New Life for an Old Frame

My beloved Wishbone is over 20 years old, and while I love the bike, the nickel plate finish has seen better days. So I decided to have the frame refinished.

Here's a before pic:



Some better shots if the frame and the rust/pitting are in this video:

And here are some after pics I got from Groody Bros this afternoon:





The color is Prismatic Powders "Illusion Orange Cherry".

I've got a few new parts to hang on the frame. I hope to have it rolling sometime next month.

 

Beautiful bent!!

 

That really dressed it up. They did a good job.

 

Good, informative video answered most of my Wishbone questions except for what brakes are on the classic?

 

Odyssey A brakes.

They are a little crude and tricky to adjust, but they are very powerful, and can be configured for cable pull from either direction.

 

Got the frame. I am very pleased with it. Some areas of the frame were rough after media blasting so Mark at Groody Bros. applied and sanded a filler material. Those areas turned out quite nicely and he kept powder out of the threads and such. No corners cut that I can tell. He even put on new v-brake studs. The pricing was very reasonable too.

Pamphlet and business cards attached for reference. I recommend them to anyone who needs a frame power coated. Although be aware that his oven is not likely big enough for a LWB.

Mark threw in some custom decals gratis, which was extremely nice of him. They look just like the originals. I guess he lifted it from a picture I sent him. Or maybe one that he took.

 

Great video presentation of the two Wishbones. Thanks.

 

Nice! Love the color.

 

Making a beloved older bike look sharp and new again is a satisfying project everytime I've done it. The wishbone looks really good

 

Thanks for sharing. Way back when I really wanted a low racer, and this was one of the few available. Never got to buy one before Mr. Reynolds stopped his bike building.

That shell seat wasn't original, was it?

 

It's sort of a midracer, with the bottom of the seat rim at about 15". Most True low racers are at least a couple inches lower than that.

I retrofitted a Thor seat and some open cockpit OSS bar. The original configuration was USS. The original seat was a sort of fiberglass construction, but it was crude, and didn't really fit me.

 

I had the opposite problem with this bike. The lumbar hump was too high - almost between my shoulder blades.

 

It is really disquieting. I have seven recumbents of various brands. Every one of their makers is now defunct except Challenge.

Recumbent makers don't have any staying power. When the owner dies or retires, that is usually the end of the brand.

Reynolds had a limited production mystique about them at the time. I never remember Recumbent Cycling news doing a review on them.

 

Have the Tweener bars been retrofitted from another bike as well? Look like those on a Metabike.

What brand of headrest is that in the photo? Looks comfy.