La Fugazi

[JA331]

That blue paint is everything, love it!

Thanks Doc. I was lucky to get at least the frame and fork done yesterday as it will be raining here for the next 6 days.

 

[JA331]

Got a break in the weather and managed to get the white detail on the chain guard done. I will let it dry for a few days before masking for the blue. Any tips on the best method to mask over the raised white sections would be highly appreciated.

I’m glad I went with this pre war Elgin fork rather than the shockmaster. Has an aero look to it.

 

[JA331]

I have one other option for wheels I forgot about, the wheels from this Electra gigi I have stored away for my younger daughter. The color of the rims match perfectly with the white on La Fugazi’s chainguard. The blue Schwinn I built some time ago had white rims with black walls. I think it looks more old school than the gold rims.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I like the Electra rims better than the gold for two reasons. One, the color, that white would look, as you said, more old school. I agree, there’s something about the look of old bikes with painted white rims. They even make whitewalls look ‘fatter’. Two, the profile on those old Electra rims is ‘classic’ looking, like a ‘smooth’ dropcenter look.
As far as masking off raised areas, my only advice is patience. Of the ends are ‘blunt’ ,as in have a rounded end, you can sometimes find round decals, like yard sale ‘for sale’ dots, that don’t have a lot of adhesive on them. Put the dot on the end and run tape over the bulge, trimming carefully with an Xacto knife. Since the chainguard is flat, you can lay a metal ruler down to run the knife against for a nice straight line.

 

[JA331]

I like the Electra rims better than the gold for two reasons. One, the color, that white would look, as you said, more old school. I agree, there’s something about the look of old bikes with painted white rims. They even make whitewalls look ‘fatter’. Two, the profile on those old Electra rims is ‘classic’ looking, like a ‘smooth’ dropcenter look.
As far as masking off raised areas, my only advice is patience. Of the ends are ‘blunt’ ,as in have a rounded end, you can sometimes find round decals, like yard sale ‘for sale’ dots, that don’t have a lot of adhesive on them. Put the dot on the end and run tape over the bulge, trimming carefully with an Xacto knife. Since the chainguard is flat, you can lay a metal ruler down to run the knife against for a nice straight line.

Thanks for the advice Doc. I think I’ll also do a test run using the same paints on a different chainguard.

The gold rims have the same profile but I think the white will look sweeter. Here’s the Schwinn with the Yellowed white walls i fitted before I sold it. BTW, I know Matti preferred this bike with black walls.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Matti preferred this bike with black walls.

Lol I prefer most bikes with black walls. I've almost learned to accept tan.

 

[Captain Awesome]

I love a good tan wall but the wheel color and surrounding layers have to be right. Mixed media if you will

 

[JA331]

During my lunch break I pulled the wheels off the unused Electra Gigi and fitted another set of wheels to it with the whitewall Retrorunner tires.

Then I fitted a Powerblock tire to the ivory colored front rim from the Gigi and amazingly it matches perfectly with the Wimbledon white on the chainguard. I believe it will give the bike a more vintage appearance similar to the austere look some bikes had just before WW2 broke out.

Also the bike will now be painted in 2 Ford colors. I always intended to paint it in the dark blue Ford used on their engines in the early 70's, however I only decided yesterday to paint the raised sections on the chain guard in Wimbledon White when I found a can of it in the garage.

 

[JA331]

Got to work early today and assembled La Fugazi. Everything went together easily other than having to shim the stem. As it stands now the bike is very light, probably no more than 14kgs.

First impressions are that it rolls easily on the Powerblock tires although the ride at 65psi is very firm so I will try pumping them to 55psi instead. Being race/stunt tires the rubber on them is super sticky and they pickup little stones easily. Also the short chainstays make it responsive compared to a traditional cruiser.

The handlebars are too low for my liking and although not horribly uncomfortable, I may replace the pre war Wald stem with a taller one. I have the matching truss rods on another bike and will definitely fit them.

I also need to get the fenders and chain guard painted and fitted soon or I can see myself leaving them off.

 

[JA331]

I got the gears and brakes sorted today. I also fitted a different stem as the pre war Wald stem was out of round and even though I shimmed it, it was moving sideways when I pulled on the bars. At first I thought the fork or wheel was loose but then spotted the stem moving around in the fork.

Also, I managed to get in a quick blast during my lunch break today while the rain stopped. The bike is fast in top gear and brakes so well, that I will have to fit truss rods as the fork flexes when the front brake is applied.

 

[Kevin B]

Very sharp ride. Great flow.

 

[JA331]

Very sharp ride. Great flow.

Thanks. It rides great that I’m afraid adding 12lbs or so in fenders, the chain guard, skirt guard and truss rods will slow it down. Guess I may have to lose the same in body weight to make up for it.

 

[OddJob]

Don't lose the weight. Just increase your squat reps! Looking forward to the 'adding 12 lbs' of cool factor!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Don't lose the weight. Just increase your squat reps!

Cyclists be like:

Or:
What do you call the day after leg day?
Leg day!

 

[kingfish254]

Any tips on the best method to mask over the raised white sections would be highly appreciated.
View attachment 203985

Love the tire wheel selection.
In regards to taping off the Elgin guard, I did mine in reverse yours. I taped off the rest of the guard and then painted the raised sections. I did extend the rounded ends to be more pointy though. I felt that it flowed better that way. Hope these pics help.

That was for my Western Sizzler build in BO14. But regular 3M masking tape kinda sucks for laying out curved lines, so back in BO15 I asked a painter buddy what he uses and picked up some 1/4" and 1/8" blue fine line vinyl masking tape from an auto paint supply warehouse. Ever since then, I use it for the line edges, then use regular tape to complete the masking.Masking with fine line vinyl tape gets better definition and is so much easier to make curves that still stick for a good paint edge.

 

[JA331]

Nice work on those chainguards KF. Thanks for the advice. I did the same thing as you. I spoke with the painter last week who did my Mustang and he recommended the 3m tape so I ordered a roll of the 1/4”.

I also remembered I had an unused stencil kit for a prewar Roadmaster made from the same tape and will use some of it to paint the ends of the fenders. I am going to do a test run on a part using the blue paint to determine how long I need to leave it before removing the tape. I believe the tape needs to be removed while the paint is still tacky and that you pull it back on iteself. I’m using high heat engine paint which dries quickly. my guess it is 10 to 15 mins at most, then begin to remove the tape.

 

[kingfish254]

Nice work on those chainguards KF. Thanks for the advice. I did the same thing as you. I spoke with the painter last week who did my Mustang and he recommended the 3m tape so I ordered a roll of the 1/4”.

I also remembered I had an unused stencil kit for a prewar Roadmaster made from the same tape and will use some of it to paint the ends of the fenders. I am going to do a test run on a part using the blue paint to determine how long I need to leave it before removing the tape. I believe the tape needs to be removed while the paint is still tacky and that you pull it back on iteself. I’m using high heat engine paint which dries quickly. my guess it is 10 to 15 mins at most, then begin to remove the tape.

If the 3M tape you ordered is vinyl stripers tape then that is good. If it is just thinner 3M masking tape, then it doesnt hold the edges as well and doesn't handle curves as well.

 

[JA331]

If the 3M tape you ordered is vinyl stripers tape then that is good. If it is just thinner 3M masking tape, then it doesnt hold the edges as well and doesn't handle curves as well.

Its the good stuff made from vinyl. Thanks for checking.

I’m glad I went with this wheel/tire combo. The blackwalls have more of a hot rod vibe to them than whitewalls. The Powerblocks are incredibly sticky and fast. Yesterday when I had the bike wound up on the test ride, the front tire was kicking up a heap of tiny stones at me. I’ve never experienced that before. The fenders should prevent that happening.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The Powerblocks are incredibly sticky and fast. Yesterday when I had the bike wound up on the test ride, the front tire was kicking up a heap of tiny stones at me. I’ve never experienced that before.

That's bleepin' radddd!!
I'm updating my xmas list

 

[JA331]

I got to work this morning and discovered the front tyre had gone flat. I pulled the wheel and tire off and discovered the inside of the Schwalbe tube had a split in it about 5” long. I checked everything and couldn’t find anything wrong so I fitted another new Schwalbe tube and within 5 minutes it popped too. It split on the inside of the tube just as the first one did. Finally I fitted an old tube which hasn’t failed. My best guess is a bad batch of tubes.

Last night I removed the matching truss rods to this fork from the Columbia I fitted them to last year. Funny thing, they were originally cream and I painted them red and reshaped them to fit the Columbia. They’re now back to cream and their original shape.

I also fitted the head badge. I contemplated getting an Elgin or Roadmaster badge for it but thought Trek (and the factory in Taiwan) did such a nice job of designing and building this frame, it was only proper to put a Trek badge back on it.

The Columbia I removed the truss rods from. The house in the background belonged to my grandfather. It was built in 1863.