Havent don't a true "build thread" just yet but there's always a first for everything, right?

Just picked this early 90's Look KG96 frame up locally from CL over the weekend for $180!! Came with a new look fork and cane creek headset -- frame is a 56cm. Why so cheap? Well, what fun would a resto/build be if there wasnt something wrong -- am i right? In this case, what was "wrong" was that somewhere along the lines decided to goop up the frame with an extra coat of either epoxy or clear coat that was brushed on. The finish is rather crappy but interestingly enough, this extra coat seems to flake off with a little elbow grease. I'm tempted to just wet sand the whole thing and just reclear (not sanding through the decals of course) at which point the components will go on and the bike will be ridden. Easy Peasy.

This is my game plan with the parts I have in my possession:

Shimano 105 5600 groupset (taken off my '12 BMC)
MAVIC AKSIUM Wheelset (also from my BMC)

Things I need to get as of now:

Front derailleur clamp/new front derailleur (I currently have a braze on version)
Bar tape
Cables
Crown race for the fork
Seat post (CF hopefully)

So yeah, this is where i'm at. Test fitting the wheel and then going about finishing up the wet sanding/reclearing



Frame is in good knick other than the extra coat of goop -- this should be a fast bike! I'll update as progress is being made..

Nice score. I am on the hunt for a deal like that myself. I sold my kg96 when I left Japan back in 2002. Many bikes have come and gone since, but that was, and may forever remain, my favorite.

looking forward to the build.

and btw: I am also in SF so if you ever decide to sell.... heh.

I'm looking forward to seeing the build. Beautiful and there is a real cachet with a Look, in my opinion.

BTW: I have a kg251 with terrible paint.. red that was left out in the sun .. probably near the ocean.. so its all faded and splotchy.. and the aluminum is corroding and the paint bubbling up etc. In any case.. I plan to start sanding it down this week.. at least to the point that I can repaint. So i'll keep you updated on how far one can sand before you start hitting things you should not....

Quang Vuong, forum member from Australia and C&V forum regular is pretty much the expert CF bike frame restorer here presently. He' brought back a whole bunch of CF framed bikes from the dead in the just the last couple of 6th here with amazing results. Give him a PM and he might give you some really good tips on how to handle removing that epoxy resin coating and renewing/restoring the finish to like new.........like all the CF bikes he restored.

Appreciate the bit of advice, thanks!

Here's where i'm currently at -- I have stripped all of the finish off the frame except for one little bit under the top headset which will be removed in the next few days. I wasnt planning on stripping the paint off the actual joints which are aluminum -- it just kinda happened when a huge thick piece of goop chipped off the lower BB area. After that it was game on and I'm glad I did! I think the raw carbon and polished aluminum are really going to make this bike pop.

Removing the finish initially started with just sanding but after some research using a razor blaze to scrape the goop/epoxy off worked incredibly well. I havent decided if Im going to get the repo decals but i'll figure that out later. Gonna grab my brothers dremel to finish off the polishing of the aluminum bits this weekend hopefully.





Due to the absence of the crown race for the fork for the S-Pro headset, I just decided to get a new Cane Creek 40's series and be done with it. Still not quite sure how the whole 1" compression plug and 1 1/8" stem/shim/spacers is going to pan out but i think it'll be ok. I have access to a lathe so i might just make some sort of an tapered shim adapter dealio but we'll see when the parts actually get here! Going with an FSA compression plug..

I can't wait to get this bike on the road!

If you haven't seen the 1990 catalog, here's a link:

https://pyfrides.files.wordpress.com...7/cat-1990.pdf

Might help with your project.

Also a photo of my LOOK:



I've had good luck with VeloCals for decals

Cheers

looks great! you are gonna leave the aluminum and not repaint? People are gonna think its a kg76 or 66! (all 3 or 4 people that would actually notice)

I can't believe you stripped off the factory paint which was in fine condition.

It looks like any old lugged carbon bike now, maybe a Giant or Trek or worse.

What's next, cut off the derailleur hanger and make a sweet fixie?

Honestly, I wish someone else had got that frame, and you did your stuff with something other than a classic Look.

Huge fail and sin.

Oh, get over yourself. It's his bike. Its a great job with what was probably a cosmetic basket case.

to the OP: whether you restore it with repop decals or go mod, just let your freak flag fly. Do what floats your boat.

Well, you can always paint it ONCE yellow and make it a real Look.

What a fine riding bike

Is everything okay where the drive-side chainstay meets the bottom bracket? Maybe it's just the picture but is that a small chip in the carbon I see?

if you read the first post you would see that a layer of clearcoat/epoxy had been "hand brushed on" - so it was either leave it in weird tatters and runs or do a full clean up. If I were the OP i'd repaint lugs, clearcoat the rest and buy the correct stickers and see if I could get it back to pristine. But those lugs do look nicer unpainted.

and I agree about the yellow. Mine is red.. but for some reason.. Looks really do look proper in yellow...

Doesnt sound like he tried (to restore the original finish). Just went at it like every other hipster remaking a classic frame to some personal vision. It's a $100 frame now, maybe.

what is up with that seat lug? Looks like someone cut it at an angle and tapped some thread into the bottom right under the seat stays meet. I really don't remember the 96 being like that. I am saving my 25mm super record seat post for 1 million bucks in the next 3 years

Maybe a grub screw to hold the seatpost?

John,

As far as I know, I have never seen as early KG series Look seat lug like that. Their time trail frame, maybe? I had to take a look just to make sure. https://pyfrides.files.wordpress.com...7/cat-1990.pdf

I am betting the lug was damaged and someone cut it and fit a grub screw. ... maybe someone tried to pound a 27.2mm seatpost into it and destroyed it... the TT bike has the curved top tube and .. from what I read, both a grub screw and a clamp.

Damaged, maybe, but a 27.2 seat post is impossible to fit inside no matter how you try or pry, There is no prying, nothing on that lug will open up. I am not sure if I would ride that in anger

Look at this one
Look KG96 Project Finished and Riding

Does not seem to have clamp/binder bolt. At least that I can see on my phone.

yeah- maybe some were just made that way. just below the pics of his bike he posts the catalog pictures, which have the clamp.

that guy has a CF seat post which seems less than smart with a grub screw. Maybe the grub screw frames are early versions before they realized CF posts would be a thing.

It looks like the seat lug is cut off from the first pic also. A faint line can be seen at an angle similar to OP's frame. Maybe they are that way, but that look carbon seatpost has been around for some time, I am wondering about the same issue as well?

An interesting restoration route, I would be inclined to do my best to locate some replacement graphics. I probably would have secured those before diving in, and if not available, doing a transfer paper rub to get the outlines as possible.

The frame does have a very different personality with the paint and coatings off.

Are reproduction decals even available? I looked at Velocals and Cyclomundo, don't see anything close to the original graphics.

Cyclomundo has them on ebay.