who needs paint anyway. (updated with pics)

sparky.2002

Apologies for this not being a mountain bike. After some nice person stole my giant escape m2 I had to get a replacement for as cheap as possible. Got this giant escape m0 off eBay for £123




as you can see, it looks a bitcrap.

Few hours graft later


Converted to 1x9
BBG bashguard + deda dog fang with an added bit of metal.
Use maxxis detonators and rigid fork in winter.
and maxxis Ignitors and a tora in the summer.

avid juicyy 3's

deore 9spd shifter and derailleur
Sram gears

originally bought the M2 on the back of this Escape M2 review

commuter



mtb mike


pity they dont stay like that!!




vinyl wrapped lowers


resurrected for ... forget that, i'm an idiot!!

sparky.2002

Will tidy links when I get to a. Pc. This phone is nuts

VWsurfbum

what did you use to get all the paint off? then polished it with what?

sparky.2002

Was a right ball ache. Think it was powder coated as opposed to painted. Nitromors wouldn't touch it. Had a go with an abrasive wheel on drill but it scratched the surface too much. Ended up using a heat gun and penknife to peel the powder coat off. Then sanded it with 240, 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1500 and finally 2000 grit wet and dry. Then used a coloured polishing mop and brown compound followed by a white loose mop with pink compound to get the 'mirror' finish. Now keep the polish bright with belgom alu. In hindsight I should've got it blasted but there you go.

Did it all at night outside so the finish could be improved in places. That's a summer job!!

Not spending loads on it. Not after having shed broke into. However I think a carbon. Bar, stem and seatpost would set it off along with black spokes. Hmmm.

getonyourbike

looking lovely, nice idea

sparky.2002

Thank-you. Looks loads better in the flesh. Gonna weigh it tomorrow-wot a saddo haha. No point in spending loads of money on lightweight components - I've put half a stone on since the m2 got nicked.

sparky.2002

2 501b xpgs..


Shiny fork



1x9



Polished cassette



From the rear

VWsurfbum

dare i ask how many man hours it took?

sparky.2002

Took about 3weeks, hour or 2 at night after work. It was getting the powder coat off that took all the time.
Glad to be back riding again. Was well gutted when my bike got nicked.

sparky.2002

just bought this off ebay.

Want to start riding offroad again when ground dries up a bit (late march

In the mean time - i think ill get rid of that blue paint (please dont be powder coat!!)

Anonymous

quick test shows the fork is NOT paint stripper proof - thank god.



get to work paint stripper - this iis going to be a doddle compared to the frame




stripped and ready to be sanded

FYI 'Premier paint stripper' from jacksons building centres does in 10 minutes what 'nitromors' does in an hour - unfortunately i ran out of the good stuff and had to use nitromors.

Looks like this sanding job is going to be a bigger job than i thought- there are some quite obvious casting marks in the fork that will need sanding out and you can see that the fork lowers are made up from two halfs welded together about halfway up.

lemoncurd

Reminds me of a late 90's Marin Indian Fire Trail, very cool.

sparky.2002

had some woman knocking on bay window at 10 past midnight looking for the jaundice coloured smackhead nextdoor. Always had a gut feeling that the censored took the M2.

Ne way, fell asleep on settee - only to be woken at 2.45am by same woman. She's obviously pee'd off that she cant score so decides to tell me that its the censored next door whos took me bike. shes given me her name and address and the name and address of the person who now has the bike. tried sleeping - cant wound up so i phoned police (NOT 999) felt incedibly guilty for bothering them in middle of night but they did say they would go round early doors today.

had to let off some steam - i'm livid

sheepsteeth

good luck, hope the bike comes back to you.

getonyourbike

me too

sparky.2002

Thanks lads. Regretting reporting it now. Not heard anything and I bet its been shifted now. Spoke to another neighbour who has offered help recovering it

sparky.2002

been busy today

rubbed down with 240 grit wet&dry (dry)

600 (dry)

800 (wet)

1200 (wet)

1500 (wet)

2000 (wet)

coloured stitched polishing mop with brown compund


white unstitched mop with green compund

just need to finish off with some ultra fine red compound now and then a final finish with the belgom alu.

sparky.2002

went out this morning with my newly fitted rockshox 318 solo air. felt fantastic ( apart from the temperature!!)

ilovedirt

wow, those lowers look great, must have taken you quite a while to do!

Thunder1

Nice work you have done there 8)

hope you get your old bike back

sparky.2002

those lowers are a cockup!!
magnesium just doesnt hold its shine like aluminium does - they turn white.
looks like they'll be getting a repolish with belgom alu every couple of weeks.[/quote]

nomako_man

the white is corrosion....magnesium needs protection....try clearcoat lacquer

sparky.2002

gave it a bit of a clean, added chain stay protector, swapped pedals for shimano m520's
greased headset, removed spoke reflectors and the random plastic thing that sits behind the cassette.

todo:

remove deda dog fang and fit an inner bash (chain ring sandwich)
may need to replace bottom bracket

joshtp

those lowers look the mutts nuts!

joshtp

oh yeah... and get some lacquer on them asap! (after a polish, Obv)

sparky.2002

Lowers are a lost cause. Fairly sure lacquering polished metal doesn't work. Think I'll get them powder coated black.

sparky.2002

Lowers are a lost cause. Fairly sure lacquering polished metal doesn't work. Think I'll get them powder coated black.

Avanti Roman

Cool - very similar to the 1x9 I built up for my girlfriend:





Used a similar process to strip the Trek 8000 frame and superlight Manitou Mars C forks. Other features include cyclo cross chainset running a single 36t chainring, BBB fibrelite carbon bar.

Nothing else exotic or pricey just light and some 2nd hand: XT mech & cassette, LX V's & hubs, Deore shifter.

Weighs just over 21lb and flies.

sparky.2002

V good. Would like an xt mech myself.

chrisjnr19

more picsss pleassse!!
looking good btw, and looks like its been hard work :P

sparky.2002

got rid of the deda dog fang plus random metal bracket.
fitted bashguard on inside to create a chain ring sandwich.

just tested on a 17 mile run - works brilliantly.

loving the 1x9.