Got a bargain priced frame set recently and thought to make a good but cheap rider using the last of my spare parts. It had been poorly re-painted, so I was going to remove the old paint, then do a "rattle can" special. Frame was I.D. as an 87 Specialized Sirrus.

Removed the old paint down to bare metal with a combination of stripper, a curved scraper and 200 grit sandpaper for any bits that remained. Wasn't going to document the build, so sorry I didn't take pics of the bare metal frame, but found investment cast lugs, bottom bracket and sloping fork crown. Quite a bonus, and no excess brazing material to clean up.


I will powder coat this frame eventually, but want to confirm it rides as well as its appearance promised. So, I took brush in hand, some old paint and a gold paint pen to make my ride. I had half of a 1/2 pint can of Rustoleum black and expected it should be just enough, but it took surprisingly little paint. Level only went down about 1/4 inch. It went on thick, so I stopped at 1 coat. I like the black and red Motobecane scheme so used a small brush to add some Val Spar Marine, top coat, polyurethane in Racing Red to the head tube, but chickened out on seat tube stripes. When all was dry, I cranked up Lynrd Skynryd, did some sloppy lug lining and named it "Burnt Ends", a tribute to its fine build quality and also my favorite BBQ food. The end product looks pretty good, considering I didn't do multiple coats with sanding between.

For the build, once I saw how good the frame was, I decided it needed a few better parts and found some at bargain prices: a $20 Brooks Team Pro that was terribly dry and neglected, a used $30 Superbe triple crank just like the one on my Expedition Touring and a $5 105 SLR front brake caliper. For the rest, a NOS Tange cartridge bottom bracket, several shift lever sets, a Cinelli stem and Criterium bar, and a Campy (Athena?) rear brake caliper, Superbe Brake levers, Cyclone rear and Mirage Triple front D.R. and a couple used wheels were available. 1st ride was good, and fit is close, but the bar is a bit wider and stem a bit longer than I like, shift levers not fully compatible with braze-ons and fiddly. So that may change, but I will ride it a while as is. Don