary school to talk about the dangers of “blue ano all over the shop”. I think I will resist in this case.

@ibob this is a 90s bike but living in the 21st century. I think black parts will look great. I’m looking at some 11spd components which will be black too, so it makes sense to me.

I think I’ll finish this build digitally, and then mint it as an NFT to recuperate some of my outgoings

Makes sense to be honest, who's got time for actual riding