So lo these many years I have admired the orange beauties on this forum, wondering
"oh when will I ever own an orange autumnal bike?" Then I took a good, hard look at my stable and realized my 90s Team Fuji was in need of a repaint. $250 later and she's been reborn as a Fuji Special Road Racer. Kind of a Faux-ji, since it was a Team Fuji frame. Why go with a lower-grade decal set? Easy; Velocals had 'em. And my past experience indicated Velocals is not quick to respond to special orders. Also, I really like the font and colors used with this 70s decal set, and it goes quite well with the new paint. So, enough of talk, talk is cheap.
The before:
[IMG]
Fuji...before pic by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
And the after:
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
Pics don't really do it justice; it's a gorgeous color. A light pearlescent orange with a 40s Harley D. cream white panel set. I read Velocals warnings about waiting 2 weeks to allow the paint to fully breathe, but I'm not a patient man when it's raining outside and I have a new bike build looming. Off to the shop; chase and face, install headset. Once I got home I cracked open a frosty mug of happy and thought "
I'll just install the fork," then "
I'll just do the one cool frame decal above the shifters. " You know the rest.
Tapped the existing rivet holes and used real srcews for the headbadge, just
feels better.
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
Compass SKF BB, every bit as durable as advertised. I have no idea how many hard, rainy Euro miles are on this one, but I hammered the hell out of it for the past 3 years and it still feels brand new.
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]
Faux-ji Special Road Racer by
Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]
So there it is, orangey-goodness with several parts installed. More to come as I prep her for the first return to the asphalt. The running gear was all sorted long ago; 7400 DA wheelset, Sachs-Huret Aris 7 speed drivetrain, 600 AX stem and post, nice kit but not stellar. Perfect for this build.
If you're in the DC area and looking for a shop to rebop your mid-range frame East Coast Refinishing in Manassas did this. It's not a top-shelf paint job, there's some tiny imperfections, but it's just the right quality for this frame and build. Nice folks too, and happy to do odd jobs like bike frames.