Trawling eBay and Gumtree as always looking for a cheap project to stave off the UK boredom till we return to our US home, I spotted this little wreck for 20 quid just up the road . . .
I must admit it was the Redline stem which attracted me but underneath all the rust, corrosion and dull metallic grey paint there were a few half decent parts fitted (alloy hubbed rear wheel and nice alloy MX style brakes rather than the usual pressed steel jobbies typically fitted to mail order catalogue bikes).
Figured maybe it was a low end Diamondback due to the dropout cutouts but they never used a GT Performer-style frame, but later discovered that several companies used the same budget Taiwan factory (namely Universal, Ammaco, Falcon etc). The GT fan in me decided that it would be rude not to attempt a Performer tribute (especially as I could never afford the $1000 price tag that originals command), initially planning to repaint in Maui blue. Anyway, inspecting the old chipped and rust stained paintwork I noticed the chrome peaking through was pretty damn shiny. After destroying my nail polish (and fingertips
) with a little acetone work I figured the chrome worth saving to set about dismantling the whole thing to make the job easier. Took several days to free the stuck seatpost and seized pedals (not easy living in a city apartment with no workbench) and the nasty steel seat collar and chainguard and kickstand mounts had to go, but now after a week of hacksawing and foil scrubbing with acetone and bicarbonate of soda (who needs fingertips anyway) the front end now looks like this . . .
I know it's essentially a low end piece of crap (my money's on late 90s mail order catalogue Ammaco like this one) and I don't plan on throwing too much money at it (although I did just order a nice white DiaCompe hinged seat collar - which I'm sure will come in handy once I can afford a real Performer to hang the bits on . . . yeah right) but I'm gonna enjoy the process
I must admit it was the Redline stem which attracted me but underneath all the rust, corrosion and dull metallic grey paint there were a few half decent parts fitted (alloy hubbed rear wheel and nice alloy MX style brakes rather than the usual pressed steel jobbies typically fitted to mail order catalogue bikes).
Figured maybe it was a low end Diamondback due to the dropout cutouts but they never used a GT Performer-style frame, but later discovered that several companies used the same budget Taiwan factory (namely Universal, Ammaco, Falcon etc). The GT fan in me decided that it would be rude not to attempt a Performer tribute (especially as I could never afford the $1000 price tag that originals command), initially planning to repaint in Maui blue. Anyway, inspecting the old chipped and rust stained paintwork I noticed the chrome peaking through was pretty damn shiny. After destroying my nail polish (and fingertips
) with a little acetone work I figured the chrome worth saving to set about dismantling the whole thing to make the job easier. Took several days to free the stuck seatpost and seized pedals (not easy living in a city apartment with no workbench) and the nasty steel seat collar and chainguard and kickstand mounts had to go, but now after a week of hacksawing and foil scrubbing with acetone and bicarbonate of soda (who needs fingertips anyway) the front end now looks like this . . .
I know it's essentially a low end piece of crap (my money's on late 90s mail order catalogue Ammaco like this one) and I don't plan on throwing too much money at it (although I did just order a nice white DiaCompe hinged seat collar - which I'm sure will come in handy once I can afford a real Performer to hang the bits on . . . yeah right) but I'm gonna enjoy the process
