Groody Bros. Bicycle Restoration

Mark, of San Rafael, CA, sent us two frames at the same time. One was a Serotta travel frame with S&S couplers, along with a stem. Prior to arriving here, he had some modifications done to the frame for internal wiring. We removed the coupler collars and stripped off the remaining paint. Mark had selected Diamond Blue for the new color. After powder coating, furnished decals were applied, and then a gloss clear urethane top for additional sheen and protection. In our opinion he’s got himself a very sophisticated looking ride for the road.

Charles is a local Topeka resident who we first met at the Topeka Community Cycling Project a couple of years ago when he was in high school. He has a passion for fixing up bicycles and is already quite a collector. He has worked for us part time over the past two years, primarily doing disassembly and media blasting. Some time back he salvaged an REI Novara Arriba mountain bike frame from the scrap pile at TCCP that he wanted to fix up for himself. The aluminum seat post was hopelessly seized into the steel frame. After trying all of the conventional methods of removal we switched to the radical methods. In our collection of obsolete and abandoned tools we had a vintage quill remover made from a old bumper jack (if you are younger than 50 you probably have never heard of such a thing). A 1/2” hole was drilled through the seat post and a steel rod was inserted. The tool was braced against the bottom bracket shell and tensioned against the rod. While the jack was being ratcheted up, heat was applied to the seat tube. So much force was applied to the contraption that the steel rod bent into a “V” shape. Eventually, the post began to budge, and ultimately was removed from the frame.
Charles’ favorite color is yellow, which probably attracted him to the frame in the first place. We had agreed to let him powder coat the frame himself, something that he had not done previously. We had several single stage yellows in stock, easy first-timer application sort of stuff. Nope… He chose the most difficult of all, Candy Yellow Transparent, with an Alien Silver base coat and glitter clear top coat. It was a definite learning experience for the young man but he got what he wanted. We hope to see finished build photos in the near future.

Trevatie, of Kansas City, brought us his Cult DAK BMX frame for repair and refinishing. It had a sizable dent in the down tube to be filled in. He chose Sunset Orange with a Casper Clear (matte) top coat for the new color. He recently sent us photos of the finished build. Pretty snappy!

Travis, of Shawnee, KS, is a repeat customer. He brought us a Trek 900 series road bike frame. Initially, he only wanted decals and top coat applied. We haggled a bit and encouraged him to allow us to strip off the “too thick” layer of powder coat and refinish it properly. This revealed that it was a model 950. Gloss black, with a metallic royal blue head tube were used for the color scheme. We applied the decals that Travis had supplied and then sent it out for a urethane gloss clear coat. We found a period correct brass head badge in our stockpile and used in in lieu of the supplied decal. He recently sent us a photo of the finished build. What a classic!

Today, for the first time in almost 20 years, there were no customer bikes to work on in the shop. “Wow, so this is what retirement will feel like!” To celebrate we mixed up a “Tequila Sunrise”. Using Illusion Cherry, Illusion Orange Cherry, and Illusion Orange we created a fade from the top to the bottom of the frame and fork. Our party was short lived… Within two hours a local bike shop called to say that they had not one, but two bikes waiting for us to pick up. Oh well, we kinda overdid it on the Grenadine anyway. Best to leave the mixology to the trained professionals. Duty calls - Ride safe out there.

John, of Kansas City, is a repeat customer. This go-round he had us spruce up a Schwinn High Sierra that he wanted to use as his daily commuter. He chose Auto Charcoal Metallic for the color. While building it up he discovered that the fork blades, which had come with the frame, were bent, and would not accept a wheel. Their O.L.D. was around 93-94mm, and both were leaning to the non-drive side. We were able to spread them to the proper 100mm width and realign them back to center. John is a happy camper again and in search of some cargo racks to complete the build.

Scott, of Shawnee, KS, brought us his Soma Double Cross for a makeover. While the paint on the frame was still in very good condition, he wanted something a little different, and a pair of water bottle bosses added to the underside of the down tube. He chose Red Drop, from Prismatic Powders, for the new color. We had paint specially matched for application to the carbon fork. Both the frame and fork were clear coated to unify the gloss level between the two processes. He graced us with several photos of the final build. It looks stunning to us.

Geoff, of Columbus, NC, shipped us a project that nearly maxed out our capabilities. His Greenspeed GTX Recumbent Trike was in need of refinishing. The original finish on the frame was powder coat so chemical stripping was required. Once the green powder coat was removed the true extent of the superficial corrosion was revealed. By creating a makeshift extension to our blasting cabinet, we were able to remove the rust from the frame. Dimensionally, it should fit into our oven, but the awkward nature of the design made it a challenge. Suspending the frame by 4 points and several practice sessions of moving it from the powder coat booth to the oven, we were confident enough to proceed. Geoff chose Super Durable Wet Black for the color. The practice paid off, the frame went into the oven without touching anything. A collective sigh of relief was heard throughout the shop. From Geoff – “Trike frame just arrived - it is looking spectacular. Thank you so much for agreeing to take on your first recumbent trike frame.” We’ve heard a rumor that there be another in our future.

Ethan, of Portland, OR, sent us his Rock Lobster for some serious modifications and refinishing. He was converting it into a single speed and wanted a cleaner, less cluttered, look to the frame. The main item that he wanted was to have a flush mounted internal rear brake housing tube added to the top tube. Along with that he requested that we remove six of the existing housing stops or guides, and add two “ring style” guides to the seat stay. He chose RAL 7038 Agate Grey for the color, and provided a set of replacement decals. The stem was powder coated in the same color, and the carbon fork was wet painted to match. High gloss urethane clear top coat was applied to all of the parts. It is quite the transition from its original look.

If you have followed us for any length of time at all you have seen some of the projects we have done for Don of Middleton, RI. He has a passion for finding obscure vintage bikes and bringing them back to life. This time he sent us a very sun-faded Automoto Champion. His greatest desire was to see if we could recreate the double box lining on the frame and fork. We couldn’t do it freehand like the craftsmen of old, but we could make it out of white cut vinyl. He chose Illusion Berry for the color, and supplied us with a set of decals. During the prep inspection we found a dent in the down tube that would need to be filled in with brass brazing prior to powder coating. Along with the application of the decals and vinyl box lining we also did extensive lug lining in white enamel. His response upon receiving the frame back was quite gratifying. “(The frame) arrived safe and sound today! it's not just incredible... it's exquisite! you are the Jedi master of bike restoration! Thank you sooo much for your efforts with this frame! Don”.