Time for a wee catch up on both single speed projects. First the Harley Quinn. We’re not quite ready for that all important final weigh-in. I have the lighter tyres but don’t have any inner tubes that fit them. So, fitting those will have to wait. Thought I had some in stock, hunted high and low, but no luck. No rush, plenty to be getting on with the Surly Ogre.
The frame, forks and handlebars are now primed, rubbed down and ready for paint. But as the overall colour scheme and design follows on from that on the wheel rims, they are first on the list. With the wheel rim being 36-hole rather than the 32-hole on Harley Quinn, my original 8-colours colour scheme does not fit well into 36. So, what I eventually decided was to omit black and white and stick to the 6 fluro colours. I also wanted the colour blocks to be larger and more noticeable, if that is at all even possible given the colour scheme I’m using. So, 6 colours in 36-hole fits neatly with six sections per colour, split into two mirrored areas diagonally across the wheel rim.
And that was my task today, spray painting the wheel rims. And as you can see from the image above, good progress has been made. I’m now at the stage where the paint needs a good sand down with wet ‘n’ dry. The paint has a powdery matt finish, the blurb on Spray.Bike mentions something about particles added to allow the paint to be fluorescent. If you weren’t expecting that you would think what a mess! However, keep good faith and all will turn out nicely in the end.
Leaving the paint to cure fully overnight means I can get the rims sanded down tomorrow and masked for the finishing band of either black or white (not decided which yet!) that goes between the colour blocks, same as on the Harley Quinn. And as tomorrow looks set to be a heavy shower and thunderstorm day – which we badly need – a day in the shed will make good use of the time. I also want to be around to setup my GoPro cameras on time lapse mode should we be lucky enough to get a decent thunderstorm.
After the wheel rims are ready for the final touches – I’ll need to wait until dry weather to paint them and add the glossy top coat – my next task is to design the layout of colour blocks on the frame, forks and handlebars. Of course, keeping in mind the size and order of the colour blocks on the wheel rims. The biggest problem I’ll face with the frame and forks is trying to avoid having to mask edges around bottle, rack or brake cable mounts. It can be done but is difficult to get a neat finish, so better to avoid if possible.
One point to note with this type of project is when to stop painting, where to draw the line and say enough is enough. Where do you stop fixing all those little imperfections, that little bit of overspray that’s sneaked it’s way under the masking tape or that mark where a wasp crash landed on the wet paint? Well, here’s my philosophy in this. It’s not a show bike to be displayed and never ridden, it’s a working turfing bike and will soon accumulate all those little dings, scratches and marks that a well-ridden bike should have. Good, sorted. Now I don’t need to bother so much about getting everything perfect.
I’ve been doing some calculations regarding the possible final weight of the finished Surly Ogre single speed and I’m pleased, and very surprised as well, to say that it will hopefully be around 11.80 kg, not much more than the estimated 11.10 kg final weight of the Harley Quinn. Dead chuffed about that though I’m not counting my chicken before they hatch, if you know what I mean. Only at the final weigh-in will I know for sure. Calculating the weights from online sources might not be all that accurate. In any case, much better than the original 15.80 kg the Surly Ogre weighed before I started.
There is the potential to reduce that Surly Ogre’s 11.80 kg down to 10.50 kg by replacing some components with carbon fibre alternatives. However, at a cost of around £1000.00, is it really worth it? Same would apply to the Harley Quinn, reducing the weight from 11.10 kg to 10.10 kg (just about that 10 kg target). Again, at the same cost. The bulk of the weight saving would be the carbon fibre wheelset. A hefty amount of credits to save 1 kg! Still, only another 5-years until I get my state pension when I’ll have more cash. Perhaps then?
P.S. with my bathroom scales not giving me the same weights twice in a row, the above mentioned weights are possibly suspect.
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