And on the Sweetpea Front

Had the design review meeting with Natalie today. Well, we had a design review sandwiched somewhere in between the fibers (knitting and spinning and dyeing) and other crafts discussion. With really good coffee in a North Portland coffeehouse on a wonderfully warm and sunny day.

Here's the preliminary design sketch; those are my notes on it. Natalie's version has other notes.

And for the obsessive among you, not to worry, we've got the right brakes all set. They are in a basket in my living room as I type this.

The Kaisei tubing is way cool - it is the descendant of the Ishiwata tubing for keirin bikes, and butted such that short frame tubes can be made from it. The fork will be custom. There is only 1 fork crown that will work, but Natalie says that's ok, because it is a totally awesome crown.

I was thinking I'd have to go with black stem/etc/etc, but I am told that there does exist a nice shiny silver stem that is the right size. So we can go with nice shiny silver components, which is really my preference.

Sparkliness of paint job was discussed, as well as the possibility of painting the fenders and rack. I dunno. Maybe leave the fenders silver with a pinstripe.

Decisions made:

triple crankset (probably the Sugin0)

bar end shifters, nine cogs in the rear

custom front rack

couplers

colors (RAL Signal Violet with shades of grayish green for the logo)

Cane Creek SCR 5C brake levers, silver/gum hoods

shiny silver components whenever possible :-) I hear Velo Orange has them :-)

Terry Butterfly seat (I have at least one not attached to a bicycle at the moment)

Michelin Megamium tires (in waiting)

Velocity 650B Aerohead rims (in waiting)

Son 20R generator hub

Speedplay Frog pedals (in waiting)

Sigma Rox 9.0 computer (have the computer, need another set of pickups)

I think we settled on the Salsa Poco handlebars

a shiny brass bell. I have the bell, just need the spacer.

Need to pick out some fenders

Need to decide on rear gearing range

I'll take Natalie's advice on headset, bottom bracket and derailleurs. As long as they are durable and work well, I'm not picky. I've not killed any yet, other than a rear derailleur dying of extreme age.

The bike will take a rear rack, but I won't have one installed, unless I really need it. That's what the Carradice Barley is for.

Lighting. Still can't decide between the Schmidt Edelux and the Supernova. I currently have an IQ Fly, and I'm not real fond of the beam pattern, so the Supernova really is calling more at this point.

Stay tuned!