spynage

Hi all.

I'm new to this forum and new to biking in the new millenium. Please correct me if i make any gaffs as I'm sure I will, bike related not grammatical!

Below is a picture of a secondhand Klein Attitude Comp I picked up mainly for it's ally frame. I plan on stripping all the paint off and giving it a polish. I'm then going to fit some whitewalls on the wheels and then fit a brown leather seat and grips. Bear in mind I've already removed some of the paint in this shot otherwise the bike is in very good order, mechanically.

10 Wheels

Welcome to Bike Forums

Appears your having fun.
Post some pics when you get it done.

spynage

Here it is a week later. I simply used nitromoors to strip the paint. Took me about 8 hours in total to remove all the paint, catching an hour here or there between meals and other evening stuff

spynage

Thanks very much 10wheels. It's looking promising.

spynage

Here's the frame devoid of all paint and polished. Once all the paint was off I only used wire wool to get a nice shine up. I may still use a liquid polish like T Cut for a final polish. Does anyone know about maintaining a bare ally frame or do I need to laquer it to stop it tarnishing?
Looks good otherwise, although I was disapointed to discover a few dents on the crossbar which show up fairly conspicuously on a reflective surface, suppose it's to be expected on a secondhand MTB frame.

LesterOfPuppets

Sounds like a good use for a MTB with a dinged toptube. Here's a pic of my MTB to cruiser conversion, a much less involved 20-minute solution:

LesterOfPuppets

Wow, that's really looking nice with the shine! As to keeping the finish nice, I'd probably just wax it with car wax once a year or so, depending on conditions where it's stored.

Or perhaps you or someone you know has some of this for taking care of fancy car wheels.

javaride

I have a project I'm currently workin' on, a $5.94 bike I picked up!! All the components were pretty oxidized, so I got the wild hair to remove them, disasemble them, (every nut, bolt, screw, etc, even took apart the derailleurs and all!), and use my Dremel tool to polish every tiny crevise on every part. WOW!! talk about a labor of love . . . Anyway, the Dremel, a polishing wheel, and some polish, (I like "Blue Magic" aluminum wheel polish, awesome stuff!), put a better than new, "Bling-Bling" shine on everything! You're frame looks good, but from where you have it now, since it's large enough to actually do by hand, without the tiny dremel, I'd bet an hour or two with some polish and a rag would step it up to a real mirror finish!! As for what to do after that I'm not sure, but I know I used that polish on the wheels on my semi, took them from rags to riches and leaves a protective coating on that last quite awhile, taking alot more environmental abuse than any bike should. Should you decide to polish it up, post some pics, but I'm telling you now, better have a warning label, they might be a little blinding!!

spynage

Yeah I wasn't expecting such a finish which is basically chrome. Here it is 90% polished after an application of Tcut. I still have one last high gloss resin polish which might offer it some protection. I'll be watching it pretty carefully for the next week to look for signs of tarnish. If it dulls in that time then it's out with the laquer!
I've also found time today to buy some new pedals £12quid, or $20 usd and spray the pedal cranks and handlebar with gloss black. Tomorrow they'll be wet and dried to flatten the paint and then I'll give them another coat. I'll also be ordering the tyres, Kenda 130 white walls that are bit thin on the ground round here but hopefully I'll have them by Thur.

Love those handlebars LesterOfPuppets. I'm just using the same old stock handlebars but with a lick of paint. Not sure how much of a cruiser bike this is going to be actually. Maybe a hybrid is a more accurate definition.

Hey javaride. That sounds great 5.95 for a bike is a deal! It's scrap value is probably higher than that! Love to see some pictures. Maybe we can get a little who's got the shiniest frame competition going?

Here's an updated picture. A bit more shiny than before.

javaride

Shiny frame competition would be cool, but I'm not doin the frame, just the components, although it'd probably take less time to do the frame than it has just to do the rear derailleur, extremely tedious!!!! to do all those small parts nooks and crannies!! Besides, the infamous $5.94 bicycle came as a sorta cool, light teal metallic color that I think will be way cool when cleaned up with the "Bling-Bling" parts and, maybe a Brooks Honey Brown with some brown handlebar tape, maybe leather?? Will post some picks when done, but it may be awhile. I've been way buisy and it's way time consuming, and unfortunately, not very high on the priority list at the moment. Definetly looking forward to seeing your finished . . . whatever you make it!! Almost forgot, here's a link to a coupe pix of my crappy old ten speed that I'm lovingly caring for . . . https://oldtenspeedgallery.com/owner-...r-suncrest-ii/

spynage

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates. I've been spending time on the bike but got hugely stalled by when trying to source some white MTB/Cruiser tyres. First I tried to get hold of some white/wall schwalbe tyres. Non existed to fit 26" rims that I could find. Then after hunting around for some kendras I gave up when I discovered the w/w electra knobbly's. Had my heart set on a pair but absolutely non in stock in the whole of the UK. Found a pair on a german website, beachcruiser.com but after ordering and not receiving they let me know they too were out of stock. Anyway they suggested a set of would you believe w/w schwalbe returners! Should of tried harder the first time i suppose. Anyway they've arrived and will be fitted over the weekend. Sorry for leaving the thread hanging on a cliff edge. Pics posted soon.
javaride. The frames holding up pretty well. It's been outside the last couple of months with negligable tarnish although it will need a buff up, no need for laquer. How's your project coming along?

S

javaride

Hey spynage!!

Wish I could tell you it's done!! Or even moving right along!! But the sad truth is . . . sometimes life just gets in the way!!! I have finished a couple others, one purchased to flip, and one out of my own storage I've had for about 15 years collecting dust! (sad to let an old Trek sit like that, probably illegal some places!!) However I've gotta tell ya' . . . love the white-walls!! Thats what I just built the flip with, along with white cable housing and white simulated cork bar grip. What an awesome look! Just changed jobs however so hopefully I'll have more free time to devote to the tedious task of polishing small parts again. I can still see it in my head and while it doesn't seem like it now, I'm sure the finished bike will be way cool . . . with white-walls of course!!

spynage

Ok, here we go the finished article. Not sure if you'd call this a hybrid but I'm pretty pleased with the results. Basically it look like a new bike. Let me know what you think

javaride

That is one sweet lookin' ride!! Nice job Spynage!!!

CyciumX

don't know it qualifies as a cruiser... but it does as just a damn good lookin ride!

NormanF

You'd need fat tires... like Big Apples/Fat Franks and I'd swap out the bars for English North Roads or traditional cruiser-style bars. Then you've built yourself a poor man's Retrovelo at a fraction of the cost!







A real world Retrovelo costs at least $2000. I've modified my Gary Fisher Klunker to take Fat Frank tires and follow the
styling cues of a cafe racer rather than a traditional MTB. Its a fun bike!

NormanF

A Ponyvelo.... with a cool eye-popping design. Talk about bike porn!

NormanF

I dig this one speed wonder:



And Joe Breeze showed us all what a Retrovelo could do on California's famous Repack course:





That's the ticket baby! Ride hard!

spynage

Thanks for the kind comments. i've recieved a few compliments over the last week which has been nice. Love the cruisers NormanF. Now the bike is finished I may start getting some more ideas. Are they all retrovelos? I notice they have exactly the same frames and forks. I've been thinking about mudguards but not sure if they would suit it in it's present form. First thing I'd like to do is swap the seat with matching grips for a Brooks honey coloured Swift model. And I've got to get a set of electra city pedals! Otherwise I'm going to ride it about some more and see what else is out there. Got to do something about that seat though!