Here is where the Mondia stands. Not done yet, but end is coming into view.

Black saddle is working for me, although I still secretly harbor a yen for a yellow San Marco Rolls - might be a little too pimp daddy, but could be cool. The yellow bar ends Dbakl most generously contributed to this project really work, the black velox looked really out of place.

Cables/housings are all a little long, I like to cut them that way then trim to final length as I get everything tweaked in. Still don't have a proper headset spacer.

I'm wondering what you guys think of some hammered honjos or leave her nekkid? And that yellow saddle. Or anything else...



I'm thinking maybe paint the inside of the chainring ovals as on the hubs in the next pic? This might unify the crankset assembly. I did originally paint the circle in the middle of the crankarm bolt, but took it off, didn't like that on this bike.





Long story on the handlebar tape, one too many coats of shellac left it too yellow, tried taking some off w/alcohol, that turned into a mess, so I just retaped them. No shellac yet...



I adore these brakes.



I know, the brake cable housing is long...



Coming together...

Looks great. No yellow seat if you ask me...

Try running that short rear piece of rear brake housing so it crosses under the top tube from the right to the left and to the caliper; that's how we did it back in the day.

I've been looking for some yellow toe strap buttons, but don't think I have.

Shoot, looks like my size too...

Just my opinion, but it needs a honey brooks, not a black one. That way it ties in with the gum brake hoods and gumwall tires. But otherwise, that bike is simply gorgeous! I love the yellow details you've done and the brilliant color coordination. Can't wait to see completely finished pics.
-Gene-

Edit: I think it would look amazing with fluted fenders, not hammered. But would still look good with the hammered fenders (just not AS good IMO).

Well, VO sells hammered/fluted fenders. I've got a set of the smooth fluted ones on my wife's bike, they do look very nice.

I was thinking about the hammered ones doing some sort of paint/wipe cycle such that the color (green or yellow, obviously) remained in the hammered dimples, shiny metal showing on the high spots. That would get some color onto the fenders, but sort of mitigate monolithically colored fenders and their tendency to show scratches. I'm still playing around with this idea... Could do something with the smooth fluted ones, like paint the molded tips and a pinstripe down the flute.

I like that, it would work well with the more subtle yellow touches in your hubs and seatpost. I'd do yellow on the sides of the flutes (though just two per fender), and a single green line down the center of them. Then use a brown leather mudflap front and rear.
-Gene-

a honey Brooks would be a nice touch...but aren't you worried this is getting to be too pretty to RIDE?

Too pretty not to ride, is my opinion. Probably won't be my bike for rainy days on unpaved bike paths, already got one for that, but no, it will definitely get ridden.

man, that thing is beautiful.

I actually agree that a honey brooks would look great on it, and in fact, I have a brand new honey brooks pro with copper rivets that I'd trade you for your black one if you're interested. I got mine for a bike I built up, but plans have changed and now I wish I'd of gotten black. I think a trade would work out perfect for us

+1 Honey Brooks seat, with copper rails and rivets.

Well done!!

Stunning!

+1 on the honey Pro, and painted fluted fenders.

Well done!

-holiday76

The honey brooks seems to have a lot of mindshare, and I pretty much like the idea. Let me sleep on it, but I'm leaning towards a swap.

Full disclosure about the Brooks Pro on this bike. Purchased new last summer. I put it on a really nice 1980 Fuji America that is still awaiting a few tasks by me, has been hanging in my basement. I rode it once, about 10 miles. Shows no sign of this use as far as I can tell. If you have any concerns, I can take more pictures of it. No proofide or folk break-in remedies such as motor oil, banging with baseball bat, etc.

OK here,s My 2 cents worth-------go with the HONEY BROOKS !

this bike is simply stunning. i am a sucker for chromed nervex lugs, and then outlined in yellow. hot damn. i love her the way she is!

who did the paint?

Thanks!

I did all the prep work, stripping, etc, then sent it to a local shop for spraying the green. Following that, I've been doing the lug detailing and so forth.

Then leave the fenders off, if it's a sunny day bike.

Under "normal" circumstances, I'd do that, and I still may, but where I live, about 80% of my rides start off with anywhere from 1-4 miles of unpaved rail/trail that can remain muddy long after it quits raining. And even in dry weather, unfendered wheels throw up a lot of cinder grit that slowly sandblasts the bottom bracket and gets into drivetrain. Learned this the hard way when I first moved here.

If you are going to use fenders, maybe a stem mounted bell would look nice? Velo-Orange sells some nice ones mounted on headset spacers. I personally like it without fenders but understand why you might want them.

That bike looks awesome, and for what it's worth, I like the tape without shellac.

-Matt

I did a quick mock up of a honey pro on your mondia. I was working from the brooks site for the color so it is way to vibrant in comparison to the photo, oh well you get the point.



and for reference:

Please excuse some of the sloppiness:

we seem to have very similar projects going at the moment. i also did my 77 motobecane restoration on a budget with a paint scheme that wasn't entirely period correct.

your pinstriping looks very professional. various techniques have been discussed here at BF, so i am curious how you managed it. i tried, but the lines were too thick for my taste and i even used a ballpoint paint pen with approx. 1 mm tip.

did you clearcoat the frame after doing decals and pinstriping?

oh and +1 no shellac and i'd stick with the black saddle. honey brown doesn't do it for me. nice job on the mock ups though

Well, I've already pushed the button on the honey saddle, I traded the black one for the honey. Prior to that, I put a sorta honey looking old Fujita on it, liked the look. The black makes a pretty dramatic impact, the honey is kinder/gentler. Going to have honey/tan toe clip straps w/some yellow strap buttons and honey toe clip leather covers. So there will be a theme, I guess.

I did the lug pinstriping with paint pen with extra fine tip. No clear coat on the decals/pinstriping.

I also like the cloth tape w/no shellac, but it is a real dirt magnet in these light colors. I'd like to keep them unshellacked, but does anyone know of any alternate dirt protection schemes that won't affect the fabric texture/color as much as shellac? I'm not crazy about the scotchgard ideas I've seen, never have heard any real success stories with this.

Jury is still out on fenders. W/no fenders, it is essentially done except for pedals and some other odd bits and would be a sunny day runabout deal. If I do fenders, which changes the character of the bike a lot, I also have a VO front rack that has been awaiting a project, I'd consider putting that on.

Trying to find some cool vintage pedals, missed a few ebay Suntour Cyclone track pedals, got a little spendy for me. Considering something like Chorus aero platforms, but have a few concerns about compatibility w/street shoes. Would love some Croce d'Aune track pedals, but those are priced out of sight these days. Sort of kicking myself for selling the three pairs I had last year.

The new VO road pedals look pretty cool, anyone have any experience with these?

which brand of pen did you use? i actually stand corrected. the tip i used must've been .5mm. i bought this at ebay from an auto paint supply place. it is a touch up pen with ball point. see the first pic. the main problem was not being able to control the flow, since the tip is kind of like the "white out" pens, meaning slight pressure on the ball (or squeezing the pen body) causes the paint to flow out quickly.

before that i tried with .8 felt tip paint pen from the company EDDING (German brand) and the applied paint dried too fast, so repeat strokes were impossible without smudging/scratching the outline.

I used Sharpie, it had one of the pressure sensitive tips - after a little while, I got the hang of how much pressure to use (or not use, mostly). I also used a brush for some stuff.

Ok, I swapped saddles w/holiday76, here is what it looks like. Some pedals too, I've got some tan straps coming, need to run out to VO in Annapolis for some odd bits, going to get some tan/honey clip leathers. Toshi yellow strap buttons are already here...

Very happy looking bike. Maybe I'll ride it out to Le Cirque du Cyclisme in Leesburg this year.

The honey Brooks looks right at home. Nice job. Beautiful bike.