this coronavirus known as Covid-19 is serious business and has brought the world to it’s knees… what can anyone say other than Mother Nature rules and she will have her way if we do not respect her. while we are all are doing our best self quarantine, so as not to spread the virus, there are some silver linings along the way.
for me, i’ve been a one-man shop for the past several years and fortunately i am able to carry on day to day as i always have working in my shop, doing the work i have always done. hardly anyone stops by so i can actually get things done. everything pretty much arrives via UPS or US Mail and is shipped out pretty much the same way, so not a lot of personal human interaction there.
i’ve always been a freak about keeping my hands ultra-clean due to the nature of my work, and so i don’t end up with some clumsy finger print or dirt spot under the clear-coat of a perfectly good paint or powder coat job. so keeping my hands clean is not a new thing. in fact on average i wash my hands at least 20 times a day, hence my dried out sandpaper like hands during winter months.
i live with a pretty great woman who likes to hit the sack at 9, so we don’t go out much and there’s not a lot of person to person interaction or intermingling with people outside our normal circle or daily routine.
while the silver linings of solitude, and being able to focus a bit more than usual, it gets a bit lonely around the shop and i am concerned as im sure many of you are while we all watch from our computer screens to see what the latest casualties, spread, and sanctions of this deadly virus are. all while no one really knows how long this thing will last, the toll it will take, or if there will be a vaccine in the near or far off future. so all we can do is be patient while we sit tight and wait this thing out.
on February 29th, i thought i was gonna have this really fun “leap year sale” – something i don’t normally do, where id get to clear my shelve’s of some really awesome “new old stock”, offer some great deals on other “in-stock” items, maybe make some people real happy, and in the process put some coin in my pocket. to say the least it has been radio silent since week two of this month (March), and believe me i get it, especially after i watch informative videos, like the one im gonna share with you all below…
so for now, all i want to say is something i have always believed, that “what affects one – affects all”, and for the first time in all our lives we actually get to witness this on a global scale where life and death consequences are very real. hopefully we all will have done our due diligence of self-quarantine and avoided this terrible pandemic with minimal casualties or damage to our lives, both financially and physically. hopefully there will be a vaccine and a cure and it will pass swiftly as it came. in the meanwhile everyone be very careful and stay safe as you possibly can and if there is something you need from me know that i keep things pretty damn clean around my shop and im here for you.
One of the biggest mistakes a person can make when re-finishing their bicycle frame that has a powdercoated finish is to sandblast it.
That’s right, it’s the single most common way to absolutely RUIN a lightweight steel, aluminum or titanium frame. The reason why is that most powder has a much tougher surface than the very best wet paint by at least 3 to 5 times, which is why it takes about 3 to 5 times longer to remove it via sandblasting, and why only the most powerful sandblasting apparatus can actually penetrate and remove a powder from any metal surface.
When we were in Oakland we had the luxury of having a really great sandblasting vendor that would sandblast our frames for a very nominal cost and had an incredibly quick turnaround – literally within a day sometimes. They had a pretty big and powerful setup that serviced all the local shipyards and sanitary food manufacturers like Granny Goose and Del Monte, and we would bring them anywhere from 5 to 10 bike frames per week on average. We’d also bring them all the re-finish work that we would do for the general public, be it an older bike frame or any metal object like car rims or household items.
Since all the frames I ever built from 1985 to 1994 were wet painted (by me personally) there was no second-guessing that it was a painted frame and would get sent off to the sandblaster as they always had. But every once in a while we would get a frame that was powder coated and that’s when it became abundantly clear that sandblasting might not be a good idea for removing powder from a frame made of thin steel.
I remember it as clear as day. In early 2001, when we finally went in-house with powdercoating, we sent one of our early team issue cyclocross frames with the Kelly chrome green finish out to blast and when I went to pick it up the first thing my sandblasting guy “Jose” told me was that frame was really tough to blast and that it took him about 45 minutes (usually takes about 10) to get all the powder off. And sure enough, at first glance I could clearly see that it looked like an elevation terrain map, or bare metal camouflage.
So what happened according to Jose was he would spend a bunch of time on one little spot until the powder began to wear away then move right along to the next until the whole frame was bare metal. What he couldn’t see due to the low visibility through his mask (part of a piped in fresh air suit) was the metal was actually being thinned as he was moving along the frame with the high power nozzle and its extremely heavy stream of media. We’re talking at least half the thickness of the metal was removed in places that start out at .016” (.016” x .5 = .008”). It’s pretty simple when you do the math to see there’s not much metal left and catastrophic frame failure is only a matter of time.
Needless to say we ate that frame but learned a valuable lesson and immediately invested in a proper earth friendly chemical strip solution so we could continue to offer our re-powder service without increasing our lead-time.
For all you DIY folks out there that want to refinish your powdercoated frames (to which I applaud), or you folks that want to save a buck and have your refinish work done locally, the one thing to remember is the best way to remove powder from a bike frame is to remove it chemically. It’s a nasty and messy job but it is the only way I know of to insure that the integrity of your frame is not compromised. There are lots of different over the shelf paint removal products available at your local hardware or paint store, and as long as it is not corrosive to the metal one is as good as the next.
As well, don’t ever try to burn a paint or powdercoated finish from a bike frame, as that too will completely soften the metal to the hardness of electrical conduit, which will invariably break when you least expect it. This too is a big no-no!
For those of you out there that have sent or are planning to send a frame out to your local powder coater for refinish and plan to slap decals on the frame in order to turn around and sell it, know that it is highly irresponsible not to disclose what the refinish procedure was and that you are selling a ticking time bomb to your unsuspecting buyer that could ultimately cause them great injury or even worse if that frame breaks.
The reason I was motivated to write this article was due to a situation where a person was selling one of my early lightweight frames online that I suspected was sandblasted previous to being re-powdered. I was emailed by the prospective buyer, who was anxious to buy this asked me all sorts of questions about fit, sizing and so on as many folks do. One thing I insisted upon was to be sure to ask if the bike had been sandblasted or chemically striped before it was powdercoated. I also explained that the material used on that frame was originally .4mm (.015”) in the center sections, had most likely been well ridden by the original owner, and possibly the second owner, and could easily be half that thickness after it was sandblasted.
So prospective buyers of any lightweight steel, aluminum or Ti frames beware, and always ask the question, because what lies beneath the surface of a fresh new finish, be it powder or wet paint might tell a different tale.
For those of you who are sending your bike out to be refinished (powder or wet) make damn sure that your painter or powdercoating person understands that your frame is of thin metal and should be chemically stripped – not sand blasted. If they don’t offer a chemical strip option then find someone who does, or better yet, do it yourself*. Don’t be lazy or negligent when it comes to something as critical as jeopardizing the wall thickness of your frame because you or someone you sold the bike to could end up getting hurt, or much worse.
There are a handful of reputable bicycle frame refinishing companies here in the US, and for what you pay having a shop with bicycle frame expertise handling your frame from strip to the last clear coat, versus a metal refinisher that doesn’t will far outweigh the cost of a damaged or ruined frame and most of all your health and wellbeing.
*Disclaimer: no matter what chemical strip solution you use, always read the manufacturers instructions and warnings on the package before use and follow them to the letter. And always (ALWAYS!!!) work in a well-ventilated area, and respect the earth when it comes to cleaning up after you’re done.
Kelly Canti-Basket’s in silver are in stock and ready to ship!
we came up with the canti-basket a long time ago as a simple means to route your rear cantilever brake via the seat pinch bolt without having to commit to a permanent “brazed on” brake cable hanger.
the Kelly® Canti Basket™ is built here at Kelly® World Headquarters (in Nevada City CA). it’s simple, clean, light, easy to install or remove, and doesn’t cost and arm and a leg (only $15 including shipping) – just the way a bike accessory should be. and best of all, you can purchase our Canti Basket(s) right here on our website products pages .
you can also call 530-362-8004 or email if you have any questions.
Wishing everyone a safe, solemn and happy 4th of July, and hoping we all can remember how it began back in 1776 and what the 4th of July here in the USA is all about. the sacrifices of the many that gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy each and every day, and to never take it for granted.
this late 90’s second generation Knobby X “team issue” was literally rode hard and put away wet for many a year. it came to us with a broken seat tube and in need of some serious “factory love”… the nice thing about high quality steel is it’s simple enough to repair and worthwhile to put back into service. this smiling gentleman is the 3rd owner who cared enough to send this sweet piece of functional history back to us for the opportunity to make it glow again….
call (530) 362-8004 or email if your Kelly® is in need of factory service.
