Hello. I thought Id share some pics of my recent project. Retro bikes was one of the places I came across while researching singlespeed bike conversions, and I love some of the bikes on here. This is my old Giant Atx830 hardtail, this was my first 'proper' mountain bike I ever owned, and has been a faithful steed for over 10 years for me now (I got it new as a birthday present as a teenager). The idea was to simplify the bike and give it a cool retro vibe, but maintain its ride-ability. The look all along was inspired by WWII bombers, but as often happens with these projects ideas varied along the way! Oh yeh, it was built on a budget and it's my first bike build.
Before pics, pretty much a stock 830
Stripped her down to a frame
hmmmm, bits
Started to stip the frame, already got the forks primered
Every self respecting bomber needs some nose art eh?
Bars and stem in paint.
Got the frame primed and painted (all in my hi-tech paint booth
)
Here it is getting reassembled. I got some old cream tyres off a mate, and loved the look of them. Unfortuneately on closer inspection they were badly cracked and not useable.
I bought a second hand Azonic shorty stem and Answer Pro Taper bars, after a bit of umming and arrrring, I decided to leave the stem black and colour match the bars. Slung on some Oury grips and the crank arms that were on it, and stole the black seat post and clamp off my Giant Yukon dually.
Hey, where'd that cable go? Threading the cable though was nowhere as hard as I thought it was going to be. Love that side view of the stem too.
Ahh, theres the cable
Clean
Ground off the teeth on the outer chainring for a smoother look, but thinking I might go to a single chainring. Clipless pedals are what I had on it before
The original plan called for stencilled 'Giant' text on the frame, but I really like the subtle and clean look of the frame. So Ive decided to just run the pin up girl sticker on the frame as some nose art.
Left side
Right side
I also made up some lamintaed spoke cards for the bike as well. These are a tongue in cheek nod to fixie/urban singlespeed culture, and also a good way of having some fun with the military theme. I went down to the local office supplies place and $5 and 20 minutes later I got some spoke cards.
The 'remove before flight' tag and the RAAF roundel are of course nods to the whole bomber theme. The pin up gal is my girlfreind, and is a reference to the pic of the gal back home that many pilots might have had in their cockpits back in WWII. The poppy with the text 'lest we forget' is a tribute to those who sacrificed everything, and a sobreing reminder of the cold reality of war.
The spoke cards are on the left side, to visually balance the bike, given that the drivetrain is one the right. A nice cooincidence is that it is preferable to wear your remberance day poppy on the left side of your chest so that its closest to your heart.
Spoke cards are double sided, cause I fgured it'd look silly from the right side with 4 blank white cards I also like how the 4 cards look balanced overall on the wheel.
Here it is finished
Some pics from its first decent ride
Before pics, pretty much a stock 830
Stripped her down to a frame
hmmmm, bits
Started to stip the frame, already got the forks primered
Every self respecting bomber needs some nose art eh?
Bars and stem in paint.
Got the frame primed and painted (all in my hi-tech paint booth
)
Here it is getting reassembled. I got some old cream tyres off a mate, and loved the look of them. Unfortuneately on closer inspection they were badly cracked and not useable.
I bought a second hand Azonic shorty stem and Answer Pro Taper bars, after a bit of umming and arrrring, I decided to leave the stem black and colour match the bars. Slung on some Oury grips and the crank arms that were on it, and stole the black seat post and clamp off my Giant Yukon dually.
Hey, where'd that cable go? Threading the cable though was nowhere as hard as I thought it was going to be. Love that side view of the stem too.
Ahh, theres the cable
Clean
Ground off the teeth on the outer chainring for a smoother look, but thinking I might go to a single chainring. Clipless pedals are what I had on it before
The original plan called for stencilled 'Giant' text on the frame, but I really like the subtle and clean look of the frame. So Ive decided to just run the pin up girl sticker on the frame as some nose art.
Left side
Right side
I also made up some lamintaed spoke cards for the bike as well. These are a tongue in cheek nod to fixie/urban singlespeed culture, and also a good way of having some fun with the military theme. I went down to the local office supplies place and $5 and 20 minutes later I got some spoke cards.
The 'remove before flight' tag and the RAAF roundel are of course nods to the whole bomber theme. The pin up gal is my girlfreind, and is a reference to the pic of the gal back home that many pilots might have had in their cockpits back in WWII. The poppy with the text 'lest we forget' is a tribute to those who sacrificed everything, and a sobreing reminder of the cold reality of war.
The spoke cards are on the left side, to visually balance the bike, given that the drivetrain is one the right. A nice cooincidence is that it is preferable to wear your remberance day poppy on the left side of your chest so that its closest to your heart.
Spoke cards are double sided, cause I fgured it'd look silly from the right side with 4 blank white cards I also like how the 4 cards look balanced overall on the wheel.
Here it is finished
Some pics from its first decent ride
, that look's far better than it did originaly 
I bought my nose art girls from a vendor at a hot rod show, but you can get them on ebay. This seller (below) does both vinyl and water transfer decals, and will do custom sizes on request (which is great when you're trying to find a suitable decal for a tube on a bike). Check out their other sales for the different designs they have.
