The Armand

Hey people,

So a friend of mine moved out of town, and gave me his incredibly used Raleigh Technium MTB. I always told him I thought it was a cool frame, so he thought I should have it! I only have one bike, a 1981 Univega Specialissima that I quite literally ride every type of cycling with, so I wanted to build something fun, with fat tires, maybe mustache bars too, a bit more relaxed, that can be used for both road and dirt. And of course, keep it incredibly good looking and classy, just like my Univega. As a broke 22 year old college student, I had to take advantage!

So here she was, in all her incredibly crappy glory!








Now I originally wanted to powdercoat it, but considering the thermally bonded main tubes, and a bit of research, I opted to paint it. This was my first paint job, and probably gonna be my last one for at least a while! The condition of the frame definitely added to the ridiculous amount of prep work, but whatever, I have a paint job under my belt now, and definitely learned a lot.

So here she is stripped down, ready to be even more stripped down:



So a can of Jasco paint stripper, scraper, and 3m scotchbrite kinda pads to the rescue!

Make that paint all bubbly, Mr. Jasco





Praise the lord for Jasco!



Now we're getting somewhere



Allllrighty, ready for primer

The Armand

So the whole process was gonna be through Dupli-Color spray cans from the local auto parts store. Specifically Dupli-Color Perfect Match Primer, Paint (polar/arctic white), and clear coat.

Here's the primer!





And the paint!



Here's a make shift oven I made. I remember my brother had this heater from his old apartment. It actually got to be about 135 degree Fahrenheit in there!



Here's the decals I used, thank you velocals. (Yeah it isn't period correct, big whoop)



Aaaand here come the decals:





I used an 18kt Gold Leaf pen from the local kraft store to outline the lugs, and these 'pin stripes' from the local auto parts store to accessorize with.



Here she is, ready for clear:



Hey whaddya know, this actually looks pretty damn good!

The Armand

And then she got clear coated, and was thrown back in the oven!



And here she is in all her (not so incredibly crappy at all) glory!



Mmmmm, delicious.








Alright! So that's that. I went and got a new headset and pressed it in at the local bike co-op last night. I'm waiting on some shipments which should arrive today to start putting it together. I have a decent amount of mtb parts from a very old mtb I had a long time ago that I parted out.

As far as what's going on, I'll give you some hints. It's gonna be leathery, creamy, mustachy, corky, and hempy.

Sound good?

Yeah, you know it sounds good.

Bianchigirll 

Wait a second.... you have a closet in your apartment/house with nothing in it? Holy Cow!

Looks great!

The Armand

Oh yeah, and if someone can identify the year of the frame, that would be cool.

Bianchigirll, one of the many blessings of living a simple life, without a bunch of CRAP in your house. Granted though, there were about 4 folding chairs in there, with two blankets. (Alright alright, you got me!) Haha

azgreg

Outstanding job!! Gives me some inspiration.

jdefran

Nice work, I'm more motivated to tackle my first paint job too! Looking forward to the final build.

In the second to last photo, is there a chip in the fork?

Chris Chicago

looks great. gold is kind of subtly pimptastic. and the oven was a stroke of genius.

doesnt look like the simple life has spread to your garage yet.

Paramount1973 

I love it.

The Armand

Yes sir! I wrapped the fork with electrical tape around the coat hanger for the 'oven' really excessively, and put a zip tie for assurance around the top of the fork, but when I came home the fork fell down onto the tile floor, chipping the side, and the fender eyelets. I just finished touching them up now, shouldn't look tooooo noticeable after sanding.

I've moved back in with my parents since going back to school full time. Thankfully the garage has not spread to my bedroom.

canyoneagle

Really nice work!
I look forward to seeing the final build.

The straight fork and mono-stay rear end make me think the bike would be '89-92 ish.

cs1

I love it. Did you use an AL specific, self etching, on the main tubes? That's the only thing stopping me from refinishing mine.

randyjawa 

You do nice work and the end result will be very pleasing. Nice job.

I have this old Raleigh Technium mountain bike that will be built up for Bicycles for Humanity this Winter, and offered for sale at our annual vintage bicycle yard sale, next Spring or Fall...



It was -30 degrees the day I was snapping these pictures and the camera was freezing up. Pardon the quality. I might add that I was freezing up,also.

Did see a fox walking across the ice on Lake Superior when I was taking a picture of the Ice Breaker in the harbor - picture to small to really see the poor creature.

frantik

kinda funny to see an mtb with old style roadie paint/trim but you did a good job

4funbikes

Very cool. Can't wait to see how the rest turns out.

thirdgenbird

Wow, that is absolutely outstanding. This will be oe to watch.

WNG

Very impressive! Can't wait for the final results of the build.

vettefrc2000

Sweet!

cbresciani

Well done, I really like the color and the pin striping. Looking forward to the final build too.

The Armand

Alright here are some pics to hold you guys off till it's done.

Hemp twine chain slap protector. I bought some amber shellac and did a test on a random tube I twined. I like the protection it gives but the natural hemp looks so good! Hopefully it'll hold up without the shellac. If any of you have experience with this chime in!



I was gonna throw on a Selle Anatomica but I remembered I had this old Selle Italia. It's a tad narrow for me but totally rideable. The color will match the cork tape real nice too. There's an SR Laprade seatpost originally from my univega. I painted the flutes gold, just 'cause. BUT, it is a 26.8, and the collar is a 27.0. I currently have a 'beer can shim' in there. We'll see if there is any play once I get some hardware for the seatpost binder.



Aaand probably my favorite part so far, Nitto Dirt Drop and Moustache Bar. Had some Tektro lever's lying around. Really looking forward to trying this out! Looks like it's gonna be some refreshing options for my hands. Got a new Tange Seiki headset and pressed it in at the bike co-op on Thursday.



Tires come in on Monday. Bar end shifters hopefully by Wednesday!

The Armand

Alright, here are some more sneak peaks. Bar End Shifter should come in tomorrow so I can finally throw on the chain/wrap the bars up.

Schwalbe 2.1" Big Ben's, Mmm mm mmm mm MMMMM. Fresh Sram 11-32 9 speed cassette. Deore XT Hubs on Mavic's.



Stainless Steel King Cages, Deore XT cranks converted to single 32t. Shimano one side platform/other side spd pedals.



Tektro CR720's. I haven't finished adjusting them so yeah yeah, no end cap on the cable yet.



And I just like this angle so here's a shot. (Nice angle, isn't it?)

Chris Chicago

tire color is a nice choice!

jettore

That bike is gonna rock when you get her done. Great job so far on all of your selections.

thirdgenbird

I love this!

gomango

+1

Is that a 280Z hiding in the background?

Pics please.