I've long been a fan of the artistry and the craftmanship of well-made lugged frames - but I've never been in love with goofy quill stems, downtube shifters or garish paintschemes.
I spotted a nice Basso Loto for sale in my size a few months back and fell in love with the seat-stay arrangement and the sheer elegance of the thing.
The paint was a lovely cherry red, and looked to be in top condition... But yeah .. Paint is just paint to me and I wanted something a little more unique / modern. A trip to the powdercoaters later, and the frame came back in an awesome textured copper/brown.
The finish is a special kind of paint from armourtex called 'phosphorous' .. but it definitely doesn't glow in the dark! Often a Powder coat is too thick and will soften the lugs - looking horrid.. But in this case the lugs and pantographing are lovely and sharp.
Next up - a conversion to ahead - and some straight blade forks... Plus a KELLY stem I had knocking around painted to match.. Using a 110mm ZERO degree stem allowed me to get the 'slammed' look without adding 2" of spacers with a negative rise stem
Finishing kit is not-too-modern looking - so NITTO S65 seatpost, Concor Saddle, Silver Centaur / Athena Mix... with athena shifters and skeleton calipers... A compact bar from Soma and some de-stickered DT swiss Wheels (with the groovy star ratchet hub). The rear mech is 105 running on a 9-speed hub - which works perfectly with the 11sp athena shifters! (shimergo)
I'm very happy with the final product, it rides like a dream and weighs a not-too-bad 9.8kg - with a steel fork and steel stem. I could go lighter quite easily but it'd be far less classy with a carbon fork / seat post or skinny modern saddle.
The bike is used to cycle my 20 mile daily commute and it's sturdy construction, steel fork and 25c tyres shrug off the worst of London's potholes! The 9 speed drivetrain is harder wearing and cheaper to maintain than a 10 or 11 speed set-up - so makes sense for commuting.
(Apologies for the MTB pedals - a lot of stopping and starting at traffic lights neccessitates them
)
I spotted a nice Basso Loto for sale in my size a few months back and fell in love with the seat-stay arrangement and the sheer elegance of the thing.
The paint was a lovely cherry red, and looked to be in top condition... But yeah .. Paint is just paint to me and I wanted something a little more unique / modern. A trip to the powdercoaters later, and the frame came back in an awesome textured copper/brown.
The finish is a special kind of paint from armourtex called 'phosphorous' .. but it definitely doesn't glow in the dark! Often a Powder coat is too thick and will soften the lugs - looking horrid.. But in this case the lugs and pantographing are lovely and sharp.
Next up - a conversion to ahead - and some straight blade forks... Plus a KELLY stem I had knocking around painted to match.. Using a 110mm ZERO degree stem allowed me to get the 'slammed' look without adding 2" of spacers with a negative rise stem
Finishing kit is not-too-modern looking - so NITTO S65 seatpost, Concor Saddle, Silver Centaur / Athena Mix... with athena shifters and skeleton calipers... A compact bar from Soma and some de-stickered DT swiss Wheels (with the groovy star ratchet hub). The rear mech is 105 running on a 9-speed hub - which works perfectly with the 11sp athena shifters! (shimergo)
I'm very happy with the final product, it rides like a dream and weighs a not-too-bad 9.8kg - with a steel fork and steel stem. I could go lighter quite easily but it'd be far less classy with a carbon fork / seat post or skinny modern saddle.
The bike is used to cycle my 20 mile daily commute and it's sturdy construction, steel fork and 25c tyres shrug off the worst of London's potholes! The 9 speed drivetrain is harder wearing and cheaper to maintain than a 10 or 11 speed set-up - so makes sense for commuting.
(Apologies for the MTB pedals - a lot of stopping and starting at traffic lights neccessitates them
)
