Last week I repainted my old S3 frame. The last paint job didn't come out like I hoped, mainly because I didn't put much thought into it as I just needed something quick to ride after I sold my cross frame. I did a whole lot of thinking about how I was gonna paint it this time, too much actually. I like yellow and black alot if you haven't noticed. For one, I think its racey looking, but I also feel like a yellow bike is more visible by drivers. I know there are only a couple of narrow tubes in the back but I would rather 'em be a beaming yellow color than camouflage. At the least wear a bright colored jersey. Anyway, I also like this red paint that I've had laying around for a while and I wanted to incorporate that into the scheme as well. My stem was already red and I had my trusty red Avocet O2 saddle that I like so I figured it would all go together to an extent. Then white walked into the mental picture and my head started getting a little cloudy. I tried drawing something up but in the end I scratched it all and just painted. And so it is. "I reckon so."
I was shooting for racey looking but this photo here makes me think of Fruit Stripes gum. I used to love that stuff as a kid. This little yellow box was added later as I wanted to break up the length of the all white top tube. Its a nice place for a little personalization.
Kinda screwed up here. It was supposed to be white but I forgot to tape it off. Could've been better, luckily its mine. You knew I was gonna scribble on it somewhere didn't you?
My drivetrain could use a little cleaning. This KMC chain has been flawless. Its the first one I've used and I think I'll be sticking with it.
Its not exactly what I had envisioned but its alot better than the other paint job. The quality is much better. This paint scheme reminds me of some of the older LOOK paint schemes, which was always my brand of choice, so think I can live with it. The other day there was a LOOK 585 on Ebay that went for $390. I kinda wanted it but I didn't need it. I just wanted to ride a professional carbon frame for ride comparison reasons. I haven't ridden any frames but my own for over 6 years now. If I could build a carbon frame that rode anything like a LOOK frameset then I'd have it dialed in. I'll tell you secret. After building this S3 up yesterday and riding it, I believe this thing rides better than my carbon frame. I know that I'm not real experienced with building carbon frames but steel definitely rolls nicely down the road. It seemed as if I was using less effort to push this frame versus the carbon frame, however the carbon frame is one pound lighter. Weight isn't everything.
The other day Anne and I took the boys to the lake. You'd think we would spend a ton of time at the lake since its only two minutes away but not so. We don't have a boat and I'm not even sure I want one because I don't think we'd use it enough. We have a really nice swimming hole about 10 minutes away from the house that we normally go to during summer and then if we feel like going out on the lake we rent a boat, which is what we did this day. So we got to the dock, rented the boat, and the guy pulled the boat out for us while I went back up to the truck to get the rest of our stuff. When I got back he was gone and had tied the boat up against the dock with the rope that was right there on the deck where you step onto the boat, a pontoon boat. Makes perfect sense huh, so the boat doesn't float away. "Thanks Mister Boat Rental Guy."
So everything is loaded, I untied it, started it up, clicked it into gear, and was expecting to just idle away from the dock as usual but for some reason it wasn't going anywhere. So I tried to ease a little extra gas on but this throttle was kinda sticky and didn't move easy. A little more gas, still not moving. Then, the throttle that was sticky hit a slick spot and opened up a bit and I hear, "POP." Mister Boat Rental Guy had tied the boat up in a second spot at the back of the boat, really low and outta sight I might add. So anyway, I ripped an aluminum rail off the back of the boat and the guy told me we'd square up as I was driving off in the boat. I hate aluminum. Cheap metal. "WHAT? Only $350 for two feet of thin aluminum tubing. Let me break something else!" Not so cheap huh? Anyway, I didn't complain as I was embarrassed about it and I paid the man and we had a good laugh afterward. Glad it wasn't my boat. It turned out to be a perfect day once I finally got off the starting line. Ever been on the line of a motocross race with your motor screaming and when the gate drops you realize that you didn't put it in gear? I haven't either, but it felt something like that.
Dizzy and Pinky got to do a little swimming. This was Dizzy's first time in the lake and I truly didn't know if he could swim or not, he doesn't even like to step in puddles of water. I can barely get him to drink water out of his bowl. He's no Michael Phelps, thats for sure. He's got really small feet and no body fat, so when he swims its like he gradually starts sinking more and more as he goes. Theres more splashing going on than swimming. Needless to say, he doesn't need to get too far from the bank.
This is ol' Pink giving it a dig. He's no Labrador either but I think he enjoyed the water. "Hey Pink, you're swimming the wrong way." Actually he's swimming back to the boat so maybe he's smarter than I thought. No, he's not. We love 'em all just the same.
Vredestein Gran Fondo tires are another first for me. I plan on buying more of these as well.
Thanks for stopping by.
MEECH Custom Bicycles
Handcrafted in
Mountain Home, Arkansas
