For your viewing pleasure, may I present my latest addition to the fold - a 1978 Eisentraut "A" frame. I bought it few months ago and had it repainted by Ed Litton. Not the best photos in the world, and my camera does not begin to capture the real color (it's significantly lighter and brighter and less blue than it appears in the shots), but you'll get the idea.




Note the cable guides and the "E", all part of the bottom bracket shell casting. An Eisentraut trademark.


Check out the great seat stay joint, the lug filing and the cool pump peg.


I still think this style of downtube decal is on the very, very short list for the coolest bicycle graphic ever.


This is the closest to the true color I could get, at least according to my monitor. This still doesn't quite capture it, though, either the sade of green or the sparklines (if that's a word).


Look, Ma - no hole in the bottom of the fork crown.



This is more or less the shade it was when I got it - silverish but with a greenish tinge. Kind of like I get when I'm feeling seasick. Not my fave. Plus, the decals were kind of beat up and the paint job had a fair number of nicks and scratches. Not bad for an obviously well-used 1978 frame, but, combined with everything esle, enough to convince me to spring for the repaint.

Sublime.

very cool

You know... it was only original once. Now you've ruined any value this frame had.....

That looks great! It's hard for me to tell, is the bottom bracket shell wider than "normal". That fork crown looks nice and wide, it's almost a shame that you won't see the bottom because it's very pretty.

What was the "A" frame built to be?

Impressive workmanship. Nice paint, but I think it needs to be outside to really shine.

Gorgeous. Love the new color! Really nice workmanship on those lugs. The steerer tube and inside the frame looks super clean. Did Ed Litton do the interior frame prep as well?

Btw, in case you need the matching kit.

This is one of those frames I'd love to see in person! Can't wait to see the build.

Can we see the "before" pics? Just to see what it used to look like?

It's a real beaut. One of my short list of grail bikes. Looks like you have kept it close to home, there in the people's republic. I hope to see the full build real soon.

Jim

looks great. will be interested to see it built up and in the wild.

a tour de force! Is Ed still spraying Imron, or is this something slightly less toxic?
Either way, it's nearly a miracle that there's anymore wet paint being applied anywhere in California...this may become (another) dead craft here, pretty soon.

Thanks, all. I, too, am looking forward to getting it built up and on the road.

The BB shell is a normal English-threaded 68 mm. And I agree about the underside of the fork crown - very sweet.

The A was Eisentraut's custom, built-to-measure frame. It could be made to be anything you wanted (within reason). This one looks to be meant as an all-day road bike.

Agreed.

He cleaned it up, including spraying primer on the steerer tube. He really does do great work.


I'll post some as soon as I get a chance.

To be honest, I don't know if this was Imron or not. But yes, wet-paint bike frame painters are getting rarer all the time.

Oh, my God. I only just saw this post. Is this really true? Have I just turned a crown jewel into a Huffy? My God, what have I done? I guess all there is left to do is drew the hell out of it, rattle-can it and turn it into a fixie.


And if you believe that . . . .

A beauty! Can't wait to see it built up. I think the respray was wise. It was professionally done and brings out the beautiful lug filing. Nothing wrong with repaints, IMHO, especially if they're done right, and in your case it most certainly was.

+1

That and it is YOUR bike that YOU are going to ride.

Absolutely! I like the new color a lot better and the decal color looks great with it. Thanks for the explanation of what an A frame is.

Very cool frame and great paint job.

AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!! You just HAD to post all of those pics, DIDN'T YOU??? And it looks like it's just my size... whimper...

SP
Bend, OR

Very nice, Rich! I love the metallic "sparkleness"...

Stan, you oughta see it in person - it's pretty trick.

Ed Litton did a real nice job on it.

If/when Rich gets it built, we all should get together and go for a promenade.

John, I'd be up for that!

Ed Litton has done some small stuff for me (decals, etc.), and you're right; he does really nice work.

One thing I like about this paint job is that the crisp definition of the lug edges were maintained. Not always seen, especially on some of the Imron jobs I've seen. Just enough paint. Where de he get the replacement decals? A. E. still supply them?

Very, very nice!!!! I love that seat cluster and BB shell!!

By popular demand, some more "before" shots. (Okay, rootboy was the only one, but that's more "popular demand" than I usually get.) You can see some of the chips and scrtches, and you can see that the tippy-tops of the seat lug were bent. Ed Litton trimmed and reshaped them - you can't tell they were ever any different.








Ed used to work with Eisentraut (they made Rainbow 'Trauts together and shared space to build their own customs for a bit) and they are about a 20 minute drive away from each other, so Ed was able to get the decals from Albert. I have no idea about more general availability.

Going for a "promenade" -- I like that idea. "I'm not slow; I'm on a promenade." Yeah, that's the ticket . . . .

Hey, wait a minute. What's that crack about "if" I build it up . . . ?

Oh, thanks. Not looking for a set myself. Not lucky enough to own an A-E-Traut bike. Thanks for posting the before pics. Looks like the new paint was a definite upgrade. Very cool.