Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Translucent \tranz ˈlü-sənt\


1: permitting the passage of light:
a : clear <translucent water>
2: free from disguise or falseness
trans·lu·cent·ly adverb

Yo, gang. Me again.
This is a fresh cross bike for Jennifer.
Sitting in the golden setting sun, this thing really shines.


The paint in the direct sunlight is a clear, dark gray.
Other times at other angles, it appears green.
Other times still, it looks purple.
You can see the fillets beneath,
in all but the darkest of situations though.
Nowhere to hide on this bike.


When making bikes, I like to seal the tubes
so no moisture can ruin the tubing from within.
Jennifer, being as small as she is, got a bike whose
tubes contained enough air to cause the frame to float.
I had to weigh it down in the water tank when
soaking off all the flux from brazing.


What do y'all think?


There is band in San Francisco
playing some of the funnest punk rock
around. The name to remember is
Young Offenders.
I've had a song or two of theirs' lodged
firmly in my head for the last month or so.



7 comments:

Johann Rissik said...

Stunning, I like the brazing showing. How did you achieve that colour? Looks like "browning" rather than paint? Or is that a secret? Another very lucky customer.

reverend dick said...

That is fecking beautiful.

blackcatbicycles said...

thanks fellas,
its a powder coat color. normally there will be an under coat of silver, or sparkly silver and then the transparent coat. we just skipped that pesky first step. quite sure i'm not the first to do it that way.
came out cool.

Jason Smith said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason Smith said...

'Tis way cool brotha! It looks fantastic and shows off your skill-set. Keep up the good work!

John said...

I think instead of on a race course it belongs in a museum. Work of art! I mean wow...just wow. Wish I had the $$ for one of your frames...someday. I would love to see this on a lugged touring frame, the finish gives it a certain aged feel...like a good Scotch. Nice work!

blackcatbicycles said...

thanks john.
bikes are beautiful things in general, but this thing belongs on a slice of loam, miles from home. scratched, dirty, and ridden hard are how i like to see the bikes i've made. if they end up in a museum like that, then all the better.
a bottle of whiskey is only really in its prime as its being emptied, yea?