Orange is the New Black
 

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]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5731/...444bd74c_c.jpgFuji...before pic by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

And the after:

[IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5761/...b12c67d7_c.jpgFaux-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]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5677/...23654a07_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/716/2...5ab4d54a_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/734/2...af6b8ba9_c.jpgFaux-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]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5756/...ba89e09c_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5714/...d49fea7e_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/582/2...a02a3283_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5824/...89e45112_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/568/2...58755811_c.jpgFaux-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.

Hot dam*. That looks great. I've yet to own a bike with fresh paint and decals - will have to find something in need at some point. Must be fun having a build with such a minty finish. Enjoy.

Dat's bootiful

Very nice...love it!!!

Looks really nice.

I still have a beautiful Gazelle Mondiale frameset in bright orange sitting here.

What the h... am I waiting for?

You are a source of inspiration.

That's a cool orange...this is gonna be slick.

Thanks guys, I keep trying to get a shot that captures the deep pearl glint, but it doesn't come across. Maybe next week when we have some sun and the wheels are on it.

The last pic of the bottom bracket showed it pretty well.

Love it! Very Autumnal.

Great job Poprad - looks much sweeter that way.

Obviously I'm biased, but orange bikes are best.

Beautiful bike! And I really like your term... Faux-ji.

Fantastic result! Welcome to the club :)

I note you didn't wait on the decals. Also, not top-shelf? Tiny imperfections indeed, I guess - I can't see anything at all; the paint is stunning.

DD

Oooooooooooooooooo, I want me an orange bike now!

really well done

Nice. Very. Very. Nice. :thumb:

Echoing the rest, well done!

Maybe we'll see it here in Portland for a future C&V ride?

Thanks all, hope to make more progress on it today. DD - yes, the paint job is very well done, just not Cyclart or Joe Bell perfect. I'm ecstatic with it for a $250 job.
Thin Man - I sure hope so, I miss the Pac NW big time. This bike would look great on Skyline or up on the High Rocks road.

Very nice work! Are the shifters Sachs? They look cool.

Thanks ThinkTubes; yep those are Sachs-Huret "ARIS" group indexed 6 or 7 speed. They work very, very well. Not lightweight by any estimate, but they shift with the authority of a 12 gauge shotgun going into battery. Also they have never required post-install adjustment. The indexing is so widely spaced with a 7 speed freewheel that there's a lot of room for wear/stretch if set up correctly (the Barnett's method of derailleur adjustment).

So Saturday brought more rain and the onset of a nasty cold. What better therapy than to head downstairs and put some parts on the Orange Flyer? Started out by attaching the just-polished 600 cranks:

[IMG]https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5656/...1c47fffa_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

Then couldn't help myself but to put on the derailleurs and brakes:

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/742/2...20af12aa_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

But I realized that the Sachs-Huret Aris shifters I had put on were the 6 speed model. I had bought them on the 'Bay a few years back because they had the nicer inner mount that curves to the tubes instead of the straight backing plate on the 7 speed version I had. I pulled it apart and realized that the innards between the two are quite different. The 6 speed model uses a detent plate and follower plate to make the indexing. When I took the 7 speed apart (it actually changes from 6 to 7 speed if you want easily) I missed the teeny-tiny bbs that make the detent. Some of the hardware matches but the detent plate and follower are very different. There's two tiny bbs that have to ride in slots on the follower plate, and are held in place by the adjusted tension. It took me about an hour to suss this out, as when I took it aprt the pieces (of course) sprung apart almost instantaneously. Thankfully my work area caught the tiny bbs, and I saw one of them after almost throwing in the towel and ordering a Shimano 600 shifter after failing to find any explaoded diagrams of the Aris on the interwebs.

I should have taken pics of the guts of both side by side, but I didn't think to grab the camera until after I had figured out the install. It's such a fussy thing to get together that I had no intention of going through the chance of losing those tiny balls again, so here's the 6 speed much-simpler version apart:

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/617/2...029ed99f_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

If anyone ever has an issue with a 6 or 7 speed Aris rebuild I am now your man. I'll happily share my experience. Every build needs at least one glitch like this to make it worthwhile!

Another shot of the shifters with the backing plates that mate to the tube, well worth the effort to change them over:

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/635/2...7b112ce0_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

This is a shot with the flat backing plates; hard to see in this pic but they don't have that clean merge with the downtube:

[IMG]https://farm7.staticflickr.com/6041/...000e5b0c_b.jpgP1010698 by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]


Got the rear wheel in place

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/569/2...13d1e5d2_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

And made a custom chain protector from some nice auto finish vinyl I had lying around:

[IMG]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/605/2...64a5097e_c.jpgFaux-ji Special Road Racer by Mark, on Flickr[/IMG]

I know some might think the tires an odd choice, but this is my autumn bike and has to be ready for wet leaves and such. Also I had them from the old wheels of my Comp GS, so it's always nice to use what you have on hand.

Tomorrow; chain and front wheel...and test ride around the block.

Man, the paint on this bike is stunning.

Very nice

Great pics! Decals really pop. What did you use for adhesive on the chain protector? Looking forward to seeing this bike rollin!

Love the colour. Looks like Holdsworth pro team Orange from the late 60's early 70's. It just looks a little "thick" to me. Especially around the bb takes away from some of the lug detail. Was the Bike completely stripped before painting?

Oh yeh! Orange is always a-peeling.

This last Spring I did a complete makeover of a late 70's Motobecane, color change, my own twist on graphics, tribute BiC / Ocana. Its for the one of the youngsters.