Monday, March 28, 2011

Bye Bye Briggs, A Raw Deal on Donuts, and Curnoe Painting Underway

In an effort to make room for Greg Curnoe bike, I am saying goodbye to my friend Briggs. He is being passed on to another friend, Jared, who is fully equipped to appreciate his lovely yellow colour and bizarre England headbadge. I've fitted Briggs with a nice 1984 Shimano 600 group, but added indexed 7-speed shifting courtesy a silver RX100 derailleur, and used Tektro brake levers. The saddle is a Rolls.

I got the following in the mail today:
These are cable donuts for Greg Curnoe Bike's exposed top tube cable housing. Obviously I needed these, and did what it took to get them. Bless "Hudz" for making them, but curse them for only making them in packs of 30 or 250. (Curse Hudz also, incidentally, for their stupid name). I had to order this pack of 8 from an eBay seller in England. The total cost was about $10, which is absolutely shameful. I could buy ten actual Tim Horton's donuts for that. (But even Tim's doesn't make donuts in red; and real donuts on the top tube would be messy, and conducive neither to good braking nor to fitness. Alas.)

I heard from Noah today that painting of Greg Curnoe Bike is underway. The fenders are orange and the frame is primed and sanded. Next comes the yellow, then the green, then the red logos. (Then comes love, then comes marriage.) Here is my latest sketch, incorporating the overpriced donuts incarnadine:

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bikes vs. Books

The books have been winning, my friends. I'm in the period of final revisions on my thesis, and also trying to figure out what I'll be doing next year, and so have been out of the framebuilding shop for the last two months. In that time, dear Greg Curnoe bike has been patiently waiting for me to match Noah's paint-book to the original Curnoe print. That will happen tonight, I'm happy to say.

In the meantime, here is the colour-scheme sketch I'll give Noah tonight. (I can't wait to see the finished product!!)