Painted and Pretty

At last! The randonneuring bike I built with Dave Bohm has a fresh coat of paint and is ready for more rolling fun.

Since April I’ve been riding with the frameset unpainted. While the raw steel looks nice mottled with gold, copper, and silver, I knew that at some point I’d have to get it painted to preserve its life. When the El Niño rains started in October it was time to act.

Lugged bikes look best wet painted, not powder coated. A powder coat, while durable, is too thick to emphasize the crisp lines of the lug edges. So the search began for a Bay Area painter.

I left voicemails with a few painters in the area. Rick at D & D Cycles in San Lorenzo was the first to return my call. And that’s how I decided on a painter.

I brought the frameset to Rick and then we discussed what I was looking for: a dark blue for the fork and headtube and a lighter blue for the rest of the frame. Rick helped me choose the colors using some swatches and then I left My Precious with him to work his color magic. Two months later and My Precious came back, looking all the better for it.

The process of building a steel frameset is finally complete. I’d recommend it to anybody who is even remotely interested. It’s such a treat to ride a bike that you made.