The AlOpen UpDown (another attempt at wasting money on Dickpreciation?)

I bought a TCX earlier in the year on an impulse, not really holding out much hope for something
A) so cheap
B) so ugly

How wrong i was.

Currently working out in maidenhead, having my weeknight riding culled right at the peak of summer/fitness and trying to do anything to avoid a 2h commute by 3 different methods of public transport I sought a bit of a beater/do anything bike i could happily ride over anything and get some miles in on.

Built up the TCX, commuted over 500kms in a mere couple of weeks (some 120km/day commuting, some train out and then 60/70/80km back)

It first looked like this:

It was a shit-ton of fun and pretty good over both gravel and road, however it made me miss a few things that I had on the Open:

• Comfort
  
• Looks
  
• Hydraulic Brakes
  
  

So obviously, despite the fact it was running sweet and doing everything i wanted of it and more, I decided to strip it down, sell everything but the frame and the wheels, and start again.

First things first was to address the awful colour/decal scheme on the frame/forks.

I did initially plan to give the job to a pro, but i wanted to try and keep the cost as low as possible and ultimately not create something/have something created for me that i didn't want to ride.
I also liked the idea of trying out the Spray.Bike stuff id heard a bit about and always like getting my hands dirty.

After causing myself 2am brompton related concussion i was advised to take a few weeks off the bike: that was the decider.

Went and bought 2 cans of 'London-Blackfriars' and 2 cans of the translucent finish from BLB for a princely sum of £30ish and on the way home popped in to Leyland SDM for some wet & dry sandpaper and wide masking tape - another £15 or so.

Sanded the frame down with the wet and dry, clearly only really keying the top/clear coat surface - from what i was led to believe the Spray.Bike doesn't even need a keyed surface, but from the little i know about painting anything its generally a pretty good idea to at least try and prep it in some way.

It also helped smooth out some of the scratches and chips in the original paint although really i wasn't too bothered about a perfect finish, more a good all over black colour that was as resistant as a home paint job can be.

Gave the frame and fork a little weight after removing the BB

Not Light.....

Then masked off the bits i didn't want paint in and filled all the bolt/screw holes with old bottle cage bolts etc.

Also came to the realisation that i was going to have to hold the frame while it was being sprayed so put the seatpost back in, masked it and the clamp.

I did all the spraying outside on the jetties down by the canal as i didn't really want to gas my apartment and overspray all over the place.

Set the frame up to dry in the spare room after having hoovered and micrifibre mopped it to stop any stay bits blowing up and sticking in the paint.

And there it sat for 2 weeks until i started to piece it back together

Today was the first time I've had a chance to start thinking about playing with it again, but I've been doing some #buying over the last few weeks to get it on the road.....

Currently looks like this:

Plans are:

• ChOpen Full Carbon Thru Axle Fork
  
• SRAM Red/Force 22 HyrdoR
  
• New Wheel Build
  
• .........?
  
  

Looks good man

just hope all the paint doesn't turn purple or fall off first time it gets mucky and i have to wash it !!!

Then you get a sweet powder coat for £90.

haha - yeah - and curse myself for not having just done that in the first place!

Black on black normally stays pretty for a good amount of time

Buy this. ObVs. https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/324552/#comment14376261

Will see how the ChOpen fork looks/feels/rides when it arrives as it cost me 0.125 of the price of that 🤭

BUT - that’s certainly an option!

How did you end up with just the fork?!

Dropped you a whatsapp

Manc powder coat will cost you less than half that too

But a train ticket is that on its own 😂

I figured you'd be up nearby at some point! Bike is looking good though, shouldn't have been surprised that it was basically black, but somehow was

What 'brand' is the china fork? Does the forum have a trusted brand for non wheel stuff?

Not sure @Turkish - the description says “OEM” carbon fork and it looks surprisingly similar to a few out there in the marketplace priced at 10x the amount.

Part of getting this build thread started was also to share my opinion/experience of some hugely cheap items I’ve managed to order for this build, and to review them in use aswell.

This is basically going to (hopefully) be the antithesis of the Open when it comes to a “money no object” build where I achieve a similar outcome for about a 1/6th of the cost.

Maybe even less.

Linky?

Nice paint work Dick. Looks like a BMC or Canyon at quick glance, not sure if that was the aim :)

#backhandedcomplement

not the intent :) looks great and inspiring thread.

Hah - it’s cool - I like Canyon/BMC!

Fingers crossed everything turns out as hopes, and Taiwanese postage is quick....