Cyclokairos

The spray can said burgundy. It’s not, is it? Not enough red, right? Some sort of purple – Aubergine? Plum? Queen of Night Tulip? Maybe not that deep a purple. They are out in force in the garden. Late April, through into May, my favourite time for the garden – pre-summer-slouch-verdancy to the fore.

My last post – some time ago, so much going on to keep me off the bike – detailed how far I got with the spare parts bin. This far:

I managed to finish the build. A drivetrain – Campagnolo chain-set and front derailleur, and Shimano XTR rear derailleur – friction shifted, and with the rear derailleur being opposite motion (Rapid Rise in Shimano speak), up is up with the right-hand bar-end shifter.

A Brooks (what else?) perch and a Velo Orange mini-randonneur bag repurposed as a saddlebag (a Carradice the inevitable destination?):

For some reason I went with padded Newbaum bar tape, rather than unpadded. I’m used to the slender unpadded version:

The “girth” was a bit of a shock at first but I’ve come round to it, and the comfort is noticeable. The initial coats of clear shellac left residue in places, but I eventually got the desired shine:

How does it ride? Like a bike. And for a first attempt at painting, with a mostly spare parts’ build, it doesn’t look too bad either.