Gifford: Powdercoat and Details

This color is hard to photograph.  I've done my best at getting an accurate portrayal in these photographs.  It is a brown with a lot of red in it.  The Surly Karate Monkey comes in a similar color. 

In this photo you can see how clean the fillets look with paint on them.  You can also see the taillight cable getting hidden into the downtube:

The taillight wire comes out at the bottom of the downtube and runs under the chainstay to the light itself.  The light is attached to the Rohloff shift box that is also under the left chainstay.  In this photo you can also see the Rohloff cable guides (which I think look good now that they are painted) and the adjustment bolts for the eccentric bottom bracket.

I made a mount for the taillight using a stainless steel spoke.  The wiring still needs to have the proper connectors crimped on and to be trimmed:

I built a new rack for this bike.  It is probably the most nicely finished rack that I've built.  It works with my Pass and Stow bag (which snaps to the rack) and my Acorn bag (which attaches with Ortlieb hooks to the front crossbar).  It is designed to make the bicycle work well with Sportworks bus racks.  The bus rack hook that holds down the front wheel can get right up to the fender.

The cable routing for the headlight on the fork was done so that the wiring can be removed without unsoldering the hub connector.  The lighting is routed using pairs of hooks which are facing in opposing directions.  You can turn the wire 90 degrees to remove it manually, but it won't do so on it's own.  The hooks were made with 1mm diameter steel wire.  There are two wires in this photo, one going from the hub to the headlight, and another going from the headlight to the taillight:

A final full bike shot:

There are some more photos on my smugmug site:

The todo list is getting very short and none of it prevents me from putting a lot of miles on this bike:

  • Custom stem
  • Build up my SON20 based front wheel.  That one will be lighter than the current wheel.
  • Trim the wire for the tail light.
  • Make a fender guard so that I can remove the rear rack.  It is only there to protect my rear fender from the spring loaded rear wheel hook on my employer's bicycle shuttle. 

This winter has been pretty mild and spring is coming fast.  I expect the tone of the blog to change back from project status to trip reports soon.  I already have tenative plans for an overnight ride at the end of March if the weather is good.

 

Published 28 January 2010 02:12 AM by AlexWetmore
Filed under: , , ,

Comments

# Dylan said on 27 January, 2010 07:42 PM

Wow Alex, it looks great!  Must feel great to see this bike come to fruition.

# Fred Blasdel said on 27 January, 2010 08:02 PM

Ha, from the first shot I was thinking CUSTOM STEM!

For the lift-dot posts, did you use just take the wood-screw versions and braze them in? I found an M5 version that's sold in England, but haven't gotten around to threading the holes on my rack, much less importing them and trying it out.

The opposing-hooks idea is brilliant! Why did you route the taillight wire under the BB instead of in with the shift cables?

Did you cut down the front fender to get the bus rack hook up to 12 o'clock? I've left my berthouds unaltered, and the ~11 o'clock position has worked out just fine (especially with the yellow ratcheting  hooks). I thought about adding a perpendicular mating hook to the front of my rack, but it doesn't seem to be necessary.

For the rear fender guard, are you planning on making it as a second vertical fender stay, just with a ledge for the hook? You might be able to turn it into a saddlebag rack, or maybe use a canti-stud handlebar-bag rack on the rear!

# AlexWetmore said on 27 January, 2010 08:24 PM

Good questions Fred.

The Lift-the-Dot buttons are the ones with a machine thread.  They have a #8-32 thread and I just tap that into little bits of 1/4" rod, then braze the rod into the rack.  I have a lot of these buttons if you need some.

The cable under the BB seemed a little more hidden.  Maybe I should have gone the other way.  

I did cut the front fender down.  I went a little farther than necessary.  It is at about 11:30 (instead of 12).  My other bikes don't let the hook go up quite as far and they work, but on the Microsoft Bike Shuttle I've had the hook slide down.  This setup works just a hair better.

The rear fender guard is going to be a piece of 1/4" stainless steel that is on top of the fender and which replaces the stay.  Probably overkill, but hopefully not too noticable.  The rear hook on the bike shuttle is spring loaded and pushes on the fender whenever the shuttle goes over a bump (lots of those on 520) or when you put the bike onto the shuttle.  It is an awful design (at least for practical bikes).  I have a cell phone picture that I'll post and link to here.

# Dolan Halbrook said on 28 January, 2010 06:43 AM

Looks fantastic!

I'm a bit surprised you decided to mount your taillight so low down.  Wouldn't visibility be better mounted to the back of the rack?

# AlexWetmore said on 28 January, 2010 07:46 AM

Dolan: The rack is not a permanent feature of the bicycle.  The rear fender is not either (it gets removed when I run knobby tires).  So the chainstay is the best location that I have for it.

It is only about an inch lower than a fender mounted light.  I've ridden behind this bike when someone else was riding it and visibility was good.  I'll probably add a fender mount battery operated taillight at some point too.

# Donald Genovese said on 28 January, 2010 08:00 AM

Congratulations! Wonderful in every respect. I like this bike a lot.

# dan said on 28 January, 2010 10:24 AM

i like that your front rack is a little nose up.  i find so many people want racks dead-level, but IMO a little nose up works a lot better.

# AlexWetmore said on 28 January, 2010 10:35 AM

I always make them angle up by about 1-2 degrees.  It just looks right to me, and works well.  It is also good when building a rack for others (especially if they just give you the fork) because it handles any measurement error in the head tube angle.  A rack pointing down always looks bad.

I don't think any of the photos here are on level ground though.  In the last one the bike is already on an incline.

# Steve Chan said on 28 January, 2010 10:43 AM

  Wow - that's pretty close to the ideal all-arounder bike (imo) and very smart, well though out details. Maybe if you ever cash out of Microsoft and retire, you can do bike frames as a way to keep busy?

# AlexWetmore said on 28 January, 2010 12:57 PM

I don't know Steve. I've run some numbers for being a framebuilder, and it would be a significant change in my current salary.  As a side project after retirement (in 20+ years?) it could be fun, but insurance costs (per year, not per frame) make it difficult to be a low volume builder.

I don't know how many hours I have in this bike, but the number isn't small.

I'd also need a lot more experience before I felt comfortable building for others.  Hopefully I'll do a few more bikes for myself and immediate family in the next few years.

I'm happy to share my drawings and any details if other builders are interested in making a similar bike.

# AlexWetmore said on 28 January, 2010 03:19 PM

I've posted frame drawings here:

alexandchristine.smugmug.com/.../11077183_EfMLp

They don't have every last detail, but between the drawings and blog entries I think that a framebuilder or hobbyist could build a very similar bike.

# Josh said on 28 January, 2010 07:29 PM

The final product looks amazing. Congrats. It's been fun following the progress of the build. I'm starting to have some serious lust for 650bs and internally geared hubs.

# Vik said on 29 January, 2010 03:24 PM

Wow - very nice!  I hope you get as much enjoyment from riding this fine bike as you did designing and building it....=-)

safe riding,

Vik

www.thelazyrando.com

# Jerry Wick said on 29 January, 2010 05:21 PM

Gifford turned out great Alex. You should be very proud.

I bet you're already thinking about your next frame.

Jerry

# Joan Oppel said on 29 January, 2010 07:19 PM

Alex - looks like a wonderful bike, and a great set-up with the lights.  I'm interested in the powdercoat finish.  I'm about to have one of my bikes repainted, it's fully lugged steel and I've seen some very good work from Spectrum.  But some people say that lugs really should have liquid paint.  So, I'm curious about how you decided to do powdercoat for your frame instead of paint. Thanks.

# AlexWetmore said on 31 January, 2010 08:44 AM

Joan: I went with powdercoat for a couple of reasons.  The first is that it is more affordable than liquid paint.  Seattle Powder Coat did this for me for $125.  A second reason is that it is more durable.  The third is that it is cleaner environmentally.

A downside of powder is that it can hide fine details.  Spectrum does a very nice job, but their finish work still hides fine details (like well thinned lugs) more than wet paint.  So on a bicycle with those details I would go with wet paint.

Since this bike isn't lugged there are few fine details and powdercoat was a good match for it.

# bob k. said on 31 January, 2010 06:50 PM

alex,

the bike looks wonderful, a sight better than my attempt at homebuilding a frame. keep up the good work. i hope we will be seeing more of this kind of thing from you in the future.

-bob k. (from bilenky)

# Dr Codfish said on 01 February, 2010 09:42 AM

It's petty, and utilitarian.  Good job on the front light cabel routing.  That is the one thing that I think most bikes of this sort could use (removability).  There are  times when I'd switch out my Schmidt hub wheel, but alas, that light wire is trapped!  

I have often thought that the mounts used on a basketball hoop to secure the net would be a good

adaptation, but then I've never suggested this because I thought I was a 'complainer of one'.

Thanks for showing how this is done. (frame building).  I have no interest in doing, but watching is fun and informative.

Yr Pal, Dr C

# Leaf Slayer said on 05 February, 2010 02:23 PM

Awesome bike. I'm very much looking forward to your trip reports later this year.

--Leaf S.

# Ben V said on 22 February, 2010 10:21 AM

Hi Alex

Is the front rack sagging significantly as you load it? From the photos it looks lower as you add the small bag and even lower still with the large bag. Is that just an illusion?

# AlexWetmore said on 22 February, 2010 10:29 AM

That is just an illusion, probably me not holding the camera level (those photos weren't taken with a tripod).  The rack doesn't sag significantly even if I sit on it.

# Gareth said on 23 February, 2010 01:03 PM

It looks fabulous Alex.

You have quite tight clearances on the mudguards, have you considered the risk that the front wheel might lock if stuff gets picked up from the road?

# AlexWetmore said on 23 February, 2010 08:50 PM

Clearances on the fender are about 7 or 8mm.  They haven't been too tight so far.  I don't like the look of fenders which sit really high off of the tire.

Search

Go

This Blog

Syndication