What Up?

So the 29er is on the verge of going to paint. I built it up with the parts package and took her out for a short spin. There’s a few little quirks that are related to my parts selection, but nothing that can’t be resolved. I’m going to do some touch-up work on her fillets this weekend and ship her off for the first round of paint on Monday, where the white for the panels will be put on the downtube, stays, and back half of the top tube. I also get to pick up the paint masks on Monday, which are essential to the second step of the paint, which is the metallic black.

Right around then, I need to get back up to Princeton to finish building the fork I’ve been working on for James. It’s an interesting project, because we’re taking a frame that was build for 650b wheels and modifying it to take 700c. The frame will accommodate the larger wheel with a 35c tire — just barely. Since the new fork must accommodate a similar wheel/tire combo, it has to be designed with the frames tube angles and bottom bracket drop in-mind. The goal is to build a fork that leaves the bike stable and predictable. I’ve got the crown/steerer together and the blades raked. Next session, I’ll double-check against the blueprint and get the dropout sockets on it, along with the brazing of the fork/fender eyelets onto the dropouts.

After that, I need to get the chainstays into the commuter frame and start getting that sucker around to finished. It’ll likely be headed to Airglow in Georgia for its paint work — a white pearl finish with metallic red lug lining and downtube logo. And there’s a track pursuit frame in the queue to follow that.