Gotta look the part

I have always enjoyed metallic finishes and a metallic blue is one of my favorites. That is partly why I am so enamored with this frame. The color scheme is gorgeous! It also has a two tone fade from black to the metallic blue so the colors look really deep. I had a hard time capturing the color with the cloudy skies and gloomy weather.

If sex can equated to aluminum, this would be it.

Not everything is perfect in the finish though. Like I showed in an earlier post, the finish is pocketed with divets and chips in the paint. Here’s the worst example. It’s around the bottom bracket.

Can you hear the grinding of the chain here?

Look closely and you’ll even see scratches from the hand sanding of the aluminum after it was all welded together. This isn’t texture. It’s called a thin paint job.

Little scars like this "decorate" the frame all over.

Then there are little chips in the paint from who knows what. Maybe a flying rock. Maybe a crash. Maybe just plain ol’ poor handling. Even the “Handbuilt in the USA” decal took a bruise.

Nothing was left unmolested here. Even the American flag took a scratch.

Most people would say, “Don’t sweat it. You’ll put more scratches on this frame than you ever got to start with.” That could be true but it would probably happen over a span of another 17 years. Why should I carry someone elses? That’s their history. Not mine.

I have decided to give this frame some TLC and give it a new paint job. Oye! What am I getting myself into here?

CyclArt down in Vista, CA seems to do pretty good refinishes according to their website. Do a websearch and you won’t find many complainers. They do respond to e-mails and they answer their phone. I had a chance to talk with Susan Cunningham and I explained to her what I want. My tastes are simple and I’m not even going to try to be “vintage correct”. Coming close is good enough for me. Blasphemy? Maybe. More affordable? Definitely.

While I love the two tone paint, I can also live with out it. A single color of perfectly applied metallic blue that is thick enough to hide all the hand sanding is better in my book than a thin two tone fade. Decals are important and I want the full kit: both sides of the downtube, the head tube, and everything on the seat tube. The frame should proudly bear the message that it was handbuilt in the USA and list the patents that cover it’s design.

Cannondale was not shy to firing a warning shot to possible copycats.

Protected! If you're hungry for a lawsuit, then infringe.

If you never read a patent before then go ahead and try it. The language is kind of screwy because it’s all in legalese. Here is the text for the first one listed, 4513985. Crack it open and at least scroll through it. You can look up the rest on the US Patent Office website.

I’m not asking for any fancy pinstripes, gargoyles, or family portraits to be painted on here. Let’s focus on the frame and the ride.

The only thing that could kill this whole project is finding out that the frame is crooked and bent. I don’t have a frame jig so I can’t verify squat. I’ll ask the folks at CyclArt to check the alignment befor anyone opens a bucket of paint. Besides the waste of money on the frame, I would have spent quite a bit of money on the box, packing material, and S&H. It’s a risk.

Let’s weigh the frame before and after the refinish to see what a difference paint can have on the weight.

Not bad!

This weight here includes the seat post clamp and four water bottle cage bolts. The plastic cable guide under the bottom bracket and the steel front derailleur bracket and screws are not mounted. Still, at 1184 grams, this is a huge improvement over steel frames of the same era. In fact, this rivals some carbon and titanium frames made today. Not bad indeed for 1992.

I’m guessing the frame will come back significantly heavier due to the thicker paint. Let’s take a guess and say it’ll be 1300 grams when all things are said and done.

So it’s off to CyclArt for this frame. Let’s see what they come back with. They’re going to have a picky customer here.

Future Tour de France winner and his champion frame!