Autumnal and such

I'm enjoying riding around on 2 bikes of my own design these days. I did a press-fit Shimano standard bottom bracket on this bike, and somehow I think that things are a bit off. Despite fiddling with the handlebars, wheel dish and other things, there's a slight sense of unbalance that I can't quite shake. The bike handles nicely enough, and I can ride no hands as long as I like, but there's a strange lightness when turning right, and a lack thereof when turning left. I'm thinking that I must not have got the seat-tube centered quite right or perhaps there is a kink in the bamboo that I didn't account for. Somehow it feels a little better when I hang my left butt cheek off to the side a bit, so I'm going to install my FSA DATA seatpost and see if I can slide it left or right enough to make a difference in the fit.

Live and learn.

Finally Painted

I finally got around to painting up my cross bike a few weeks ago. Amazing how a coat of paint can make a bike feel more finished.

Matching Shoes? Oh yes!

Finally, a bike

F'ing paint

There are a lot of things that I suck at, and painting bikes is certainly one. I tried to put the clearcoat onto my cyclocross bike, which I finally finished this past weekend. After hours of sanding and fiddling, I wouldn't have thought that there would be any issues remaining with non-sticking paint, but sure enough a flock of fish eyes popped up on both chainstays and at little spots on the top tube, down tube WHEREVER.

The rest of the paint job sucked too. I don't know if it's just that I can't get the hang of my HVLP gun, or what, but I cannot lay down a smooth paintjob to save my life. This results in HOURS AND HOURS of sanding to make up for my errors, and lots of lost time.

Hipsters know what's up

 
Found this note scrawled on the back of a messenger building pass on my bike the other day. Just wait until he sees it with paint on!