my friend, Mal, reached out to me about finding a new bike for her. the one she’s had for the past few years is an old clunker. heavy steal, pretty banged up and rusty, and can’t adjust the seat because its so rusted, it might as well have been welded on. my eyes are peeled for something new.
i just recently upgraded to a new bike and came to the idea that maybe Mal would want to take my old one? she’s about my height, maybe a little taller, so i know this frame will work for her. also, she’s rode it around before for fun. i reached out to her about the idea, and she was in! we talked about making it a single speed, switching to drop bars with front and rear brakes, and painting whatever color and/or colors she wanted. just something to get her around richmond, not intended for any bike-packing adventures.
i hop to it. stripping off all the parts from my old bike that won’t be needed and making a pile of parts that i’ll reuse. Mal brought her old bike over to the garage, and i stripped that too. everything but the seat post. i wasn’t going to try and pull that out. i’ll reuse her wheels pedals, and tires, since they are fairly new and in nice condition. as well as her crank set. really just needed a bit of cleaning, but all in good condition.
we start to talk about color. i recently got hip to the company spray.bike a spray paint company specializing in bike specific paints. i had not tried their products yet, but i thought this may be the perfect opportunity. Mal looked over their instagram page for some ideas, and came up with a color scheme. 3 colors. limehouse green, salmon lane red, and chicago yellow. we’re going to try and do some blending. i’m down! so we put in and order and wait about a week for the paints to arrive.
i’ll stop talking, here’s a photo story.
Mal’s old bike
Noah’s old bike (mostly stripped)
the paint job
decide on bar tape color
photo-op
this was really fun build! using the spray.bike paint was super easy, but also very stinky. i recommend wearing a mask and maybe doing it outside on a less windy day if you can. i had some difficulties getting her tires to fit in the rear because of little clearance, so i ended of grinding back the wheel well a bit to give the tire more room. we ended up ordering a new chain (not pictured). figured we throw a fresh one on there and have it fit a little better.
ready to rip!
disclosure. i am all self taught by trial and error when it comes to bike building and modding. youtube is my friend. i learn something new with every bike i ride and work on.
as long as you feel good riding and the wheels roll and the brakes stop. the rest is just fun!