Hello to all.
I was given the frame this tourer is based around by my friend Malcolm who owns and runs the local bike repair place. He was given it by a long term customer,who is also a mutual friend.
Another donating customer and mutual friend gave me the saddle and wheel rims.
I fell in love with the graceful swan necked top tube and just had to make something out of it.
As my other bike (a slightly too small for me '94 Raliegh M-trax 200 comp) is an mtb and I didn't fancy going pure road, a hybrid seemed the way to go.
The frame started off in gloss black with a thick white pinstripe style bracket round the Specialized logo/decal. Which all had to go.
I wanted an olive green powder coat but getting this done,cheaply,locally and easily proved problematic.
So,I had to remove the paint myself. Eschewing chemicals and lacking machinery,I did it by hand. After thirty plus hours of scraping and rubbing (Stanley blade,wet n dry,wire wool...) the bare aluminium emerged.
Some other components were treated to vapour honing,a less aggressive process than shot or sand blasting by a local one man band who does work on vintage motorbike parts.
The honing was too weak for the frame paint and the shot,although efficacious was too time consuming to be cost effective.
Components that were vapour honed all had finishes,blemishes or logos that needed removed.
There are green elements,to contrast the bare metal and remaining chrome finished parts,in both metal and fabric.
Not just a choice from all the many possible colours,it's dictated by a lifelong compulsion to wear only green clothes and shoes/boots/trainers (mostly olive and shades close to it) and have only green utility/everyday use items as much as possible (green personal stereo,mobile phone,rucksacks,sleeping bags,mag lite,propelling pencil,turntable cartridge....) I spray my stone chisels green,have green tape measures etc.
Anyway....
Starting from the front- 35mm Scwalbe Land Cruiser tyre.It has a green swatch on due to the rubber being an 'eco' compound,which is win,win for me. It's mounted on a formerly black Ambrosio rim,vapour honed so it now has a lovely matte silver grey,grainy finish. This contrasts nicely with the shiny stainless steel spokes and Novatec hub. All held on to the frame with a used Token,titanium quick release skewer,for a pop of green. The front rack ( a Jim Blackburn "Expedition" in aluminium ) got vapour honed to get cleaned up a bit. On trying to install it,it became apparent it wasn't going to fit.
Although all the bosses lined up,the girth of the fork tubes prevented fixing them together with the green bolts I had,as they were two short. So I made a linkage by removing two lozenge shaped sections from the brake block carrying bits from a pair of cheap scrap calliper brake arms,that were in one of Malcolms many part boxes.This closed the gap,securely fixing rack to frame and adding another two green bolts as additional accents.
The forks themselves are a 2016 Nishiki,which have been vapour honed,they were gloss black, but uckily it came off far more easily than the frame paint!
The v-brake arms are vintage Deore XT,which were way cheaper on ebay than usual,because they had been "over cleaned" in an ultrasonic bath. This had resulted in near complete removal of the logos and finish-ideal as it saved me getting them (two pairs) vapour honed. Fitted with XLC triple compound cartridge blocks-green,grey and black in white shoes-a nice match and well rated,which made their relative expensiveness worth it. Brake cables are Clarks silver braid "pre-lubed" housings,with green noodles and ferrules. The cable ends did have green tips bought for them,but then I found two part reusable ones by Firewire (silver finish only). Snipping off the closed end of the green ones,made cylinders I could slide further up,letting the cables keep their green bits and the Firewires. Same went for all the other cable ends.
The handlebars are vintage Scott a t-2's. I've not seen the like for many years and I like bar ends,so these all-in-ones were too good to resist! Their aluminium already had a nice matte finish,so no need to get those honed. A pair of Primo Griffin non-locking grips are mounted on them,finished with a pair of grey vintage Specialized bar plugs.I kept the shiny finish on the open hinge clamp brake levers ( I forget the brand ).
They concern me a bit, as they seriously lack stopping power,so urgently need replaced,but the curve of the bars demands fully openable clamp hinges.....Levers with these,in a silver finish I found hard to come by....
The shifters are 3x9's, vintage Deore-XT m750's with Clarks silver braid cables,green and Firwire add-ons. Also mounted is a Sustrans (uk cycle charity) branded anodised green bell, on the left and a green phone carrying clamp on the right. Stem is a used Ritchey lightweight aluminium mtb one,vapour honed to remove the busy logo graphic. This got put on upside down,but it still worked, and liked the look of it,so it stayed that way.
The headset came from Malcolms,new old stock with no name he could recall. Spacers similar,but used,apart from the green Dia-Compe ones I sourced. Topped these off with a green cap and contrasting stainless bolt.
So,now we're mid frame....
A green hollow tech bottom bracket bearing assembly by Aerozine.
Cranks and chainrings- Deore XT FC-M770 (22/32/44). The 44 I swapped out for aTruvative 48,it's black finish was left on to tie in with the tyres (no green or silver for those!) and the numerous hook n loop tabs on the frame bags. The front mech,from the bike shop parts library is a Deore XT FC- M772,which was dirt cheap due to all the crud n rust on it,especially the XT cut out bit (not very practical...)The very light pedals with sweet bearings (Token,no luck with the model) needed their edge plates removed,then vapour honed to remove the very worn black finish.Toe clips are new old (70's) stock "Rapides" by Ale,with green straps n buckles from my webbing spares drawer. (I am also a bit of a military surplus nut).
Other than the paint strip,all the frame needed was a new internal cable housing grommet and a cable guide plate.
The frame bags,made by a Scottish company called Wee-Cog,I had already and were taken off a bike I bought,but then sold to make way for this one. Luckily they all fit,after a few strap trims.
Seat post- a Raliegh RSP, vapour honed to remove the logo, the saddle is a fizik "Vitesse-Tri" gifted to me,whose long riding day comfort level has yet to be tested.
Back wheel - same Schwalbe Land Cruisers,32 hole Ambrosio rims,stainless spokes,with a Condor Cycles / Miche,-Primato "Supremacy" hub and green Token titanium quick release skewer.
The drive train continues with a Shimano 9 speed cassette and a green cassette lock ring by Air-Bike. A Deore-XT M-770 rear mech is held on with a green hanger and mech bolt by Bike-Aider on ebay.
These carry a KMC SM10 SL (Super Light) aluminium chain.
A matching rear rack (vintage Jim Blackburn,vapour honed aluminium) carries a pair of 70's olve green Karrimor panniers,with contrasting khaki straps.Which do contain just
That's that.
Well barring a few tweeks,like changing brake levers getting matching (if possible) front panniers,top tube bag and seat post bag and some drive train adjustments.....

A six months plus,journey into bike builds,with forum forays aplenty to research the likes of maximum tolerances for chain ring tooth jump numbers of the front mech,rolling resistance testing for tyre selection,whether (and how) to tape my bars.....
Massive thanks to this forum amongst others and all who contribute,for your invaluable support and assistance. And also to my good friend Malcolm,his parts trove and all his grateful customers who have donated to it.
I couldn't have done it without all of you.
Exhaustive and excessively detailed photos are included.
Cheers!


Used and very scuffed,green Cannondale quick release seatpost clamp,that I forgot to mention.

Extra linkage for rack n frame bosses....



The bike bag "stripes" are rows of molle compatible webbing loops.....which asked for but may well remove.

Green brake block section,peeking up....