STEAMPUNK–1987 Cannondale ST400

[jodphoto]

This is my first build post on RRB.

I got this frameset on Ebay. It was a nice blue with an LLBean logo on it. Plan A was to build a daily rider from parts I already had. I didn’t know it would evolve as a project.

Here’s the original frameset I got on ebay:



I had the frame hanging in my office, trying to visualize the build and liking the color less each day. So, I stripped the frame with Aircraft Paint Remover, wet sanded it down to 600 and polished it with Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish.

The steel fork was stripped, wire wheeled and sprayed with clear Krylon. This will probably be chromed at some point but I do like where the brazing shows.

I installed the 27” rims and gumwall tires, spoke guard and chain rings with a sealed BB, a new headset and shifter boss cable stops.

The polished frame, cranks, gears and wheels had that “machinery” feel to them. That’s when the Steampunk theme emerged. (Steampunk is the term coined to describe complex, futuristic contraptions envisioned by Victorian writers like Jules Verne and further popularized in Hollywood films like Wild Wild West, Hugo and others.)

I added the Kalloy adjustable quill stem and polished DiaCompe center pull brakes which kept with the theme.

The Suntour Vx GT rear derailleur is pretty ornate and the stem mount Suntour shifters look like they could operate a drawbridge. I’ll have to relearn friction shifting.

So here's where the build is now:









Future plans. Since I’ve seen some of your very cool bikes on RRB, I’m not sure about the flat bar or a regular seat any more. Maybe a nicely swept bar or even an inverted touring bar with old school brake levers with a leather springer seat. I may try white tires and wire mesh cable housings.

Thanks for the inspiration. I’m open to suggestions, fire away

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

I always love a bare frame, but if that is steal look up "gun browning" a member renaissance man used it and got a intense copper effect.

 

[Bicycle808]

Cool build so far; suntour always made awesome derailers and what-not. One criticism: that stem has GOT to go. Kills the overall feel of the bike. You oughta look for one of these stems that looks like this: http://www.culturecycles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bertelli_bike_2.jpg

 

[jodphoto]

BOB and wolfy,

Thanks for weighing in.

I like the stem from culture cycle. It's a beauty. I especially like the bolt on top which they chose to leave prominent. But...here's my problem, I can't ride in a crouch position. I don't fold in half like I used to. So, the adjustable is the least spindly looking of the really tall stems and it helps with the angle too. If I go with a touring bar, a shorter stem will absolutely work.

The frame is aluminum but the fork is steel. The browning looks beautiful. How will the browning stand up to a little rain or puddles? How do you make it become copper colored?

Peace,

jodphoto

 

[Bicycle808]

I hear what you're saying re: position, but if you're going with inverted northroad/touring bars, the look gets utterly destroyed by a positive-rise stem. I know ppl do it all the time, but it looks like the bike's owner has multiple idiotic personalities that hate one another and who have different philosophies on how a bike should be set up. Do some searches for "boardtrack" and you'll find that the hot lookin' ones have negative or 90degree stems, and the ones with Wald stems look goofy.

But, regardless of my pedantic bike-nerd preferences, there is simply no denying that adjustable stems do not fit a steampunk vibe. Steampunk should conjure up a look that says "anachronistic technology with a Victorian-era flair." A Kalloy adjustable stem says "cheap hybrid bike from the turn of the century." You know, the most recent turn of the century. The 1990s. If you need a lot of rise, get yourself something understated and elegant, like a Nitto Technomic, and toss that on there...

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

BOB and wolfy,

Thanks for weighing in.

I like the stem from culture cycle. It's a beauty. I especially like the bolt on top which they chose to leave prominent. But...here's my problem, I can't ride in a crouch position. I don't fold in half like I used to. So, the adjustable is the least spindly looking of the really tall stems and it helps with the angle too. If I go with a touring bar, a shorter stem will absolutely work.

The frame is aluminum but the fork is steel. The browning looks beautiful. How will the browning stand up to a little rain or puddles? How do you make it become copper colored?

Peace,

jodphoto

I'm not sure, you'd have to message renaissance man. It could probably be able to be cleared though.

 

[jodphoto]

BOB,

Good description of Steampunk, nailed it. The stink is definitely out there on adjustable stems. I only thought it flew because it has a little dial on the side with degree markings.

The board track bikes look very turn of the previous century. I love the attitude. I have a couple of OEM Nitto and SR stems. They do look better, no doubt.

I need to know, do you guys lower the seat for the photo or do you ride with your knees bent? Is it comfortable and healthy? Are any of you 60+years old? I'm 6'1" and my saddle is about 6" over the top tube of a 23"/58cm frame. If I lower the saddle too much my legs hurt and if the bars are too low my shoulders hurt. It's almost like I'm aging into a StingRay appropriate riding position.

I guess I'll lower the saddle all the way, and drop the bars to just below the top or the head tube. I will try this on my daily and see if I can ride like that. I usually do a quick 10 miles on a bike path with a wine stop. The next one will be on a low boy setting. I have a low riser MTB bar I could invert. That would simulate body position. (Wait till they get a load of me.) Either I or one of the other idiots in my brain will get back to you. You never no who's gonna show up.

Oh, a newbie question. How do you message someone on the forum?

Peace,

jodphoto

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

BOB,

Good description of Steampunk, nailed it. The stink is definitely out there on adjustable stems. I only thought it flew because it has a little dial on the side with degree markings.

The board track bikes look very turn of the previous century. I love the attitude. I have a couple of OEM Nitto and SR stems. They do look better, no doubt.

I need to know, do you guys lower the seat for the photo or do you ride with your knees bent? Is it comfortable and healthy? Are any of you 60+years old? I'm 6'1" and my saddle is about 6" over the top tube of a 23"/58cm frame. If I lower the saddle too much my legs hurt and if the bars are too low my shoulders hurt. It's almost like I'm aging into a StingRay appropriate riding position.

I guess I'll lower the saddle all the way, and drop the bars to just below the top or the head tube. I will try this on my daily and see if I can ride like that. I usually do a quick 10 miles on a bike path with a wine stop. The next one will be on a low boy setting. I have a low riser MTB bar I could invert. That would simulate body position. (Wait till they get a load of me.) Either I or one of the other idiots in my brain will get back to you. You never no who's gonna show up.

Oh, a newbie question. How do you message someone on the forum?

Peace,

jodphoto

Click on there name.

 

[mikeeebikey]

To get a more steam punk vibe cover tha cables with braided line covers for cars, hot rod psuedo braided lines. They sell it at summitracing.com
To stop the rust from getting worse clear coat them when they achieve patina....
Would a set of touring bars flipped be the look you are after?
Seat back, I have mine way back to run it low.
I am 6' and ride all manner of frames, with the cruisers I get a layback post.
Kalloy made a perfect stem for that, has the cable stop built in.
Leather seat and grips.
Maybe some psuedo rivits glued onto the frame?
Motor it and try to make it appears to ba a steam engine.....
Cool frame, always liked them.
Maybe a fixie build more suits your riding and bike?

 

[jodphoto]

To get a more steam punk vibe cover tha cables with braided line covers for cars, hot rod psuedo braided lines. They sell it at <a class="vglnk" title="Link added by VigLink" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://summitracing.com"><span>summitracing</span><span>.</span><span>com</span></a>
To stop the rust from getting worse clear coat them when they achieve patina....
Would a set of touring bars flipped be the look you are after?
Seat back, I have mine way back to run it low.
I am 6' and ride all manner of frames, with the cruisers I get a layback post.
Kalloy made a perfect stem for that, has the cable stop built in.
Leather seat and grips.
Maybe some psuedo rivits glued onto the frame?
Motor it and try to make it appears to ba a steam engine.....
Cool frame, always liked them.
Maybe a fixie build more suits your riding and bike?

Nice ideas mikee and kinda where I a'm leaning (today). I saw Velo Orange has actual wire mesh cable housings. A setback seatpost makes perfect sense. The inverted touring bar like an albatross or similar is a nice look. I would love a leather spring seat and grips. Pseudo rivets...I guess brass, right. Then I can polish them (woo-hoo).

I built (threw together) my first fixie this spring and it's a good ride. Simple, smooth, quiet. It's my daily now. whatever I'm pedaling tends to become my style. That's what I'm hoping for the Cannondale. My only "perfect" bike is a light steel 83 Fuji Sport with flat bars and grip shifters 3x7 speed. I built it 15 years ago from a thrift store find and have been tweaking it since. It's broken right now, parts are on the way.

One thing's for sure RRB is a place for ideas. Thanks all.

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

Read some Jules verne, then bu some brown and copper spray paint, and spend 20 minutes in the plumbing section of your local hardware store :lol: :lol: Look up a bike called "remix" and "mofaux" both by member fordsnake, there awesome steam/ space punk builds!!!

Remix: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=72050

Mofaux: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=60882&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=mofaux

 

[jodphoto]

Read some Jules verne, then bu some brown and copper spray paint, and spend 20 minutes in the plumbing section of your local hardware store :lol: :lol: Look up a bike called "remix" and "mofaux" both by member fordsnake, there awesome steam/ space punk builds!!!

Remix: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=72050

Mofaux: viewtopic.php?f=68&t=60882&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=mofaux

Thanks Wolfy. The two tone grey bike (Mofo?) is a stunner. The artistry and design are world class and in perfect harmony. It's pure, functional and has an economy of detail with decorative aspects in balance. This could be in an art museum. (In other words, "wow, nice bike".)

Feel free to substitute "BLAH BLAH BLAH" for the next three paragraphs.

Style is subjective, beauty is universal. We are physiologically wired to recognize and admire beauty based on proportion and other aspects. In art, a piece can be beautiful without regard to it's function or what it represents. By extension, in bicycle design – while we can't look at a bicycle without being aware of it's use, we can regard the beauty of the form separately from it's function.

In 1896, the American architect, Louis Sullivan, coined the phrase, "form ever follows function". He was talking about office buildings. The Modernist sculptors and industrial designers follow this concept out the window to this day. While their designs may neither adhere to this "law" nor show much understanding of it, they preach it as gospel.

Sometimes, history proves them wrong. A manufactured item can only attain archetype status when it's form transcends it's function. It becomes classic when form replaces function as the thing we love about it.

OK, RESUME READING HERE:

Many of the bikes in RRB prove that function is the given, form is the artistry. Bravo.

jodphoto

 

[3 wheeled wolfy]

Yes, I'm a big fan of this member. I figured they would give you some inspiration. I am just starting college and want to become an architect.