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Im not sure you want to shed weight through random abrasion tbh ;)

They were very quick, but the first try they missed spots, then they tried twice more but apparently the 'good' guy was on holiday, then after bead blasting the bike 3 times they got it right, and I picked it up.

Plus side - the finish is lovely, they were friendly the entire time and did the extras at their expense, so I'd be surprised if they made any money from me. And really, they were good about being open and honest about what was going on.

Downside was it took 2 weeks to finish (I could have picked up a few days earlier, but work and such got in the way once the original dates slipped) and the bikes been bead blasted 4 times.

I guess it's lighter now ;-p so there's that...

Pearlescent white, gloss finish, 4th try, but now very nice. In person it has a slight green/purple tinge depending on how the light hits it. Minor sparkles.

Finally got it back from Armourtex. Time to go. Spent an hour today watching Dr Who and Strictly with The Girl scrubbing off old logos on the stem and bars with CIF. Now I'm wondering if I dare do it with the new crankset too. Hmmm ;-p Complete NoLogo?

Thanks to Kris at CycleLab for the face'n'chase post powdercoat and the good folks at Moorgate CycleSurgery for getting me up and running with what now appears to be an entire toolbox dedicated to bike tools ;-p

Off to Clerkenwell Screws in the morning to replace the rusty bits. Fun ;-p

And soon a pair of new wheels on white industries hubs and h+son TB14 rims.

Anyone lost a reynolds tubing Raleigh roadbike with gold chainset? Met a bloke who bought it on gumtree. His description was... odd

Thanks Doc - reassuring ;-p

I'd be careful about assuming you can lug line yourself post powdercoat - my understanding is it can be quite tricky to find things that will stick well to the gloss layer. Might be worth giving them a call and asking first.

They apparently got it right on the 4th try. Should I be worried or just make sure I never chip the paint again? ;-p

Steel - mix of lugs and TIG weld.

Yeah, I know thats weird.

Armourtex are having problems getting the coat to stick to my frame. Apparently its going in for the third time now. Any thoughts on whether this is likely to weaken the welds or tubes?

They have a number of lacquer examples, but I'm not sure they have them all - I would try calling ahead. They're pretty helpful on the phone. when I looked there were a pretty small number of lacquer examples, and I imagine they could be combined in a huge number of combinations (different lacquers with different base coats)

Ok, so I now have begged, borrowed or bought:
Groupset
Frame & forks (powder coated Rossin, 'eddie fit' geometry in Comp. Cyclist parlance)
Rims, Hubs, Tyres, inners
Seatpost
bars
Stem
Saddle
Zinn and the art of roadbike maintenance
Haynes bike book
Big stock of tools, tarp & bike stand (which anyone in EC is welcome to come use if they're stuck ;-P)

I.e: Everything I need to build my bike, and maintain it going forwards.

I figure I'll get the LBS to fit the headset and the cups, as I'm going to get the headtube and BB both faced & the BB chased anyway, given the powdercoat may have coated the edge slightly. I'll get the wheels assembled by Arup for now, and take one of his classes to learn how to do it myself in future.

Beyond go-slow slow patience, does anyone have any recommendations? I'm using the 'cycle fit' list here for advice on sizing of parts & angle of stem/bars, etc, and figure I'll avoid wrapping the bars for a while until I'm sure I have the ergos & angles comfy (I'll just use gloves at first)

Anything I should read or do first? Anything I should leave to the professionals as insane for a first try outside the headset?

Ta ;-p I'm rather nervous of making something that's either going to clown-car disassemble on its first ride, or give me numb horrible arms and back pain while I fiddle with the ten zillion settings.

Matt

No fuss no bother. They took it back in to recoat today ;)

They definitely can do multi colour - they have a crazy 80's style multicolour on the wall. I asked if they did it, and the guy (Duncan, I think) said yes. I said bet you wont be doing that again, and he grimaced, and said no.

So whether they will is another question. It was an impressive pic though ;-p

Looks really nice Crows. I like the decals too - elegant proportions. What did you choose to stick on the laquer? Any clearcoat?

Almost wish I'd seen that before I chose the pearlescent white - a turquoise blue laquer like that would be beautiful on my frame ;-p

Well, the frame looks beautiful where it's powder coated (pearlescent white with gloss laquer), but not all is perfect. Details and pics below.

UPDATE FOR FUTAR READARS FROM THA FUTAR (where we spell like this): The below is preserved so you know things may not be perfect with Armortex, but - two weeks later than have completely redone the bike, and the finish is really very good. I am happy. Lost 2 weeks of riding but worth it. Beautiful.

The Good:
The powdercoat is lovely - it is a glossy white that very subtly catches the light and shimmers purple or green depending on where it's positioned. Every bit as nice as the old Dupont paint from a metre or so away. It is slightly more 'dipply' on very close inspection than the paint was, but that is holding the frame to nose to see.

The Armourtex guys really paid attention to protecting the areas - the dividing lines around the seatposts, BB, etc, are all clear, no leakage inside the frame, no bulb around the tubes.

The downtube shifter mounts have been kept extra thin without a coat of laquer to ease fitting - excellent detail.

Major detailing like the Lug edges and braze ons are preserved with crisp, sharp edges.

Despite other posters experiences nothing was mixed up or lost, and Armourtex delivered exactly when they said they would.

The bad:
While some detail is lost over paint (the serial number is blurred, the markings on the seat stays harder to read) they are still visible - good.

One bolt fixing hole on the seatpost has a clear 'lump' on it where something wasnt cleared off properly and got powder coated. This was initially also a burnt colour, though that brushed off simply - its the only major flaw in the powder coat surface.

The ugly:
There is a 1cm by half cm area between the seat stays where they meet the post that hasnt been powder coated - looks yellow. Very dissapointing. Will have to take it back to armourtex on monday and wont get to build or ride the bike this weekend. Hopefully they will just redo, but getting there for 7am is a faff when having to get to work as well - opposite directions.

Popped my Rossin fork/frame in today for pearlescent white with gloss lacquer. anyone had any luck with decals/clearcoat over an armourtex lacquer job? The searchy search makes scary results. Will pop up pics once its finished.

Yeah. To fit 11 speed ultrashift chorus - I believe the alloy power shift levers are compat though. Saw some lovely vintage at BLB today. Won't fit though ;)

Also, if anyone wants carbon levers and has alloys Im up for a swap ;-p

Parts, broken shifters or contacts who can supply all appreciated ;-p Have some lovely feel horrible look carbon shifters, and would like to change out the levers/blades for alloy ones.

I think this probably means Veloce, Centaur or Athena.

Ta!

Matt

This is off to Armourtex soon. I'm thinking either flat white, or possibly cream - Ideally I'd like a translucent blue with the steel showing through, but I dont believe powdercoating will allow it.

Fitting it up with a Campag athena set, which I hope to remove the decals from, and will potentially switch out the shifters for Chorus ultrashift mechanics with the athena levers.

TB14 rims on White Industries H2/H3 hubs. Continental GP4000s tyres.

then thinking of running white outers on the cabling and brown leather bar tape/seat.

Stem TBD.

Thoughts? ;-p

PM'd with details of the set. No probs if you want to go with another one, my brothers eying them up too ;-p

Looking at it in more detail the BB is marked with size and 602375, a join on the lugs around the BB seems to have an extended W or M similar to the mark for the company in alien, and the strut between the seat stays for the rear brake (which is plenty cute - kind of a raised pagoda shape) has what could be 'SLV' 'SILV' or possibly 'SILVA' stamped into its underside. No obvious markings on the drops sadly.

Seatpost is marked
|||||||||||||||||||||

    MAX LIMIT
      ITALY
    SEL ? OF (letter obscured - presumably SELCOF)

       02 99 (presumably date)

     27 ... 2 (possibly obscured numbers, but I figure this is a standard 27.2)

So I assume a 1999 Rossin ... of unknown steel ;-p any takers for more info?

Would anyone who's actually worked on Powertorque with a gear puller say its worth selling on the 2011 set and buying a NOS 2010 ultratorque off ebay for a cost hit? The 15 quid for a puller doesn't bother me too much, and the powertorque set is lighter. In terms of stiffness I havent heard anything to say its worse, and I have read several comments saying removing it is a doddle if you have the puller...

But yeah. You guys are making me doubt now. Thanks for that ;)