[cmatcan]

here is the beater i plan on turning into a fixie in the coming weeks. i bought this bike second-or-third-hand. it's an old concorde, with mostly 105. i bought this as my first road bike a few years back at age 15 because i wanted to make sure i was into the thin tires before adding a roadbike to my stable of rides. well, i was, and a serious road bike quickly followed. we all know how that goes.
now i use 'goldy' as my winter-commuter. the horizaontal drop-outs tell me she'd be an ideal fixie candidate. pity 'bout the downtube shifters, but oh well. here are some pics. with any luck 'after photos" will follow within the next 4-6 weeks. Happy Riding!

 

[Thommy]

Nice frame

I have a beautiful road bike with very similar lugs built out of Columbus SLX tubing that I love dearly. You have a very nice starting point. An affordable method would be to powder coat the frame or go all out and have her painted. Either way I love your frame. Ride strong.

 

[cmatcan]

yeah, mine is columbus tubing as well. believe it or not, the golden paint job blessing the bike currently is a result of my own hard work. in the pics of the crank, see the bright pink? THAT is the original color. so, i hurriedly sanded off the decals and painted the frame with spray-paint. anything was better than this brutal neon pink/white/neon green that was originally on this concorde frame. brutal.
i still have A LOT of thinking to do about color. i could go so many different directions.
-british racing green, brooks saddle, leather tape, chrome components.
-badass black, black/metallic components.
-some kinda sweet bright color with matching tire sidewalls/seat.
any ideas, people?
also, i'm hoping to do the new paintjob on my own. but do it right this time. i'd love to hear from people who have successfully spray-painted frames to good results. thanks!

 

[Dave_Stohler]

That frame has very short dropouts. Good luck-you'll need it! That and a half-link, most likely......

 

[cmatcan]

That frame has very short dropouts. Good luck-you'll need it! That and a half-link, most likely......

i think that pic makes the drops look smaller than they actually are since its cropped on the quick-release skewer. shouldn't really be a problem, i think theyre standard length as far as horizontal drops go. still a good candidate for a fixie conversion in my inexperienced mind-steel, *****in' welds, horizontal drops. i cant go wrong.

 

[cmatcan]

in all her snowy glory. (and with platform pedals due to super icy night-time pathways.

 

[bigrider]

If you are going to paint make sure you take off the shifter bosses, derr cable guide, rear brake guide, etc. I posted a diary a while back on my fixed gear makeover. It had some detail in it if you want to look it up.

Here it is

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=43668

 

[cmatcan]

thanks, good advice through and through. your thread (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=43668) is super helpful-i've bookmarked it. and congrats on a BEAUTIFUL build! i'll be thrilled if mine comes out half as nice. i'll get going on my build as soon as my new mtb ss gets in, so i will still have a good errand-running/commuting bike to use, and thus won't have to rush thorugh my fixie project. happy riding!

 

[cmatcan]

btw, we have in common the fact that both our frames used to be bright pink.....weird!!

 

[bigrider]

btw, we have in common the fact that both our frames used to be bright pink.....weird!!

I don't know if you have painted with a can much but I found there is a balance on how heavy you spray on the paint. If you go too thin the paint feels rough to the touch and if you go too thick the paint will run. Also, take the advice I got and put the bike away for a week or two after you paint before you build it up. It will give the paint a chance to harden.

 

[innergel]

Rattle can that bad boy

At worst case if you screw it up or you don't like it, you can always get a pro to do it. If it looks good, you've saved yourself some cash and learned a new skill and have a lot of pride for doing it yourself.

My steel frame I rattle canned turned out pretty good. Lots of coats and lots of wet sanding did the trick just fine. It's no Joe Bell special, but it's a $65 1970's Takara for goodness sake.

BR, your frame turned out great. Better looking than mine, I dare say. I would have loved to see those lugs outlined in gold to match the cutout fills. But that's just me. Me likey lined lugs.

I have a mid-80's steel Fiorelli in line to be worked on next.

 

[cmatcan]

thanks innergel, i'm definitely gonna rattle-can it. i just want the paint to last a while. anyone know anything about clear-coating you can do yourself after spray-painting? must be some kinda rattle-can clear coat i dare say, i just dont know much about that. also, what are the best kinds of paint to use? how should i prime it up? i dont have access to any torches or anything. wouldnt mind taking the time to sand. i did, after all, hand-sand (paper) off every single frame decal before painting it gold. damn that took a long time!

 

[Friction_Shifter]

thumbs high to your project cmatcan. please post after pics. i would say just ask bigrider any paint ?'s his project turned out sweet. my fixie project is on hold right now but the frame is gonna be an 87 ciocc columbus sl tubing.

 

[innergel]

You can get clear coat in a rattle can. I used Rustoleum for everything. Swing by your local Home Depot or Lowe's, etc. and they'll be plenty of selection. If you are feeling really adventurous you could go to an actual paint store like Sherwin Williams and see what they have to say about painting metal.

To prime, just sand down any rust areas and smooth the frame as much as possible. Shoot the primer over those areas you just sanded and you are good to go. I didn't even bother to strip the paint on my frame, but it was in pretty good shape to start with. Just some light surface rust.

Here are some pics of my frame. They are pretty dark, but you might get an idea of how it turned out.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=17486&highlight=takara

 

[Thommy]

Make your lugs standout

Personally I wouldn't cut off any braze-ons or shifter bosses incase you want to re-sell this to someone else down the road. Some "roadie" might coff up some cash for her later. But, it's your frame. As mentioned before the best way is to use a can of Aircraft stripper and some steel wool. After the paint is gone clean the crap out of the frame and wipe her down to remove any grease, oil or stripper residue from the frame. Prime and wet sand in between priming. About three light coats will be fine. Apply color and repeat the wet sanding. Mask off the lugs and paint those a different color to compliment the rest of the frame. Once you've finished with the final wet sanding you can clean the frame again to remove any oil from your hands. Go to a good arts and crafts supply store and pick up a fine line "paint pen" to go around the lugs with. This is very easy to do and looks great when you're done. After doing the lugs let her dry for a day. Go over the entire frame with a clear coat. Don't lay it on too heavy especially on the parts you used the paint pen on. Too heavy and it will cause the paint from the pen to run. While your applying the lug treatment you can easily clean up the mistakes with carnuba wax. Just be sure and clean off any wax on the frame prior to clear coating. Very easy and looks great.