Looking Backwards
 

Always ready for a good hindsight thread! Always good on a slow news day.

Crackle, marble, and splatter paint jobs: Purposeful, fun distractions (or were they smoke screens?) to comfort the sorrow felt as manufacturers transitioned from lugged construction to welded construction and unicrown forks. Too bad literally everyone chickened out on Large Human frame sizes, stopping at a paltry 62cm across the board, because I love that stuff. Certain fade jobs have not aged well, and I generally avoid them as it makes component choice and overall composition more difficult IMO--I like a full-frame aesthetic, not a here-and-there one. Exception goes, of course, to my '87 black/grey fade Schwinn Prologue. I love traditional paint, but the late-80s, early-90s was a fun era for color explorations (Italian bikes, anyone?).

This is but a small sample of all the greatness of alt-paintwork bikes during this period:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3fdd94748a.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a1573111b2.jpg

As far as warning to other generations and my bike, I'd say my Trek 620's fully-cast head tube + head lugs was simply not that attractive, and it weighed a lot (3mm thick HT). I fully understand why they did it, but geez, guys, make the 'lugs' pretty! Techy-looking Treks of this era, while well made, always sadden me whenever I see the traditional lugged constructions from the time just before. Make it pretty, or don't make it at all. [I will say that the paint reeeeeally helps make it all ok, especially in the sun. Well, that and the bike being amazing as it is.]
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...67ace78367.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e4b52eb05c.jpg

I think that's great. About as good as it gets. If you decide you want to part with it and it is a 55 +/-1, let me know.

Stunning to my eye. Right up there with the 'decor' Colnago above. Especially as it is the quite rare OS tubeset. Is that an 89-91? I''m trying to decide if I want to put my all-silver 10-spd Centaur group or a mix of Record/Chorus on my 87 Paramount with a red/yellow flade. I'll post a pic once I get the computer fired up.

Honestly, I love a lot of the bikes in this thread - especially that spotted Colnago. Of course, my wife says I have the fashion sense of a colorblind pimp, so there's that, too.

"Custom" (extra cost) paint graphics on Cannondales (early '90s?) that looked like paint dabbed on with a sponge in about five seconds. Can't find a pic yet.

Uhmmm...... that rear wheel placement must be keeping him from smiling for the camera.......:twitchy::rolleyes:

It's in their catalogs. Circa 1987 or so.

"Cannondale custom graphics" in an image search brings things right up, thankfully.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7ea8ba0ed8.jpg

1992, per Schwinn Catalog Scans (Waterford).

Cosmo?

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1b592c4903.jpg

If memory serves, that was the last year of Paramounts being built under the Schwinn name at the Waterford facility, which Richard Schwinn purchased and makes Waterford bicycles. I haven't looked in many years, but assume Richard still owns & operates Waterford. He repainted my '87 Paramount in '97. The first time around they forgot the hardener in the paint and when I took it out of the box my finger prints where left in the paint (as in one of the bikes in a previous post). Richard was good about it and the only problem was it took another 6 weeks to get it done properly.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...dcff98d725.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bf5458a4ec.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c83354ba9f.jpg
This is not a garage freak drivetrain, but a new word in bicycle history.
This is a fixed gear transmission - double speed!

Indeed............. a solution in the hunt for a problem.

This pandemic has definitely left many with too much time on their hands.

Annie Hall came right to mind - 1977

Bets how long before the fork steerer or that headtube snaps off?

And yet there are eBay sellers who seem to think that this paint job makes a frame worth MORE! (And I won't make any snarky remarks about Colnagos never having been "as good as they used to be".)

It's kinda interesting to me how fade paint jobs are making a comeback. But in a way it's a nice change from the monochromatic colors most bikes are these days.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...434132bada.jpg
Pic borrowed from google 1989?
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9953d5c72c.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e05bca7bff.jpg
No, just no.



https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...81b9ea719c.jpg
Better. Rides much more smoothly

I've seen vintage bakery bikes with headtubes that slack that were well over 80 years old. So if it was welded properly it could be fine.

your can see some interesting paints jobs on customs check out kirk frameworks.

I am pretty sure Dario Peggoreti did the paint on this dave kirk custom
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c4817900f6.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...1ce6e9bc57.png
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...03c9638779.png



and here is a maple leaf and spider theme

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6c7483f307.png
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e6e0694ad7.png

Per the OP's comment of "things that should never have been done and should never be done again" one could argue that custom paint jobs are one-offs and would never be done again (at least not exactly).

Those graphics were originally used at Cannondale when they were having trouble with their heat-treating process; frame tubes ended up slightly but visibly warped. The alignment of those frames was perfect, the sales rep assured us; the warping was only a cosmetic problem. The splotches of paint were meant to distract from the warping. Dubbing the paint "custom graphics": classic "it's a feature, not a bug" end run.

Well I'm gen Z so i can confirm that only thing offensive about that Serotta is the triple. Most of the stuff in this thread is awesome:love:

TIG certified welding of easy-to-weld AISI 304 steel under factory conditions by certified welders for pressure vessels and apparatuses. A guarantee that nothing will fall off. You will immediately lose the bet.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c8e933ec98.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...737d5d3bee.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4968c50f96.jpg

I bow to your expertise, well done.