Gifts the Postman Brought me

Behold, Gilles Berthoud stainless-steel mudguards, 50mm wide and perfectly formed to sit over the 42mm Grand Bois Hetres! After considering the Velo Orange Zeppelins, and measuring frame clearance front and rear, I realized that anything over 50mm was going to really challenge my metal-forming skills. As they are, the GB fenders will require a small tapering to get inside the front forklegs, but the rear looks like it was made for the frame.

Anybody worrying about the weight of stainless steel in this application should take a pill; I have plastic mudguards sitting around that weigh more than these. The lovely polished finish and little roll on the front and rear lips of the guards are really great. To integrate them with the bike overall I'm going to lay some pinstripes on them to match the copper and dark green trim on the seat tube.

So after many delays and intrusions of other, uh, matters,

I finally decided to just get some paint onto the Severn Valley and get the project bolted together. If I love the bike after it's all up and running, I can consider letting a better painter to a better job. In the mean time, I've thrown Fiat Pearlescent White on the frame and fork, and with contrasting copper metallic head tube and seat tube bands.

Love the Nervex Pro lugs, especially knowing that they were 'scientfically modified' at the shop.

I don't know if I'm going to line the lugs or not. The original plan was to paint the lugs all in a contrasting colour, but that looked like a masking job too far. The bottom bracket and seat cluster are really nice, and I'm thinking since the head lugs pop so well, you'll go looking for the rest of the detail at the two big joints. Funny how it's the junctions of a frame that are always most important?

I had always intended these cutouts in the fork crown would be filled, and they compliment the triangular areas on the top of the crown nicely

So, to line or not to line. Right now I'm feeling like lining will be fussy, but I also feel like the seat cluster--especially those delish fluted seat stays--need a little louder statement. Maybe I'll just line the tops of the flutes. The seat tube bands need confining with a contrasting line; red would be an obvious choice, but the head badge I have has an interesting light blue in it:

I've got to let this much cure on the frame before moving to that detail, so later this week I'll decide. Then wet sand, line, transfers, clear coat. I'm shooting for the end of August as a build date. All the parts are sitting there--well, almost all: mudguards need to be ordered. Zeppelins, then highlighted with a copper stripe to carry the theme along. More next week!