Chrome de Elegance

BOXKARS
Shop deals on ebay
Bike Wall
shop deals on amazon
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
johnp.smith

johnp.smith

Joined
Jul 13, 2009
Messages
1,280
Reaction score
2,014
Location
Hollister, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Tonight I started my latest project. If you own a copy of or have at least seen the book "The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles" then you will know why Im so excited about this build. I've always wanted to do a chrome bike and this book really got my juices flowing. 2 weeks ago I found this chrome Alpine Guadalupe mountain bike on craigslist. I test drove it and gave it some thought. Noone else responded so I contacted the guy again and made an offer that he accepted and brought it home. My dream for this bike was inspired by whats in the book. I then located a Free Spirit Brittany that was wrecked and donated to the Bike Depot here in Denver and picked it up a few days ago. Tonight after the wife went to bed I finally had time to start tinkering. I first stripped the Brittany and started mocking up the Alpine. Im also using hardware and parts from a few other bikes to get everything just perfect. Anyway these are pictures of the mountain bike I started with. I will be using this frame, fork, headset, front and rear derailers and chain. Everything else Im using will be from another bike. I think the only new parts for it will be grips, a bell and a seat I like.

100_0002.jpg


100_0003.jpg
 
100_0019.jpg


100_0021.jpg


Well this is all Ive been able to do this week, Have to work out a few compatibility issues and then strip it down and polish everything. I have different cranks, pedals, grips and bars for it. The shifters shown wont work with the cable stops too since theres not enough threads on the fork.
 
Tonight I worked on the shifter problem, after combining 3 different sets I had, I ended up with Shimano 600 shifters on a Falcon stem mount that came on a Free Spirit Brittany. I also got the chrome 3 piece cottered crank and pedals on. Next are the brake cables, levers are coming from a Raleigh Sports to Mafac Racer centerpulls off of a Peugeot that wrap around fenders from a Free Spirit. As of now, there are parts from 6 different bikes on there that I can think of. Oh yeah, I splurged on a Brooks seat and Electra Amsterdam grips. :D
 
Here she is with the cranks and pedals on, I have my rear fender problem figured out and found a nice set of Huret shifters for it that look way nicer than what I was able to piece together. Everything else will work so now its time to tear it down, clean, lube and polish everything and enjoy. I don't get much time for bikes right now so it will probably be at least a month.

100_0001.jpg


Here are some new goodies I bought for it too. The old Huret speedometer is jammed and wont work but I might put it on for a decoration. I am also thinking about a chrome frame pump I saw at the local shop to put on the front of the seat tube.

100_0003-1.jpg
 
I want to take the decals off but Im afraid to scratch the chrome. I have a heat gun to melt them yet i am kind of afraid of the chrome getting a rainbow effect like a motorcyle exhaust bike gets, I was told to try wd-40 or carb cleaner and a plastic scraper. we'll see how it goes. I have always wanted to do a chrome bike so I'm really taking my time with every detail on this one.

cman said:
That looks sharp. Can you get rid of the decals?
Click to expand...
 
I don't think a heat gun will discolor the chrome like that. Ask Rat Rod as he has had many chrome bikes.

WD40 works to get the residue off, but you need to get the plastic decal off first.
 
I decided to give it a go tonight while the wife went shopping. The heat gun and a piece of plastic I found get it to a gooey mess and then carb cleaner and a towel clean it off. I took two of them off tonight in about 1/2 hour. I'll get the rest off when it comes apart. It looks way better without the decals. I just wish I had more time available to work on it.
 
Since I am far from done and have many more parts to add and tinker with for this bike, Im going to use this as my build off bike. Its probably the only custom build I will do this year, everything else will be restorations, I guess I have a little head start but with my schedule, I will need it
 
Ronson lighter fluid works great on removing sticker residue off of metal. It won't harm chrome or painted surfaces either. I like it better than WD40 because it doesn't leave an oily residue on the metal. I was in the sign business for over 10 years & we used it daily on the adhesive left when removing vinyl letters. Try it, it works great! :mrgreen:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top