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I usually strip my bikes down to almost barest pieces, clean each part up etc. What I would do for a decent wire wheel, though... ;)

I am no specialist in American bikes, but I do not recall ever seeing quite this model, and it looks quite complete!

Is the two rings up front essential or for style?

I had a leather block for the chain to run on for my Honda C70 off-roader - it lasted the life of the bike without an issue.

I would consider fitting the nice alloy singleton on the front, then one of the wriggly steel ones on the back until something better turns up. At least the wriggly ones look nice.

Just a matter of interest, I notice you have a pair of nearly worn out wire wheels on your bench. What would they look like if they were stripped of whatever wires are left and bolted on each end of the former BB hole? Could they be made into a decent looking pair of BB end caps?

That is the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and one who does not. In other words: I have enough experience that I can turn my mistakes into new features, and you will never notice ;)

I like the black forks, they are a different path to the choice of chrome ones, but still a path worth following.

I would like to find a nice set of shorty fenders like that...

That is alright, we know how gunky the 'before' shots are, we really want to see how good you get those parts to be.

Nice! I used to have short mudguards to keep the grit out of the brakes, especially in wet weather, and now looking at yours I wonder how short they could be and still look good... ?

It would have been good to get some welding at the free end of one of the rods, but well done - you have created a very neat set of truss rods :) With some kind of welder at home, the range of what you can achieve now will extend beyond what you can imagine. Great job!

Well it is a Giant, so I think that some time in the future it may be seen as a desirable bike to restore. It looks in relatively nice condition, so if you can find an acceptable and cheap front wheel you should make a little money off of it and give someone a half decent bike to use.

It is going to be your choice, but I will point out that being parallel with the top bar is not essential when the handlebar etc are sloped up at the front and the BB to rear wheel (whatever they are called) bars are also sloped up.

I would go for no. 1, as no. 2 looks like someone put a nice rack on the back of a bike while no. 1 looks like it is part of the machine

Yes, learning to do two different tasks without actually seeing your hands can be tricky, but it is an adventure and after a while it becomes automatic. The tricky part is when you have to weld something too bulky to fit neatly on your bench, like a three-wheeled bike frame. I used to watch the...

If I get a welder, and since I have another of these Romet frames in stock that someone has done a massive welding repair job on near the folding hinge, then I might weld the hinge up and add a top tube to make it stronger. That might make an interesting hack bike.

Yes, I would not mind trying out a bit of TIG, I have only briefly played with it. I have just remembered that I actually used to have a MIG welder, but I used an arc welder with a brazing attachment to weld most of the panels on my cars, which was cheap and fun, but I have not done any...

Riding a bike, especially an old bike, off road can be interesting, and requires some different techniques. Knowing when to lift yourself off the saddle slightly, holding the handlebars lightly and similar things can all help. This is one of my three off road bikes, you can see the front end...

I always enjoyed welding, and I had a ton of lessons as every engineering course I did seemed to involve some. Practice, practice, practice, and never worry that you might fail and have to redo it. Just one thing - always wire brush off all the slag, as welding over slag can lead to inclusions...