☆ARMADILLO ESPECIAL☆ •FINISHED•

[Missing Link]

I'm in, another year, another build off. This year's inspiration, the unofficial state animal of Texas, this guy.

I'm setting out to build a reliable, somewhat light-er weight single speed mountain bike capable of handling my current west Texas terrain as well as the Texas hill country, as we are moving to San Antonio at the end of the summer when my wife finishes her tech school here in San Angelo.
The bones of the build, a Summit Workhorse frame and fork I got from @ind-chuckz that I actually got delivered this morning. I'll also be using some heavy duty alloy wheels I bought from him last winter.
I threw together some parts I had floating around my shop just to get an idea of the direction I want to go.

I'll be using Panasonic alloy drop stem and straight bars cut down to 17", and a milled aluminum seatpost on the way.
The cups, seatpost clamp and crank will remain black. The frame and fork will be detabbed and painted a satin sage green. All the aluminum will be brushed along with the 3 Arrows chainring I snagged off an old Rampar.
This is an unusual build for me as it will A: have paint (I usually do patinaed or bare metal bikes) and B: I actually have a solid plan of what I'm doing. That said this should be a pretty straight forward and vanilla build, but I couldn't help throwing my hat in the ring. Good luck to all the other builders and to everyone who checks out this thread, I'll try not to bore you too much.

 

[Fv2]

Don't take offense to this,but your builds are like old Hardy tattoos. It doesn't matter how simple the layout,they're still eye catching.

 

[sdframe]

That's a nice, solid frame to build upon. I like to keep them simple, too.

 

[Missing Link]

Don't take offense to this,but your builds are like old Hardy tattoos. It doesn't matter how simple the layout,they're still eye catching.

No offense at all, Falstaff, I worked as a tattooist for 4 years and from experience learned that the more complicated a design was usually the the worse it looked with age simplicity and good lines, a good flow, and good solid color lasts. If I can build a bike to the simplicity and style of a Don Ed Hardy tattoo I'll be very pleased.

 

[Fv2]

No offense at all, Falstaff, I worked as a tattooist for 4 years and from experience learned that the more complicated a design was usually the the worse it looked with age simplicity and good lines, a good flow, and good solid color lasts. If I can build a bike to the simplicity and style of a Don Ed Hardy tattoo I'll be very pleased.

I never worked as a tattooer, but I dabbled. One of my many hats, I learned black ink and curved lines were my friends. Still trying to find someone steady enough to do a straight line.

 

[OddJob]

Just a thought Mr Link. For that ravine filled, hilly, north Texas terrain; you might want to consider changing up your control components a bit.

I've ridden those swoopy singletrack trails, and a wider bar will help you lean into those turns and leverage your way up those short steep climbs.

Also, the negative rise on that road stem might put your hands below your pelvis, which is a fine aerodynamic position for static 'butt in the saddle' road riding, but sketchy and too 'weight forward' for being able to do quick lifts and pulls to bunny hop those rattlers and baby armadillos.

I'll bet you can find an old mtb quill stem on your local CL or the 'bay for cheap and a cool 'klunker' style bar would be an old motox bar from a motorcycle graveyard. I've used them on two builds; rock solid and a vintage look!

Good to see you in the build off! RaT oN!

 

[Funkme]

Good to see you are in.I have always liked the builds you have rolled out.

 

[kingfish254]

Can't go wrong with indchuck parts for a tough build!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Cool build, always loved the industrial style frames...

 

[Missing Link]

Started stripping the paint today, and wow, modern paint comes off a lot easier than vintage paint does. One mor application of stripper and there shouldn't be much left for the wire wheel.

 

[Missing Link]

Almost a completely bare frame.

I also took the liberty of shaving the chainguard tabs and rack ferrules. The fork, not pictured, is completely bare now.

 

[Missing Link]

I finished stripping the paint this morning, now I've got to hit the hardware store and pick up some primer. I should be shooting primer this evening. At this rate I'll be done by the end of next week.
I am kind of trying to rush this one, I'm likely moving to San Antonio in August, having minor out-patient surgery in late June, and somewhere in there I have to pack up a house, a garage, and a workshop's worth of stuff. I want to be able to put some miles on this thing before my life gets uber hectic.

 

[Missing Link]

I got the first coat of primer shot and UPS delivered my grips and seat.

 

[Missing Link]

while waiting for the primer to cure I took my Hawthorne ot for a spin around the local reservoir. The road I usually take transitions from gravel road to asphalt, we had some heavy rains last night so some of the gravel road was washed out. I had a bit of trouble jumping some of the pot holes with my narrow flat bars. Long story short, I'm taking your advice OddJob. I've got some steel bars with a 3.5" rise ordered, that's a similar height to the Redline bars I had on my Worksman klunker I used to hit the trails with in DFW.

 

[Missing Link]

Apparently in west Texas you have to worry about roving gangs of Bison eager to exact revenge on us for that whole 19th century thing.

 

[OddJob]

View attachment 51593 Apparently in west Texas you have to worry about roving gangs of Bison eager to exact revenge on us for that whole 19th century thing.

That's hilarious!

And yes, I can't believe we raced on bars that were 22" wide for all those years! Wider bars on high end mtbs only really came into existence with the bigger 29er wheels which has been within the past 12 years.

I think you will like that higher front end. Think of it like doing wheelies on a muscle bike....!

 

[squirreldh]

I have been running short stems and risers on my mtbs for almost 20yrs, definitely recommended for offroad travel. Hopping the bike and cornering are much improved, which should come in handy out in west texas hill country. Its beautiful out there, had a friend who used to spend time in Terlingua, think thats how you spell it, and I always wanted to get out there for some mtb riding, terrain looks like fun!

keep the rubber side down!

 

[Missing Link]

I stayed up last night and wet sanded the frame and fork then got up this morning and got the first coat of paint shot. It's supposed to rain this evening and through the weekend so I thought it best to get that done and curing while I wait for parts to roll in.

The color in the picture of the frame is a little muted due to the vegetation behind it, the fork better shows the actual color.

 

[Missing Link]

I keep looking at the paint and its just too pristine and pretty. I decided to play around on a scrap of sheet metal I had and may have come up with an alternative that works.

Layer 1: grey primer. Layer 2: sage green. Layer 3: red primer. Layer 4: sage green. Lightly scuffed with 0000 steel wool and just make sure to take it easy and not over do it.

 

[OneHorsePower]