Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Ugh. Five.hours.





My only relief was the fact I did not have to put the primer straight down (alu) or I would still be out there ffs.

 

I've spent a few hours today applying invisiFRAME to my Giant Trance 29 frame, I've got the front end all buttoned up, rear shock installed and the rear mech bolted in. I need a few lengths of that pipe lagging style internal cable routing silencer then hopefully I should have a new bike by next weekend.

 

I like! That mean a buddy or a replacement for the Scout?

 

You have more patience than I do that’s for sure.

what’s next then?

 

Oh, I'm a several bike kinda girl. I had a 2015 Trance 2, but it was getting a bit old in terms of spec and geometry. Plus I've never rode 29" wheels in anger so I thought now was the time. While doing it I've spec'd it roughly the same as my Scout so I only need one set of spares. Both bikes run:

Hope headset, (only need to keep 2 bearings)
Fox 34s, one set of seals as spares
Shimano 12speed (SLX on Scout, XT for Trance) so same chain, 10-45 cassette, 30T ring as spares
I've not afforded them for the Trance yet, but Pro5 hub wheels on both, so one set of bearings per wheel as spares
Hope Tech 3 brakes with 200m Front and 180mm Rear rotors, one set of seals and pads as spares for 4 brakes. Plus a pair of rotors.

Next will be upgrade my gravel bike to Hope RX calipers and a 12sp drive train and the spares cover that one too.

What I need to do is sell my Trek Crockett, old Trance frame, 3 sets of forks, 11sp M8000 drivetrain, 3 pairs of forks and a rear shock.

 

A friggin holiday. Literally.

TBH I wanted to do a good job because the paint kit is going to cost £118. A lot, basically.

What I do know is whoever painted it red did so in a body shop. Because it is 2k. Far harder than the white under it, basically. Which is good, because it means the paint will have a very solid foundation. But yeah, I have to admit the red mist came in and I wanted it smooth as silk. And it is, so yeah.

 

To be fair I wish I had gone NX on this Scout to make life easier. I will be swapping out to MT5s as these Codes just aren’t for me and in doing so I’ll be unifying the pad, fluid, lines etc. It’s the main reason I also went mullet rather than full 29er as I will have a set of tyres I can swap and change about depending on my mood too. I’ve got a spare set of Roval wheels with the DT Swiss 350 hubs on route so I may get an NX drive train and swap it all out and keep the Shimano for when I finally get around to building up something for the missus.

 

No rest for the wicked.



The black is filler primer. It fills the sanding marks from the sander.



As well as any scratches that went into the alu. Not a problem I am used to tbh, but it works very well. What I mean is I have never restored an alu frame.



So yeah, no rest for the wicked (or money it seems)



I also have mild heat stroke. I was in the shade for all 5 of those hours but it seems it didn't matter. Last night when I had my shower I saw how burnt I was. My head was red hot for hours and I felt pretty nauseous. Horrible feeling tbh.

Feel a lot better today, other than the fact I have destroyed my shoulder.

 

How many bikes do you now have @Vault-Tec ?

Awesome paint colour choice too by the looks of it!

 

I don't know tbh. *thinks*

Terrible One Barcode
Standard STA
Four Bike Co Battletech
GT Speed Series
Fit Mixtape V3
Metal Kizz
S&M Dirt Bike Next Gen
S&M NBD
Morales BTS
Eastern Jane
Eastern Hercules
Specialized Fat Boy Hemi MX
2Hip Pork
Standard Trail Boss
Schwinn Powerglide

Plus the Ti road bike and Pinarello.

Then two out on long term/permanent loan.

Then several frames (off the top of my head a 2006 Quadangle Pro, FIT Logic, Sunday Funday).

So current count is 17. Plus obviously the goose I am doing.

 

Holy s***

Where the hell do you find the space!? I have 3 then the kids have a bike each, the missus too. I was thinking of getting an emtb at some point, probably next summer as the cooker will be off hopefully with the child seat not needed due to the youngest being able to ride a bike. (High hopes I know).

Need to sort out something like the scout to replace the Scott the missus rides first as that thing is in need of too many replacement parts. Discs, pads, chain, two tyres and a single inner tube. I’m not sure it’s worth it tbh..

 

Mum's loft mostly. Three are waiting to go into the dead space in my bathroom at home though (you can't walk in it as the ceiling is at an angle so you just smash your head). The two road bikes are in my bedroom. One up on the wall, one below it. However, they will both fit in my walk in closet over winter.

 

OK so I had one job left to do to make the bike buildable at the end. The fork was a Landing Gear FS model (freestyle). So it had 990 brake lugs, a cable guide and a welded in star nut in the larger size for a pott's mod (a hollow bolt).

Obviously before I laid the primer I removed the lugs and the cable guide. However... This did not fit.



Due to the 10mm ish top conical part. It's a headlock. Any way, I bought some drill bits that go all the way up to 13mm and slowly drilled the hole bigger in .5mm increments. It was terrifying, and I now have a nice bruise on my upper chest from the drill ramming into it when the bit got stuck, but...



FIT YOU C*NT.





Paint arrives tomorrow. I've done some filler primer work on the fork too.

 

Oh that looks slick!

 

That paint is amazing. There are no other words for it really. In fact, all of the paints I have had from them have been equally incredible other than the candy. However, I personally hate painting with candy so that is probably why I think that. It's an absolute ball ache.

Fork and bars tomorrow. I will be thankful for the rest.

 

Final clear coat when it stops raining.

 

You custom painted the saddle too?

Mind blown.

On a side note, I just ordered an accessory for my bikes. 2024 VW ID Buzz in green

 

Yeah. It was on the GT speed before I put on a pivotal. Solid carbon body with carbon rails. Figured I may as well use it.

Stickers are all printed. Just need to laminate and cut.



The bottom one was the set I bought which are non specific to the bike.

 

So with the paint (well, clear coat) done I can now move onto other things. First up, the front wheel. I had the wheels made custom onto 90s hubs because it cost me very little (£120). The problem was the front rim.



One side (the other is pristine) has some logo rub. Any way, some alcohol on a paper towel and.



There is still a very faint trace of them, but I was always going to make new pink ones for that side any way.