The Serotta project is starting to build up delays that could rival many NASA projects. I started by deciding to paint the bike, which in itself was both necessary and would greatly increase my desire to own and ride the bike. So off to David’s at Southwest Frameworks. David is a busy guy with lots of bikes to be working on and my frame was in line with the rest of them. Then, after much anticipation, the frame was ready. Only for David to accidentally put a chip in the paint while finishing buffing.
So back to the paint booth it went. And another several week wait while it went through the process of paint. Then, on the day before I was to pick up the frame and fork, the fork left with another frame on accident. So it was about a week before David was able to get the fork back and I could get down to pick it up. At the same time, David had to do some additional buffing on the clear coat. So after that I set the frame and fork a side for a week to make sure the paint was fully hardened before starting to build it.
So then I started building the frame, with the Campagnolo Super Record equipment that had been on the bike. I was half way through that slow build when I bought a set of Campagnolo Chorus Ergoshifters which shifted the build quite a bit. The Super Record equipment shifted over to my Gazelle and the new Campy group that I had partially waiting in the parts box and the new shifters started going on the Serotta. Of course I still had a few parts to get. Wheels, which soon came via ebay. Chain and Cassette were out of stock at my favorite online shop and were ordered once back in stock (should be here in a few days). I needed more of the derailleur housing to match the rest of the bike, so had to order more of that from Velo-Orange.com. And I needed a cassette lock ring and set of cable stops which I sourced from my local bike shop.
So that brought me to today. I had the new housing, and installing it and hooking up the derailleurs would put me in position to only need to do the final adjustments when the cassette and chain came in. So I’m working on the frame and first a large chip of paint comes off the frame at the seat post clamp area. A chip about 1-2mm across, about the size of an unground pepper corn. That one I could have lived with, it would be covered by a saddle bag 90% of the time. Shortly after 3 more of these chips suddenly come off the top tube. Those I could not live with. And it was about the last thing I needed to deal with today.
I immediately called David, who’s phone, I would later find out, was knocked out. Unable to get in touch with him, I went to the task of tearing down the bike and driving it down to David’s shop. I got down there, completely unannounced, on a Sunday afternoon. David’s only concern was to the problem I was having with the paint and was more than happy to look at it and completely committed to making it right. So that is where my frame is tonight. No longer in my study, no longer only 2 parts away from being on the road. And it will no longer be accompanying me to the Tour de Italia next week.
Such is life, and while I certainly don’t like having to send it back to the paint booth, I know David will make it right. And I know there are far larger problems in the world than having to have a bike painted over again when I have 3 others in the next room. But that doesn’t change the fact that I really want to get it on the road and show it off!
