When I work on a bike with exceptionally nice paint
like one customer's Erickson hanging in my shop right
now, there's foam rubber pipe insulation on the main
tubes--cheap, fits almost everything, easily obtained.
I consider it the equivalent of the drapes some car
mechanics lay over the front fenders of an auto they
have the hood open on.
David Feldman
Vancouver, WA
> Steven,
> I understand your view about this, but nicks,
> scratches and other "badges of
> honor" are meant to be earned out on the road, not
> the result of a mechanic
> fumbling with a greasy wrench.
> It's aggravating for me to have a customer due to
> pick up his high zoot
> Candy pearl / fade tiger- striped flame painted
> wonder bike in the morning
> and the mechanic comes back to my hovel at 4 pm the
> day before with a nice
> big chip on the top tube and ask "Can you make this
> look like it never
> happened?"
> It's unacceptable in our shop for this to happen,
> so our "constructeur"
> uses low tack blue painter's masking tape (available
> at Home Depot) and runs
> a length of this tape on top of the down tube, top
> tube, seat stays and
> chainstays ( you can also put some on the fork
> blades if you wanna be real
> safe).
> We buy it in 1" and 2" widths for different size
> tubes. I've seen him drop
> wrenches on the frame from time to time and they
> bounce off the tape with no
> harm done to the finish underneath. Many headaches
> are avoided this way.
> When all work is done, simply pull the tape off and
> clean any residue with
> some Pledge or other mild cleaner. If the paint
> comes off with the tape,
> THAT is a whole 'nother problem altogether.
> Many times people will pick up their bike and remark
> that "It's too nice to
> ride". I tell them that the bikes are made to be
> ridden no matter how
> beautiful and to not worry about scratches, because
> we won't live long
> enough to see these bikes attract insane monetary
> value, so enjoy them.
> One last note, if your bike does get scratched, put
> some kind of paint over
> the gumby to seal it from the air. If you don't,
> this is where rust will
> start to creep in and gradually deteriorate the
> area.
> I don't care what kind of paint it is, Testors,
> fingernail polish or
> whatever, just cover any bare metal or primer. Ride
> your bike and accept
> the nicks and scratches; they all have a story to
> tell.
>
> Joe Bell
> San Diego
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven L. Sheffield" <stevens@veloworks.com>
> To: "Joe Bell" <joebell@cox.net>; "Classic
> Rendezvous"
> <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 5:24 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Re:was 1983?? Guess I'm looking for
> a new list...now
> preshakedown ride frame prep
>
>
> > on 06/03/2003 11:29 PM, Joe Bell at
> joebell@cox.net wrote:
> >
> > > Steven wrote:
> > > e-RICHIE's gonna hate what I do to JB's paint
> job before
> > > the frame he builds me ever rolls on pavement.
> > >
> > > Steven,
> > > What ARE you gonna do to the paint job?
> > > I wanna know.
> >
> >
> > If I run true to form for every bike I've ever
> built up for myself, I'll
> > have wrench slip and put a small chip in the paint
> ... as I did with both
> of
> > my Rivendells (1 top tube, 1 seat stay), my
> Waterford track bike (chain
> > stay), and my Cooper (down tube).
> >
> > While never on purpose, it helps me get over NBS
> (new bike syndrome)
> really
> > quick.
> >
> > NBS defined: "I can't ride that bike, it's new
> and will get dirty!!!"
> >
> > If a bike is not pristine, then there's no
> disincentive to ride it!
> <grin>
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Steven L. Sheffield
> > stevens at veloworks dot com
> > veloworks at worldnet dot ay tea tee dot net
> > bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis
> est
> > ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea aye tee why you
> ti ay aitch
> > aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four
> ward] slash double-you
> > double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [four
> word] slash
> >
> >
> >
>
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