Zachariah
Well-Known Member
I found this in a heap of old bicycles at a car junkyard. It was at the very bottom of the pile, but I quickly identified the Headshok. After almost 2 hours of untangling - I was able to bring this home for a mere $25:
Despite having over 15 bikes piled on top of it - this poor specimen was in remarkably good shape.... the frame and fork was still straight! The boneyard owner told me this was taken from a car headed to the metal scrap yard. I thanked him for saving the bike:
After careful assessment, I determined the frame was completely salvageable. It had lots of nicks, chips and scrapes... but surprisingly NO deep dents, or scoring anywhere on the frame. The Headshok was completely rusted shut. Turning the bars made a nasty, grinding sound. I immediately sent the fork out to Craig at Mendon Cyclesmith, who did his magic and restored the unit back to full operational health again. Craig literally brought back this fork from the dead - as two Cannondale-Authorized LBS refused to even touch it. In fact, the fork now works like NEW.
I considered stripping and powdercoating the 6000-Series butted alloy frame - but feared the high-heat PC process may compromise the integrity of the T6 tempering of the frame. Due to cost - I decided not to go with a Auto body shop paint job. The decals and logos actually appeared good - so, I simply masked them all off, roughed-up the existing paint and gave the frame six light coats of ceramic automotive engine enamel, in semi-matte Black. Deep chips was filled-in, using multiple coats of Nail Salon Gel coating. I then baked each enamel coat under low heat(below 200deg F) for four hours(4x cycles) and let the entire frame air cure in the sun, for nine days. Once the fork arrived - I touched-up the scratches and chips with Revlon Black Star nail enamel....which matched the OEM finish perfectly. The end result is more like 95% of the original finish and appearance now:
What's your bike Karma story???
Despite having over 15 bikes piled on top of it - this poor specimen was in remarkably good shape.... the frame and fork was still straight! The boneyard owner told me this was taken from a car headed to the metal scrap yard. I thanked him for saving the bike:
After careful assessment, I determined the frame was completely salvageable. It had lots of nicks, chips and scrapes... but surprisingly NO deep dents, or scoring anywhere on the frame. The Headshok was completely rusted shut. Turning the bars made a nasty, grinding sound. I immediately sent the fork out to Craig at Mendon Cyclesmith, who did his magic and restored the unit back to full operational health again. Craig literally brought back this fork from the dead - as two Cannondale-Authorized LBS refused to even touch it. In fact, the fork now works like NEW.
I considered stripping and powdercoating the 6000-Series butted alloy frame - but feared the high-heat PC process may compromise the integrity of the T6 tempering of the frame. Due to cost - I decided not to go with a Auto body shop paint job. The decals and logos actually appeared good - so, I simply masked them all off, roughed-up the existing paint and gave the frame six light coats of ceramic automotive engine enamel, in semi-matte Black. Deep chips was filled-in, using multiple coats of Nail Salon Gel coating. I then baked each enamel coat under low heat(below 200deg F) for four hours(4x cycles) and let the entire frame air cure in the sun, for nine days. Once the fork arrived - I touched-up the scratches and chips with Revlon Black Star nail enamel....which matched the OEM finish perfectly. The end result is more like 95% of the original finish and appearance now:
What's your bike Karma story???
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