Gideon's bike life - Genesis, Graham Weigh, Cinelli, Land Shark & Ritchey

Yeah, you're completely right, I should definitely look at other options. Just need to seek out some inspiration! I've never picked a paint job for a bike as all mine are second hand & I wasn't that fussed about that part of it. Maybe I'll print out some outlines of the frame & go to town with some crayons & see what works, aha.

Fully stripped down the frame now. It's remarkable how heavy the original forks are - the carbon forks I got used to using (plus headset) weighed less than half the weight of these! I do like the matching look though.

Pinged an email off to Bob Jackson too. Hoping to take the frame across (can probably see Bob Jackson's workshop from our front bedroom window, being just over the valley) & get any issues sorted, can decide on the paint style later.

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Personally like the original paint design. It has something timeless about it like some of the Panasonic designs but the fade transitions could definitely be improved. I'll be hoping you stick with a white base and O.G graphics!

Aha.. and here I thought the original paint job was a bit of a snooze.
I agree with @jono84 that a rewamp of the original paint job would be an interesting idea!

Have you considered getting something done by Jack?

A few people have mentioned him. His stuff is really nice, but probably a bit pricey. Do you know if he operates under a name, or worth just pinging him a message on IG?

Definitely need to get it stripped & sort out the issues first though. Bob Jackson seemed hesitant to do that before I made my mind up on a paint job. @MisterMikkel & @jono84, quite like the of a reimagining of the current paint scheme!

Donohue is on the backburner at the moment. The weather is minging & there's little reason to believe we'll ever had a dry day between now & spring, so there's no rush.

Last weekend was the first dry weekend in ages however, & managed to get out twice. First on a freezing fifty mile roll over to Tadcaster for pizza on the Graham Weigh. So so cold. With the flat, you never need to push hard really, so didn't feel like I ever warmed up properly.

On Sunday I went out with a friend to explore some new trails in Airedale. Found a lovely set of woods above Keighley, a lane with some of the deepest puddles I've ever ridden through near Silsden, & a great long techy bit above Skipton. Shame we had to cut the ride short because my friend's rear brake calliper gave up. Relatively new setup & a similar issue to what happened to my front brake months ago. Unfortunate.

On that note, with putting my SRAM Rival HRD groupset on a frame for my girlfriend & taking it to her bike shop, they claim to have already fixed the issue with the front brake. If that's the case, I'd be very annoyed with Woodrup, whose workshop twice did not manage to resolve the issue I had. Apparently it was bled poorly with lots of air in the system. I guess a postmortem several months later might not be completely accurate though, time will tell when she starts riding it.

In other news, replaced the chain on the MASH the other day & rode it to work. Curiously, replacing the chain has unleashed the unholiest of creaks in the BB. Almost embarrassing to push down as it's seriously loud. I've known that the bottom bracket has been due a replacement for a while, & have a spare lying around, just didn't want to do it during the winter months. Wonder how replacing the chain has caused it to become so loud all of a sudden. Wasn't like the chain was overtensioned.

Anyway, left my lunch at home, so I'm going to have to ride the MASH back at lunch time to grab it. Creaky times ahead.

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Check your chainring bolts.

Sounds to me like air is getting in the system somehow (like I said previously) time will tell I guess.

Just put it in the bin and buy GRX.

Tightened recently!

I'm not a fan of SRAM, but @Tor likes it, so persist we will.

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Almost certainly a Marmite thing, but I dig it.

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Lots of long stuff going on there. I dig it as well tho.

Love it.

Ha, cheers, @vp1337 & @cheekysnaker, wasn't so popular with my friends on Sunday's social ride! Though judging by the comments on IG, it's about an even split. I like it anyway.

In my (colour deficient eyes), it's an aqua-y, green-y blue to me, & a throwback to Michelin CX tubs. For a technically a cyclocross frame, I think it kind of works.

Works for me, looking good!

New wheels for the MASH. Some American Classics which came up on here. Bike looks pretty fast now!

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Current project - getting the tories out.

I know it's the hope that kills you, but we've got to try.

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Apparently there's someone living in a tent next to the polling station in Burley Park. I can't think of a better advert for voting against Tory austerity.

(not that many people are voting conservative in Leeds West)

Horrible. A friend's polling station somewhere in north Leeds is also a food bank.

I went to a hustings last week in Bramley & there were a lot of brexity types actively booing Labour & cheering the tory guy. Nowhere near as much cheering as the Labour candidate got though, but she's pretty safe - Rachel Reeves has been in for nine years now.

Only got one more ride planned this year really, other than commutes, so here's this year's heatmaps (generated using Jonathan O Keeffe's great tool).

Pretty good year of riding, coming in at about ~7,800 miles with ~500,000ft climbing at the moment. Plenty around Leeds as usual, plus a few extras:

• Riding up to Dirty Reiver.
  
• Riding around Mallorca on holiday.
  
• Riding from Paris to Madrid for charity.
  
• Riding down to see family in Norfolk.
  
• Riding the Dunwich Dynamo & then over to see more family.
  
• Attempting the Second City Divide (bailed due to weather).
  
  

One regret would be not doing more bikepacking this year. It's been harder with my girlfriend now working weekends on occasion, & the weather has been absolutely awful this autumn. Hoping to rectify that next year.

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Was up near Penrith with friends for seeing in the New Year, & got out for a ride on New Years Eve before celebrations began - ending the year on a high (est paved road in the UK) up Great Dun Fell.

Was a pretty slow climb due to patches not getting daylight yet & being covered in ice. Couldn't get out of the saddle on the steepest bit for the wheel slipping! Worth the stress factor for the cracking views at the top. Much clearer than last time I was up there.

Also popped a bit further north & did Hartside pass. Quite alpine, & with a tailwind, so was lovely. Beautiful views on the descent with the sun setting behind the Lakes & views up to Dumfries & Galloway.

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what a scenery!

I really need to get on with getting the Donohue sorted out, & before I can do that I need to decide on the paint. Been looking at the colours Bob Jackson does & there's a decent range of ones available. Can't decide on a fade or not (not entirely sure what is feasible by them to be honest) or single colour. Being colour blind doesn't make the process of choosing any easier!

Anyway, sorted out the logos through lots of image manipulation. Can use these SVGs to print out some logos I can ask Bob Jackson to put on before the clearcoat. Current idea is full white on the background, though that might look a bit too modern.

Current messy mockup is attached, on 'metallic verde lago'.

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In terms of what’s feasible, they can literally do anything.

Emailed them about that & they confirmed. Does anyone know if there's a thread anywhere for bike paint inspiration?