At 18:37 -0700 04.01.2007, Chuck Schmidt wrote:
>Robert Clair wrote:
>
>>... and the new project is a little ViValo from the far east. yes
>>it has the proverbial "keirin" ding in the top tube, but it's not
>>so bad. sort of a badge of honour.
>>(snip)
>>... so much nicer in it's traditional build than the current cut
>>and plug keirin frames like Nagasawa etc.
>>... and no sparkles in the paint either !
>
>
>My four(?) year old Kiyo Miyazawa has none of the cut and plug
>construction and has beautifully filed and pantographed investment
>cast lugs and lots of colored glitter in the silver metallic paint
>(thanks again Joey Ramone)!
>
>I was informed that the sparkle paint job was called rame and done
>to catch the lights on the keirin track, the sign of a true keirin
>racer. Maybe I'm just shallow and luv the bling-bling?
>
>Anyone?
from what little i know (ive got a good friend whos been bringing over keirin bikes a couple at a time for the past 10+ years), the big flake (2mm and bigger bits of glitter) sparkle jobs only started becoming popular maybe 6-7 years ago, a little bit before the (possibly short-lived - i havent seen one for a while) fashion for ultra-steep seat tube angles went through keirin.
whether or not it would actually catch the lights enough to be noticeable by anyone other than the guy racing on it (who would, one hopes, be too busy to notice!), is anyones guess...
personally, the glitter paint aint my thing, but theres plenty out there who dig it.
-joel
--
joel metz : magpie@blackbirdsf.org : http://www.blackbirdsf.org/
bike messengers worldwide : ifbma : http://www.messengers.org/
magpie messenger collective http://www.magpiemessenger.com/
portland, oregon
==
i know what innocence looks like - and it wasn't there,
after she got that bicycle...