Fluo

Figured I’d write about this project as a single post after completion. As it started as a bit of an experiment, I didn’t actually bother logging or photographing the initial stages.

Late last year, I started keeping an eye on some rusty bicycles near my home. Besides being rusty, they were also missing a lot of parts. However, roughly estimating by sight, they seemed to be of similar size. This got me thinking whether they could be combined to a single working bicycle. After several months had passed and the bicycles were not moving, I declared them mine and took them to the workshop at work. Consider it a free cleanup service for the block of flats I live in ;)

Come early june, I started thinking maybe it’d be time to see if a usable bicycle could become reality. Summer and all that, so I could sure appreciate a cycle to cruise around with..

After that, a lot of boring dismantling and paint removal took place. I chose a very bad method (scraping + sanding) for the latter so it took quite a while before I got to painting and assembly. I also had to shop for some parts, namely a new saddle, pedals, handlebar grips, a lock and a tire. For the main colors, I chose black and a fluorescent blue. Yes, the bicycle glows in UV-light :D.

I know, a bit pointless considering that after leaving the workshop, the bicycle will most likely not ever see UV-light. Despite being far more expensive than conventional (or even metallic) spray paint, it just was such a funny one that I had no choice but to go for it :). Not like it’s a regular blue in normal daylight either. All in all, I estimate having spent somewhere around +160€ on all the parts and supplies.

Chain guard & kickstand painted.

The chainguard was pretty badly bent, but I got it hammered straight eventully. After sanding and painting it was about as good as new, minus the paint leaking slightly under the masking tape. There are some small jaggies visible where the two colors meet but only if you look close enough.

Painting the kickstand felt relatively pointless, as I assume the paint will wear out rather quick. However, for the sake of keeping as much of the two-color theme as possible, I decided to paint it anyway. All the painting was done in the order of primer -> paint -> lacquer and using multiple layers.

The rim gets it too.

Paint mess on the rim.

Getting the rims all done took a while, as the spokes had to be masked one by one. Whilst painting, I managed to get the paint running in a few spots. As additional layers didn’t seem to be covering up the mess left by cleaning off excess paint, so after a while trying to fix them I just gave up and advanced to assembling the frame.

Painted and partially assembled frame.

All done!

Stickers on the head tube.

Stickers on the down tube.

Sticker on the chain guard.

Testing the glow with UV-lamp :D/

Glow glow!

All in all, the bicycle turned out a smoothly / lightly rolling one. Definitely paid to clean up the crank bearings and whatnot :)

Now is this the first ever demoscene branded bicycle in the world?)