Seat stays DONE

Bottom bracket DONE

Head tube DONE

Down tube DONE

Everything DONE

Still can't paint, but I can polish

I still can't paint a level clearcoat to save my life, but I have been able to buff out most of the orange peel.  I know that there is a bit of an equipment issue here, a $30 spray gun from Lowes is simply not going to give me the best results on an intricate painting project like a bike.  I would also do a better job if I could stand fully upright in my basement, or heck, even build a real paint booth.  both are going to have to do for the next couple of years though.  Ugh.  

I've spent probably 4 hours wet sanding the frame and getting the texture out of the paint, and another 2 in buffing it.  Maybe I'll call it done and get some pictures taken this weekend.  That's the plan at least.

Clear solution

I am one coat of clear away from finishing my own personal road bike, and then only a mere crankset, bottom bracket, shifters and brakes away from building the thing up. I'm waiting on a couple of external things, notably cranks. Since I've gone with BB30, and I'm kind of addicted to my 180mm cranks, there are a couple of options I could go with. The best, or at least lightest/most efficient would be using Lightning Cranks. Their website is pretty terrible, but they seem to have done an excellent job of designing a light weight, BB30 compatible product. Expense is the only thing holding me back here though, as they're roughly twice as expensive as my other best option, the SRAM Red cranks which are pretty light and available in 177.5 mm length. Would I notice a difference of 2.5mm or an extra 100 grams of weight? Who knows, but the Red's aren't available until May 10th at the earliest, and I don't know if I can wait that long!!
My other option is to get an adapter for the BB and swap over my 180mm Rival cranks that I've been riding for the past year, with the eventual hope of getting myself some wicked cranks as time goes by.

The frame itself is looking good, and I'm hoping that all of the minor details that I'm sweating in the finish work right now will pay off in the end and melt away in the final finished bike. My goal is to have it ready by my first race, but I'm doubtful that that will happen, as I've got a lot of stuff on my plate with other projects and job stuff these days. I think that the best case scenario will have me putting things together by the end of April. With luck I'll be able to race my bike at Turkey Hill, and maybe even finish the bastard this year.