Beautiful Bikes, Ideas and Inspirations

I've pretty well decided how to proceed on the Proteus resto. I am going with wet paint, and because I am a maniac I will attempt doing it myself. This is slightly less deranged than powdercoating it myself and much less crazy than attempting to replate it myself which would surely turn the neighborhood into a toxic wasteland. Painting is completely reversible in this context. It can always be replated, repainted or powdercoated by a pro.

In a previous post I went looking for inspiration which I found in the form of this beautiful JP Weigle work. Those colors are delicious and I love the way the shorelines of the lugs are handled. It makes most lug lining look crude and inelegant. Scope the detail on that brake bridge. (as always click to embiggen)

The overall effect isn't so bad either. Just a beautifully conceived paint scheme superbly executed.

But that is a JP Weigle a great American framesmith, sure, but not the great American framesmith who built mine. Is that scheme appropriate for a Proteus, did they ever do anything like that. These are custom bikes so there's plenty of room for variation, but it would still be best to stay in character with the marque.

Then I came across this. The two-tone on the fork legs doesn't wow me, there's no natural line there with the Proteus sloping crown. Do the whole fork in white and a lot of things start going right.

Now, I've got ideas. I'm thinking Red. Yes, the kind of red that gets capitalized, "Red" red. Maybe like Ferarri red, maybe lipstick, maybe fire engine. Maybe the color of red a Ferrari uses for lipstick before going on a date with a fire engine. And white. White to bounce it off of. Maybe not a stark white, though it makes for good contrast and would be period correct, but perhaps a bit ivory for a more classic look. Hmmm. These things require thought and playing with paint and samples.

More awesome shorelines. And the more I look at that the more I am committing myself to a very ambitious job that I may yet chicken out on. Of course I will keep the business card of a local powdercoater and a Benjamin handy in case anything goes wrong. Powdercoat isn't beautiful but it is always pretty darned good and functional. I can live with functional, but then brilliant remains taunting and compelling. It tasks me.

In the meanwhile, I'm sanding away rust and prepping a surface. Beauty demands dog work. Damn shame, but you know what, anybody, even I can learn and do dog work. That's a beautiful thing in itself.

Proteus Parts

Original Gear List:

Hubs - Ultegra 600

Rims - Mavic Open 4CD

Shifters - Shimano 105 Downtube

Derailleurs - Shimano 105

Crankset - Shimano 105

Bottom Bracket - Shimano Dura Ace

Headset - Shimano 105

Brake Calipers - Shimano 105

Brake Levers - Shimano 105 with white hoods

Handlebars - Cinelli Giro d'Italia 40cm

Stem - Cinelli

Seatpost - Something heavy and ugly

Pedals - Original Look

As far as I can tell this is how the bike left the shop when new. The Date codes on the brakes, bottom bracket spindle and cups, cranks and derailleurs all go to 1989 and range from January through September. So we have a late 89 or early 1990 bike and group here.

I don't recall the saddle, it was damaged. The handlebars were severely grooved and gouged from a set of loose aero bars. They were bad enough that even I questioned their safety and replaced them immediately.

Present Gear:

At the beginning of this blog we are starting with all the above components, except for the bars, stem, levers and pedals. The levers were replaced with Sora Brifters in this bike's brief turn introducing me to cyclocross. Along with the brifters went an "ergo" handlebar and of course another stem because the Cinelli was the wrong size.

Here's the plan:

Clean up and reinstall all the original Shimano group. The brake levers have some damage and I don't think I will ever find the broken little plastic piece that fits between the rubber hood and the lever. The white hoods are trashed. I will probably replace them with some other aero lever. Possibly the Tektros because they're comfortable or something period correct that looks good. I'm a bit torn.

The Headset will need to be replaced. It has almost never been adjusted correctly, or stayed in adjustment and has a center detent. It will probably get a Tange Levin unless a nice Dura Ace or similar falls my way.

The brakes were my first dual pivot caliper brakes. I was immediately impressed by their bionic crab claw looks and bionic crab claw grip. I'm not sure if I'm going to like that look for the future, but they are on there now and they still work great.

The ugly and heavy seatpost will be replaced with an "Aero" seatpost that is on its way to me now. It will get the full polish treatment as well.

The wheels are true. The hubs and bottom bracket only need cleaned and greased. The old D/A 7400 Bottom Bracket is a marvel. I've got two of them and both have run perfectly for many years.

The components that are in rough shape will be stripped and/or de-anodized and polished. I'll have some progress photos of the cranks, handlebar and stem tomorrow.

The Frame:

The frame will be the subject of a future post. So many possibilities and limitations. Some decisions I'll have to make as I clean it up and evaluate just what is possible.