Raw Steel Project
Comments
-
frinkmakesyouthink wrote:Woah!
I have just bought a gold KMC chain and gold-lettered decals for my also raw-steel fillet-brazed 1950 Claud Butler. And I also have a honey Brooks saddle.
My bike lives in Yorkshire though so we're unlikely to run into each other!
Phew, my saddle's antique, it'll darken when I apply the proofhide so we just might be ok .
The missus has got an older honey team professional that looks lovely, I prefer it to mine. Her bike's nearly ready too actually and is looking very cool, an old steel celeste Bianchi with 8 speed Chorus g/s.
I pulled the trigger on the chain last night but I reckon it's too much. We'll see. :?
If you want me to let you know how I decorated my house or what colour and model my car is, give me a shout.
Get some pics up soon!0 -
Mine is also antique and proofided
0 -
So nearly there..
All got delayed as I decided to get some old-school shamalesque wheels built for it.
Just got to decide on stem length, cable it up and get the back wheel finished.
I'm gonna keep the planet x wheels too.
Got a sneaky pic from the bike shop today. Not too everyone's taste I'm sure but I'm getting, aesthetically, my ideal bike here so am very excited.
0 -
The gold chain got sent back btw.0
-
Finished pics in the first post now on the front page.0
-
That would look lovely painted."There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."0
-
... Elements of the future ... la la la ... and elements of the past... la la la
This bike is cooler than the Eels song!
Respect
0 -
Very, very nice, why are the drops on the tandem upside-down at the back?And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
05 Spesh Enduro Expert
05 Trek 1000 Custom build
Speedily Singular Thingy0 -
I've got no idea mate. 0
-
You're right, they didn't work - glad to see someone else has latched onto them quickly.
Nice build, you're gonna be able to ride through Hoxton with your head held high!!!
A0 -
Fantastic. Congratulations.0
-
Fantastic. Great work0
-
Gave the bike a clean today and am about to go for a ride with the other shoes on for the first time so here's a pic. I fixed the headbadge on too. No idea what Federal Cycle is but I liked the colour and the lion so on it went. Any info appreciated.
Having lots of fun going down hills on it must be the geo/straight fork or something but its like an arrow. Happy days. 8)
0 -
Hang on, has my bike been sto oh wait no.
Looks wonderful! I love the contrast between the unrefined (maybe that's not the right word) steel and the high-tech components. My slightly rusty raw bike has vintage parts in a similarly slightly-rusty condition, but if I had the money I'd try to accentuate this effect by building it with as much carbon as I could!
Mine is also finished so needs a thread.0 -
This is a stunning bike mate. Good work.0
-
-
Very nice indeed.... 8)Find your limits...and then exceed them frequently0
-
Cheers.
I have had quite a few over enthusiastic admirers. My friends neighbor was inspired to start cycling again, two friends are now stripping their frames and I had one guy at my local talk to me about it for almost the whole night.
I'm not gonna lie, it's nice when people take such interest in something I spent so much time obsessing over.
Unfortunately I'm gonna have to make some aesthetic compromises. I'm maxed out on the seatpost and I need another 10mm so thinking maybe of a Van Nic ti post.
Also, now that I'm taking it on longer rides, I'm finding the saddle too curved and limited in position. I like to shift around to different positions so when funds allow I'll order an Arione in antique to match the tape.
Been running the DA wheels for a few weeks now and they've removed any trace of buzz I was having through the bars, the bike feels much more planted too. Great wheels. The downside is that I've realised how soft the BB area is when compared to my carbon Cannondale. I guess that's the price you pay for having a really lightweight, thin walled steel frame. I don't notice it on hills so much (coping well enough with the 53/39) as you get into a rhythm but it's quite evident at the lights from a dead start. I still love it to bits.
I weighed it the other day and it came in comfortably under 8.5kg, which doesn't seem bad at all for having a steel fork and a Brooks saddle.0 -
Nice.
And <8.5kg is very impressive.
Just very, very nice.0 -
one word .... "Lush" !
Top work fella !0 -
Best bike build I've seen in ages, bar none.
I'm amazed that you can get an antique brown Arione. Please post a pic if you get one of these, I'd be interested to see.
Also, I like to move around a lot too. The Arione is the only saddle out there that lets you do this. Greater surface area just makes you feel way more supported.
Don't think it'll look as cool as the Brooks though, I have to say.
Good luck though.0 -
Well I popped into Condor to have a look at saddles. They do have a lot of fiziks. They had an antique aliante for £40 but it was the same shape as the swift. The told me I could order any colour from fizik but that they were closed for august. Will be quite a bit more than £40 too I reckon.
I bought a few brooks saddles and the swift was the best but 10-20 miles and it just starts to annoy the crap out of me. Shame cause as you say, the arione won't look as good.0 -
I have had a vision of doing exactly the same thing for a while for a winter bike albeit without the shiny DA bits. Now I just want to do it.
How long did it take to recondition the frameset? Was thinking about striping my full sus frame soon and it has a huge surface area compared to this frame.Up: Wilier Mortirolo
Down: Orange Patriot0 -
You can do it in an afternoon easy. It's not the surface area, it's the dropouts, bb area etc that take the time, corners basically.
There was a thread on the stripping in workshop, I'll
see if I can find it.0 -
I really love that bike. It's like a steampunk version of an all-chrome Alex Singer and gives me the same feeling of wistfulness and envy. It's not just a great bike, it's also a beautiful object in its own right. You've created a work of art.
Right, that's got the Brian Sewell impression out of the way. Have you seen Bologna bikes - basically, one bloke in Brooklyn who makes bikes to order? I like his frame finishes...
http://www.bolognabikes.com/Page_2.php
And if you ever start looking around at different saddles and bartape again, you could try Velo Orange - they're a bit like Rivendell, but they do their own range of leather saddles and bar-tape.
http://www.velo-orange.com/brookssaddles.html
http://www.velo-orange.com/volebartape.html0 -
Bologna Bikes:
I like them, Nicely f##ked up. The opposite end of the spectrum in terms of detailing to the OPs bike but just as appealing.
Aren't you glad that bikes don't all look the same?0 -
That just looks awesome.0
-
This was how it looked early this week. I sorted the bar angle out so the drops are level which is much better. The aero wheels have been out of action with 2 broken spokes thanks to someone who jumped out from the pavement without looking. So I've been using the da wheels for some time and recently strapped on some Veloflex masters. All very nice to ride.
The white tape and saddle are coming off soon as I got a swallow in antique which I'm getting on with so far on test rides and have antique tape to go on too.
The frame finish is holding up well. This has been my only bike since the end of last summer and has been out in all weathers. Frame hasn't changed since last year, no rust or discolouration beyond the initial reactions. The clear coating is absolutely hard as nails doesn't seem to chip or scratch at all.
Anyway, still loving the bike, it'll be in the family 'til death do us part.
0 -
Bit of an update.
New wheels, saddle and tape.
Reynolds attacks, Veloflex master tyres, Brooks Swallow Ti and antique microtex. I've also got an r700 compact chainset on there ATM as I'm training to traverse France this summer and quite frankly need the gears. Really wish I could find a prettier looking compact. Thinking about getting one anodised to look the same as the 7800 set that normally resides on this frame.
Gonna try some dual pivot 7400 da brakes as it got a bit sketchy round the Surrey hills at the weekend on singles.
The attacks have a cool looking bronze colour to them that likely doesn't show in the pictures. Was gonna sell them but think they're looking good so keeps it is.
0 -
Hi
This is my first attempt at contacting someone on here so I hope this is right.
I’d like to send you a photo of my bike as I also went for a lacquer on raw steel finish. It looks fantastic and how funny we have similar comments too. Oh!! Almost forgot, mine is also a Mark Reilly build, in Brighton.
How can I send you a photo on here? And do you still yours with a lacquer finish?
Hoping to hear from you.0
