The Svelte Spyder- NEW 6/6 new headlight idea

[Rockit!]

[Fisch]

Wow thanks guys! Gotta say I am having a blast here. This is my first build-off and my first fully custom bike build. But I have been doing this sort of thing here and there since I was a kid. Scrounging junk piles to find something that may work as a part on something else.

herr_rudolf indeed the double rear brake is the way the Sears Spyder 500 24" bike came from the factory. No front brake at all. Cool right! That and the chainguars are what will separate it from normal Liner frames. Especially since I am not running ape hangers any more.

Color, color, color. I am undecided there and don't know what to do about it. Right now is has a coat of Master Series Silver (like por 15) on it. Much of which was applied with a sponge so there is a texture to it. I thought about hitting it with a black or an oxide red primer and sanding it back to silver in most areas, but honestly I am not sure. Which is funny because I am an illustrator/painter by trade.

[KOTA]

This thing has become one of the TOP bikes on my list!..NICE!

[Fisch]

This thing has become one of the TOP bikes on my list!..NICE!

That means a lot coming from you Kota. Heck all you guys are inspiring the bajezus out of me.

I am used to deadlines in my line of work, but I am sweating this one already! Tick tock!

[Gdcast]

I don't usually like this kind of bike, but this one is the exception, I really think its special. Great job man!

[Gold Street Customs]

Everytime I turn around there is another build blowing me away , Quote me on this "this is toughest competition yet !!!!"

[Fisch]

In your discussion with herr_rudolph you were saying, you look for your inspiration in other ways.... doing what you're doing on this bike is exactly what I consider art.That's my artistic outlet, taking old, (usually discarded) things and making new purposes and things out of them. Junk is a medium...

Just wanted to say that I TOTALLY agree with this. (And thanks for the compliment too!) Bicycles are fine art utiltiarian sculpture. The shape the flow, the composition, repeting motifs. This is just a different sort of canvas, but I am applying the same rules I use in art. You guys are all artists.

[whoinphx]

Haven't heard or seen anything in over a month...are you finishing ? I have your bike right up there, if you enter it.
Good luck to you, hope all is well.....

[kingfish254]

Wow, I totally missed this bike. I sure hope it finishes!

[badmuller]

Wow, I totally missed this bike. I sure hope it finishes!

Me too, awesome!

[Fisch]

ARGH! I wish guys but it is likely I will miss the deadline. But who knows I might make a last minute comeback.

[herr_rudolf]

One of the bikes that I really wanted to see in the high ranks of this years voting-extravaganza...
What happened?

[Fisch]

Man I tell you it was one of those gut check times. I am working on a first draft for a novel and it needed to be finished by this weekend so my agent could start shopping it at a big literary conference. In the end I had to finish one or the other and the novel won out. There was only so much free time to split.

I did make a bit of a stab at finishing the bike Sun night, but couldn't quite beat the clock. I got too ambitious and started trying to make spiderwebs out of brass running down the top tubes, but had the wrong torch supplies for the job and they kept falling out. One more week and I would have had it finished for sure. Ah well!

I was/am pretty upset about it though. So much so I haven't even been able to bring myself to look at the other finishes yet. I was bummed out all week because it.

The only consolation is the main character in the book I am writing rides a banana-bike. So at least I was writing about a bike.

Thanks for asking though. Does the heart good to think I might have been a contender.

[herr_rudolf]

Good to hear you're getting on with your profession.
Too bad about the bike though. I can imagine you feeling upset for not finishing it, despite off (or maybe inpsite off) reasons beyond your control. You've got a lot of time and creative energie in that bike! But remember, the competition is as important as you want it to be. I'd focus on the bike and finished in your own time. You've got too much of a good thing going on in this build. Hope to see it soon...

I too almost didn't finish my bike. On the last three days I had serious paint issues, bondo issues, Bankcard-issues(!) so I failed to get a halflinkchain on the last day 10 minutes before the bikeshop was closed...

I disappeared for a month from the forum and build-off, and when I came back in the last week before build-off deadline it came to me that quite a bunch of my favorite competitors had dropped out. I just wonder what happened to you guys.

Cheers.