21st novembre 2012 Fixie project phase 4

21st novembre 2012 Fixie project phase 4

We are now getting down to the pointy end of "The Project". The painting of the white has been completed and now I am lacquering. Well, I think I am lacquering but really it seems that I am just spraying clear paint over the top "brillante trasperento". Lacquer is crucial to avoid chipping and damage, and is possibly the most important part, and I have no idea if I am doing it right. The Italian word for lacquer appears to be "lacca" but I could not find any anywhere. So I am going heavy. I will have used two full spray cans of lacquer by the end which I hope will be sufficient. This is on top of one can of red, one can of green and two cans of white. I have probably doubled the weight of the bike :)

Meanwhile I have been artisinally customisng the handlebars - for these read hacking them down to some quasi-bull bars. It took several types of progressively larger hacksaw but eventually the one below was able to cut off the required part.

The lacquer goes on and on and on, taking advantage of a rare alignment of both peace and tranquility. Aided by my beautiful assistant, as ever!

And now the "stuff" hass arrived, courtesy of singlespeedcomponents.co.uk. I decided to get everything from there, including tools that I didn't have so that I could get it all in one fell swoop.
Here is my list of purcahses:

Gold SSC Premium Wheelset 130mm O.L.D.          

17T fixed cog /18T free                                              

Red tyres plus tubes                                                   

Chainset and Bottom Br. Suntour Black 42t               

Microadjust Seat Post 24mm                                                 

BLB Red Saddle                                                         

Tektro dual pivot front brake                                       

Single front Lever Tri                                                  

Chain Whip                                                                

ISIS Bottom Bracket tool                                            

Chainset Tool                                                             

Lock Ring Tool                                                                        

Brake Cable                                                               

Chain                                                                           

MKS Pedals, Road                                         

Red Bar Tape  

And it's all here. I've played with a few bits and bobs, blown up one inner tube since the hipster-style only allow pressure up to 95 psi - che palle!

So I am awaitng the lacquer to dry and will assemble, including the oh so delicate bottom bracket insertion on Saturday. If I fudge this part up then the frame is dead. So I'd better do that right and make sure I've not had too much fun at Derek's thanksgiving's party!

Onwards and upwards!