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Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

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26 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2

Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Ed_Straker's_Rat on Fri May 15, 2009 1:35 pm

A few years ago I bought a copy of 'The Bicycle' by Gilbert King and in it found my dream bike, an 1890's 'Zimmy' racer. I particularly love the paint scheme and the clean lines of the bike.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=DofSxFG ... t&resnum=1

About Arthur A Zimmerman: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Augustus_Zimmerman

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So, without getting a mortgage to buy an original, I figured I should go about creating my own. The donor bike is a fixie I built a few years ago from an unnamed track frame I got off eBay. The frame is Reynolds 631 Chromoly steel, very stiff and light :

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First, the old paint has to go, love the look of the paint coming off (mental note, pick a less windy day to do this next time, and don't wear shorts)

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Next attack the frame with some sandpaper to give it some 'grit' for the paint.

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Had an idea while I was sanding and spent an hour polishing part of the downtube to get it really shiny. Then I cut out a star from aluminium ducting tape and stuck it on prior to painting:

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Three coats of undercoat, three coats of krylon satin black later, carefully peeled off the mask (forgot to photo it before adding gold pinstripe):

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Now for the pinstriping. I can't claim to be any good at painting straight lines so I used pinstripe masking tape (http://www.finessepinstriping.com/striper_order.asp)

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Next for a cool chainguard. I bought this off a guy in Belgium, plain aluminium with a St Christopher's embossed on the front. First I painted the top edge black and added gold pinstripes to match the frame and then traced the insert onto card and then cut out the design out of real oak veneer. Glued it to the chainguard with rubber cement and gave it a couple coats of clearcoat.

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Finished up the gold pinstriping and gave it 4 coats of clearcoat. Next the forks. I was going to go with a chromoly fork but I like the bump-absorbing feel of carbon fiber, specially when using 120 psi tires. Stripped the clear-coat off the forks, being very careful not to go down to the fibers themselves, that would be bad. Undercoat, satin black & clearcoat.

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A Century Cycles Co. headbadge from eBay. Removed the last bits of original paint and gave it a quick polish to bring out the highlites

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Now to put it together. The handle bars are a set of cut-down Nitto zero-drop track bars that were wrapped with two layers of hemp twine and then shellacked to waterproof them. Wheels are Formla track flip-flop hubs on Alex rims with a 16T cog. Cranks are Truvative Elita with a 48t track ring and Crank Brothers eggbeater pedals.

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(Century Cycles Co headbadge)
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Hemp twine wrapped bars and leather tool bag
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WD-40 is my friend...

Gaspipe: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=9746
Zimmy: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16316&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Ed_Straker's_Rat on Fri May 15, 2009 1:40 pm

Does anyone know of a good source for white or cream 700c x 25 tires? Been trying to find a pair for this bike... Cheers.
Last edited by Ed_Straker's_Rat on Fri May 15, 2009 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
WD-40 is my friend...

Gaspipe: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=9746
Zimmy: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16316&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Rat Rod on Fri May 15, 2009 1:41 pm

Man...such a cool project...that thing is awesome.

Love the vintage look combined with the new technology.

Very inspiring!
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby cman on Fri May 15, 2009 1:43 pm

Very cool. Looks as timeless as the original. Gonna post it up on fixedgeargallery?
Clancy

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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby sprucemoose on Fri May 15, 2009 1:59 pm

Great bike! Really nice build.
lo-fi and rusty http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14970
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Boardtrack fan on Fri May 15, 2009 2:22 pm

Great looking build! Just the way I like them. :mrgreen: Electra sells a 700x40c in creme.
https://www.electrabike.com/store/
It can be fast, safe or cheap. Pick two.

http://fastisfast.blogspot.com/
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Boardtrack fan on Fri May 15, 2009 2:33 pm

A couple more options for tires. http://www.everybicycletire.com/Shoppin ... white.aspx
http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-CST-ROAD-FIXED ... 1|294%3A50
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-VITTORIA-ZAFFIRO- ... 1|294%3A50
It can be fast, safe or cheap. Pick two.

http://fastisfast.blogspot.com/
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby cman on Fri May 15, 2009 2:35 pm

Ed_Straker's_Rat wrote:Does anyone know of a good source for white or cream 700c x 25 tires? Been trying to find a pair for this bike... Cheers.


Schwalbe make some 700x35 - Delta Cruiser
http://www.schwalbetires.com/delta_cruiser_hs392
http://www.wallbike.com/tires.html $22
Clancy

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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby socal_jack on Fri May 15, 2009 2:40 pm

Very nice work and very cool results!
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Fireproof on Fri May 15, 2009 2:57 pm

Nice work . . . the overall effect is quite impressive! 8)
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby ratina on Fri May 15, 2009 3:37 pm

Very nice job, love the mix of vintage and new technology.
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby bigj on Fri May 15, 2009 4:22 pm

That is WAY cool. Making a modern bike and components look like that...
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby hotfoot on Fri May 15, 2009 5:50 pm

That's hand down the coolest fixie I've seen.
Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around.
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby Ed_Straker's_Rat on Sat May 16, 2009 7:53 am

Thanks for all of the great comments, it means a lot to me coming from the guys on this site!

I wanted a light and reliable bike to get around town but wanted the classic look of an old racer and I think it worked :)

Thanks for all of the great tire links too, very much appreciated! Boardtrack fan - thanks for the Vittoria Zaffiro link, they will be the perfect size as I am limited to a 28c maximum as the rear track dropouts are very narrow where the chainstays meet the BB.

cman - I've been on RatRodBikes so much lately I forgot all about fixedgeargallery, I will definitely be posting the Zimmy Clone there too, thanks for reminding me.

Cheers, Simon
WD-40 is my friend...

Gaspipe: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=9746
Zimmy: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16316&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
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Re: Zimmy Clone (pic heavy)

Postby thatismytruck on Sat May 16, 2009 9:02 am

that

is

beautiful



good work!
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Fav Build: http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10392
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