Kinesis from the flames

mattbarnes
mattbarnes Posts: 295
edited January 2014 in Your road bikes
I'm a Mountain Biker at heart but quite fancied a road bike to vary my riding a little. So, with a very limited budget and a promise to myself that I would casually build up a bike in time for the summer of 2014, it began.
First thing on the list were the frame and forks where I managed to source a rather tired looking Kinesis Racelight number.
p4pb10467181.jpg

It had clearly seen a bit of action and the paintwork was looking a little worse for wear so the long and laborious task of stripping the old girl began. Cue the nitormors, wire wool and elbow grease.
p4pb10467183.jpg

I soon got tried of scraping, sanding and swearing at it so it then went to my local metal specialists of choice, 'BettaBlast' near Newcastle where she was then treated to an acid dip. Once back home the second laborious task of polishing began whilst quietly amassing parts for the build.
Each part was sourced from eBay and online forums (my LBS is neither local - its 40 miles away - nor competitive in price) in order to stick with my budget ethos and the closer I got to getting everything I needed I found myself wanting to get her finished so bought more gear and within days of 2014 starting, she's finished. Yeah, I finished it 6 months earlier than intended but the way I see it, that's six months I now have to upgrade the wheels, forks, bars, etc,etc,etc.
I appreciate its no top-end Cervelo or Pinarello, but it set me back 1/10th the cost of carbon superbike to build and for what I'm going to use it for, I'm more than happy with it. For the moment.
p4pb10467124.jpg
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Society is like a stew. You have to stir things up now and again otherwise the scum will rise to the top.

Comments

  • Markjaspi
    Markjaspi Posts: 729
    I like it, I recently did it the other way round and have refurbished a friend's mountain bike he gave me, all for under the price of my road bikes seat post.

    Nice build my friend.
    Cipollini Bond
    Pinarello GAN
  • canny_lad
    canny_lad Posts: 329
    Looks superb, fair play to you.
  • Paul 8v
    Paul 8v Posts: 5,458
    That looks really good, how did you polish it?
    Road
    MTB
    NEW Cross
    Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
  • beetle1
    beetle1 Posts: 189
    Well done mate you have done a cracking job
  • mattbarnes
    mattbarnes Posts: 295
    Thanks for the comments.
    As for the frame finish, it involved an acid dip to strip the paint off it and then a bit of manual labour with some Alu Belgom and rags. It's surprisingly easy once the paint is off and the acid dip only cost about a tenner.
    Society is like a stew. You have to stir things up now and again otherwise the scum will rise to the top.
  • Brant
    Brant Posts: 41
    Sweet, reminds me a bit of a Van Nich. Must be a pain for fingerprints, enjoy!
  • mattbarnes
    mattbarnes Posts: 295
    Brant wrote:
    Sweet, reminds me a bit of a Van Nich. Must be a pain for fingerprints, enjoy!

    Ha ha! It's strictly handled by the stem and seat post only for that very reason!
    Society is like a stew. You have to stir things up now and again otherwise the scum will rise to the top.
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    Mate, you have done a great job on that. Looks really nice.
  • turnerjohn
    turnerjohn Posts: 1,069
    man that loks ace top work !

    one thing tho keep an eye on the polish finish as it will dull in time and need a buff up ...and kept an eye out for oxidiation of the alloy if not kept buffed up
  • xcMuttley
    xcMuttley Posts: 434
    This looks awesome! Love the polished look. Now go enjoy it!
    Check out my blog for my views and reviews: http://memylifeandmybike.blogspot.co.uk/
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Lovely job. :)
  • explosifpete
    explosifpete Posts: 1,327
    As I scrolled down on your post i thought "oh no ist gonna look rubbish" when you said about the paint stripping, but it looks so good :D everything looks good.

    Nitromors has become so weak compared to what it used to be, blinking health and safety
    http://www.iwaxstudio.co.uk/
  • mattbarnes
    mattbarnes Posts: 295
    explosifpete wrote:

    Nitromors has become so weak compared to what it used to be, blinking health and safety

    Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There came a point where it no longer became useful, hence the acid bath. To be honest, I think my own stomach acid would have been more useful than the Nitromors...

    Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone.
    Society is like a stew. You have to stir things up now and again otherwise the scum will rise to the top.

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