The Obrien
 

Gosh this looks cool.

The black looks like a powder coating that has been shot at with a repeater BB gun, and painted over with rattle can, and a very poor job of it as it is. The yellow looks like a powder coat also, it is not chipped up like the black. The yellow is very flaky in spots of the frame, the forks, like the frame are straight, the yellow is solid on the fork just some little scuffing. The tips and dropouts are Giepemmi, English threading. Under bb tube braze on cable guides. The decals are gone from the drive side the non drive is about to pop off with a little help. The Columbus decals as such, the big one on the top tube, I thought was rattle can stensile, is in good shape, the frame one is gone, the forks have some remnants.

I thought it was a Nishiki, this thing was hanging up towards the rafters about ten bikes deep dangling on a dowel suspended from the ceiling on a couple of hooks. This was quite the adventure, one by one, a Dave Scott, a fat tire, a pleated decayed middle frame, a cheap gt mt frame, a forkless raliegh comp, some other no name. Finally me being up on that ladder pulling each off lifting the dowel of the hook pulling frame by frame with the left, replacing the hook, gently placing each in a couple of plies on the rafters I got to it! Just out of my reach, I grab a loose fork. I'm able to hook it and drag to within reach.

A quick glance no not Nishiki, Columbus? Twelve feet down the ladder, and back up again to put all frames back on the the hanging dowel, well you get the point. So guys I'm doing all this at "The Bikery" co-op, risking my life and limbs.

I show to you as found.

Obrien

This is gonna take a while to build... or maybe next week.

Really cool to see it with large pictures. Surely there are those who know the kind of bike that would be built with Gipiemme dropouts and engraved brake bridge. Even with rear fender eyelets, this looks like a road/race bike to me--certainly with the lugs and perhaps graphics. Have you installed a spare set of wheels and tires to see how race-y or tour-y the geometry is?

I haven't made the time to mock it up yet but I have done some investigation.

OBRIEN CYCLES

I have an email sent to Mr. Obrien seeking info and decals for restoration. Normally when I'm working on a project I here banjo music, this time I here heavy metal and yodeling.

Anyhows I gots to turn the music down, and dig through my clunker reject parts see if I have enough to rig up a test ride.

One of the people at The Bikery said congratulations to me after buying it. Then he asked what color.

Here's a 1992 O'Brien I flipped a while back. Cinelli cast lugs, Gipiemme dropouts, Columbus SL. Really not a lot of info out there about these bikes (as expected)

wish i had kept it...I thought it was too small at the time but I think it would have been fine with a little tweaking of the fit.
https://i.imgur.com/8x12K9O.jpg

I had a white O'Brien some years ago. Think it was called 'Nuclear'. Columbus SLX, size was slightly too big so I ended up selling it.

Lovely proportion they blessed that frame with. Head angle looks steeper than 73° or perhaps even 74°! Agile! I dig it.

Start up the banjos! Stripped and primed.

[Playing banjos]

What color??? :)

Toyota red and white pearl, very translucent, not an easy paint. This is one coat on the head tube.

Very cool, interested to see how it turns out, lovely details on the frame. I hear 70s Funk fwiw.

Ah a litttle time to relax, I've been able to fix my troubles with a respray of the head tube. Came out pretty good, I've run out of red paint barely had enough for the fixit. The fork has been cleared the frame is ready for clear. I'm very happy this is my first paint in a long time sort of a testing the waters for me.

Here are a few more of my almost done Obrien. :)

And the BB.

That looks nice, indeed!

Very sweet looking, indeed. Well made frame.

Looks fantastic! Great lug masking! That must have been a bear to do--the result is crisp. Definitely like where this is going.