I want to ride a bi-cycle
Today I have a project that J worked on during the summer. He has such great vision and can visualise the end results so well {if he wasn't on my team I'd be a little bit jealous} He has always wanted an old style classic bike but wasn't prepared to pay the crazy prices. So after getting the frame for free he set about transforming a two cog mountain bike into a single cog "Cooper" inspired bicycle.
First job was to strip it down and clean it up. He used Goo Gone to clear off the old stickers and CLR Metal Clear. He put a lot of elbow grease into cleaning it knowing that once the spraying was done that any blemishes would show up. He used Tremclad in flat black to spray the frame. I won a $25 Home Depot at The Makers Giveaway a few weeks back so we used that for the provisions.
As you can see from the bottom right picture he used a broom through the cog section to suspend the frame while spraying which made things a little easier to maneuver. Most of the work on the bike was done on his brothers balcony so he made sure to cover everything really well before spraying hence all the blue tape.
The frame was left to dry over night and given a touch up the following day. A very nice guy in the bike shop showed the boys how to make the double cog into a single cog saving about $60 in the process. Once the frame was dry J put the updated cog, wheels and and a new chain on the bike before moving on the handlebars.
The handlebars that came on the bike are racer bars, not the ones that will stay on the bike. He wants something higher but as summer was coming to an end he decided to stick with what he had for know and update them next year. He removed the old stuff off the bars, wrapped them in black insulating tape and then topped it off with wraps.
We lucked out on our trip to the bike shop and came across a second hand Brooks saddle. Brand new Brooks saddles can cost anything from $100 upwards. So when we saw it for $40 I convinced him he had to have it. Isn't she pretty?? Oh and the cute little bell was $10. Couldn't leave that behind either.
For reference purposes a bike similar to this in a store on Spadina Avenue cost $800. He did pretty well for about $80 in total.
Here he is looking proud as punch heading off on her maiden voyage.
If you missed J's other creations check out the dining room and coffee table's he made for me out of reclaimed oak flooring. He's handy to have round I tell you, I might have to keep him :-)
Michelle xxx
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