Drillium

i've always thought that there was a big bit of 

toomuch metal on the 1st gen DA chainrings

so i drilliumed them a bit

please don't look too closely

or you'll see how close I came to fucking up.

who else loves drillium?

i think it's like tattoos:

once you've done it once

you'll never be able to stop

and will probably start doing it in all kinds of

inappropriate places

PS - good riddance tony abbot you sorry-arsed shitwaffle

Wish I Could Be There

bespoke forks for Supa Sport

this is the reason the supa sport has been off the road for so long
new set of bespoke forks
vintage Reynolds blades and butted steerer
ornate lug of unknown origin
some custom bosses for the DA centrepull brakes
these will do away with the original yoke
at the top of the above pic
only the two brake caliper arms will be needed

Dura Ace drop outs

although this lug might seem a bit fancy for a fillet brazed frame

they will be well filed

and painted the same colour as the blades

Viscount red top half, chrome bottom half

with no lining or accents

so hopefully not so noticeable from a distance

Dura Ace first gen brake levers... with holes

mmmmmmmm... 

Dura Ace dropouts!

the final, final touch to the supa-sport

finally she will have proper DA dropouts with axle-adjusters

soon... ish

At the jeweller's

I call him that because he's not really a frame-builder

yet

and he's not just a mechanic

he makes stuff to fix or enhance bikes 

and has the tolerances of a jeweller or horologist

+/- 0.01mm is his definition of

close enough for rock and roll

he's also got a bit of a tool fetish

which I can totally understand

there's nothing better

than having the right tool for the job.

New noodles for VA Sport

finally tired of the extreme drop of the cinelli gyros,

so moved up to a new pair of nitto noodles

with their characteristic backward-sweeping tops.

shellacked, black cloth tape matches the very dark brown ideale 70 saddle.
black was often chosen for these bikes out of the factory.

in picture but difficult to make out is the Sugino 38t chainring.

"Moon" rear light

attaches to seat rails
so keeps seat post clear
USB rechargeable
excellent non-flashing mode
powerful enough for the jump to hyperspace

Frame geometry - Routens and Aerospace Sport

getting curious about things like frame geometry

and in particular head and seat tube angles

next stop is working out fork offset

Cinelli bars on a Viscount

pity about the Cane creek hoods I know, but hey, this is temporary...

yes I've finally put drop bars on the beloved Sport.
it came about from perving at all the 700c randoneuses in this book.
so I got an old Cinelli Campione del Mondo bars and stem
these bars are period-correct in terms of shape—
deep drops and all
I would have preferred a Nitto Noodles or something with a shallower drop
but the LBS didn't have them in 25.4 to fit the Viscount stem
and this is a cheap test since I already had everything bar the tape.

covered with some brown cloth tape and shellac:
looks the same as leather tape, more long-lasting and cheaper by far.

the cables are NOS first gen Dura Ace
big thick stonking things that could stop a truck

looks good n'est pas?
the ride is a bit strange, as it always is with a new cockpit
handling is less sure
but the range of hand positions is greater.

here's the old set-up with Nitto North-road bars and Viscount stem

Shellacked bartape

I've used cloth bar tape and shellac on several of my bikes now
and it has been great.

The cloth tape on the VA Sport above was originally bright red.

Durable, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.
I don't care that it's not completely period-correct.

This tape was bright yellow before shellacking.

I also found that the shellac is strong enough to hold the tape in place without the need for

electrical tape or twine to bind it off at the end.

I especially like how it wears.
侘寂
or wabi sabi the Japanese call it.

Aussie Viscount ad

courtesty of one of the guys here.

Supa Sport finished

finally done
frame bands, tubing spec decal
and chain-stay aerospaces.
complete as it will ever be


big pictures natch
click on them

Logos 2

Julio

got caught in the rain on the way home
so stopped at julio
the café of the lovely Michelle in
nth fitz
waiting took some pics

the shop was closed but the verandahs were welcome.

not many cafés have food as good. go.