I found the pics I thought I had lost from this build so I figured I'd post them in order of progression. The frame is a Nirve Tension. I found it a couple yrs ago and picked it up for $40, it was in pretty bad shape but it cleaned up somewhat well and I rode it around like that for a while...of course I started getting "the itch." Seeing it had been about 5 yrs since I tooled around or built something up I gave it a go. I've never built a "chopper" style of bike but I think it turned out well.
This is how I found it.
Did routine maintenance and got it to a ride-able state, put some "apes" on it but I removed them...or I should say gravity combined with pavement removed them
Picked up some 24" Copper 3G Jemima wheels in December of 2012 directly from 3G. At the time Ratrodbikes.com didn't sell them or else I would have definitely bought them here. Fitted a 24x3 blackwall on the rear and a 24x2.125 whitewall on the front to get a feel for which style I wanted to go with.
The whitewalls won out, the tires in this pic are 24x2.125 front and rear.
Got some 24x3 Whitewall Thick Bricks and sourced a vintage Brooks Saddle
A small locally owner powdercoating company opened in Key West so I checked out some of their work and I decided to keep my money local and give them a shot. Got everything back and it looked great, so of course I started assembly immediately.
Used copper hardware on the stem, it looks great against the flat black
I headed to the beach with my buddy Nick Doll who's a great photographer and he took these pics. Powdercoat is called "copper vein" which sort of has a hammered texture to it but slightly different, so there's a copper"ish" color and black in it, then it was powdercoated with a clear called "amber illusion" which has subtle flakes of amber and green. If the sun hits it in one direction you see amber flakes, if it hits it in the other direction you see the green flakes. I got the bars, forks, triple trees, sprocket, cranks and seat post done in flat black.
And finally going on it's maiden voyage, I'm cruisin' by Sloppy Joes in Key West in this pic Since this pic I've stained the wooden grips to match the saddle and added a copper housing headlight that's actually an old copper cup. I'll snap some pics and put them up later this week. Thanks for looking and if anyone has any questions, shoot.
This is how I found it.
Did routine maintenance and got it to a ride-able state, put some "apes" on it but I removed them...or I should say gravity combined with pavement removed them
Picked up some 24" Copper 3G Jemima wheels in December of 2012 directly from 3G. At the time Ratrodbikes.com didn't sell them or else I would have definitely bought them here. Fitted a 24x3 blackwall on the rear and a 24x2.125 whitewall on the front to get a feel for which style I wanted to go with.
The whitewalls won out, the tires in this pic are 24x2.125 front and rear.
Got some 24x3 Whitewall Thick Bricks and sourced a vintage Brooks Saddle
A small locally owner powdercoating company opened in Key West so I checked out some of their work and I decided to keep my money local and give them a shot. Got everything back and it looked great, so of course I started assembly immediately.
Used copper hardware on the stem, it looks great against the flat black
I headed to the beach with my buddy Nick Doll who's a great photographer and he took these pics. Powdercoat is called "copper vein" which sort of has a hammered texture to it but slightly different, so there's a copper"ish" color and black in it, then it was powdercoated with a clear called "amber illusion" which has subtle flakes of amber and green. If the sun hits it in one direction you see amber flakes, if it hits it in the other direction you see the green flakes. I got the bars, forks, triple trees, sprocket, cranks and seat post done in flat black.
And finally going on it's maiden voyage, I'm cruisin' by Sloppy Joes in Key West in this pic
Since this pic I've stained the wooden grips to match the saddle and added a copper housing headlight that's actually an old copper cup. I'll snap some pics and put them up later this week. Thanks for looking and if anyone has any questions, shoot.
