What a great story from inception to near completion. The colors are awesome and really look like northern lights. I cannot wait to see the full bike reveal. Roberta
On Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 2:01:33 PM UTC-5 Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! wrote: > My taste for bikes trends to the colorful side. My purple Platypus was the > first bike I chose every single part for, and I’m proud of how that little > Platypus came out. I did it up in oil slick and rainbow, and after that, I > decided that henceforth, all Leah Bikes will be modeled after natural > wonders. I have the rainbow, and up next would be the northern lights. > > I spent a decent amount of time trying to catch the northern lights this > summer, which is how the idea came to me. I decided to involve two > anodizers, the Mountain West’s celebrated woman anodizer, Ashley Anodized > It, and Velocity USA’s anodizer, David, whom I’d met and ridden with on the > Wednesday Evening Rides. Involving 2 anodizers and hoping their pieces > agree is a huge risk, but I couldn’t see a way around it. Here is the > inspiration photo I sent them: > [image: image0.jpeg] > > If it was aluminum, I sent it to Ashley. I learned that aluminum has > differing qualities that make some types better for taking color than > others. I think my Silver 3 cranks came out the best. The Silver shifters > were a nightmare. They had a plastic-y coating that came apart in the > liquid and they took color poorly. Ashley had not done a pattern like > Northern Lights before, so we had to invent it. She tried several things, > but she felt she was losing the NL theme and would strip the color and > start again. > > In the end, she got it exactly right. She made me the moodiest, swirliest > night sky parts imaginable. Here are some of them: > [image: image1.jpeg][image: image2.jpeg][image: image3.jpeg][image: > image4.jpeg][image: image5.jpeg] > > Meanwhile, David was at his post at Velocity, experimenting with pattern > and color. When you mix colors, you fight them being “muddy.” He had to > lift color with acid and apply different color, and he got a similar effect > on my Quill rims: > [image: image6.jpeg][image: image7.jpeg] > > I’ve chosen my own colorful pieces to add to the build: > [image: image10.jpeg] > > Everything is done now. My rims arrived and Ashley is about the send her > things. I do need a Faceplater stem but would otherwise be ready to build > this bike. Probably in the next 2 weeks! > > Thanks for reading, if you got this far. > Leah > > On Feb 6, 2025, at 1:39 PM, Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasa...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > I was happy. > > > I had my trio of Platypuses, each different from the next, so that > anything I wanted to do was possible. I had been casting glances toward > road bikes, but there were no 50cm Roadinis to be had, so I continued on my > group rides astride my Racing Platypus. And then I forgot about road bikes. > > Hype began to come out of Rivendell HQ about a new model, releasing soon. > I love to read the copy on Riv’s website, and I always do, even if I’m not > buying the bike. When I read that product description, I thought, “Wait. > It’s like they went and made a bike exactly for *me*.” > > It was a road bike. It had a sloped top tube, came in lighter tubing in my > size, and was painted in a color I loved. I ride a few thousand miles a > year, and most of them are road miles on club rides. I could really do > something with this bike. > > With 2 hours to the presale I decided I’d put one in my cart and see if I > could make it mine. The New Yorker article had come out and the Platypuses > were decimated as soon as Rivendell released them, so I wasn’t hopeful. I > was shocked when my order went through. > > I got…a golden Charlie. > > To be continued in the next post so I can embed some photos. > Leah > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/7Myd6HCEuQ0/unsubscribe > . > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f4c2cedb-3f85-4140-98ed-19b880503bcfn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f4c2cedb-3f85-4140-98ed-19b880503bcfn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e4200fc5-04f9-4baf-b2f4-d017105ddad3n%40googlegroups.com.
