Tag: sunflower

57 Sunflower Porteur

This past week I built up a 57cm Sunflower Rambler as a Portuer.  What is commonly referred to as a “city bike” these days, the Porteur has deep roots as a French newspaper delivery bike.  Optimized for getting stacks of newspapers out to the stands around Paris, the Porteur is optimized for speed and all day comfort in the urban environment, yet still able to handle well with exceptional front loads, i.e. a stack of newspapers.  THis translates into an excellent bike for most people who carry a varying load throughout the day, have a stop and go radius under 10 miles and prefer the comfort and added visibility of an upright position, think commuter.

This build has been well received on our social media channels with requests for more info on some of the details.  The build was a mix of price points, focused on a safe and transportational ride that will see daily use in Santa Clarita as well as longer weekend explorations.  Pictures tell the rest of the story…

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Cotton and Shellac

With everything in the right places on the 51 porter conversion it was time to put the cherry on top.  There is something just right about the feel of cotton tape with just a few coats of shellac.  I have found that the orange tape, particularly Newbams, when paired with garnet shellac is not only a near perfect match for brooks leather saddles, but has a warm tone that you can not replicate any other way.  It is just one of those things that takes time, patience, and is a process you can not cheat on.  This project has a layer of Soma thick and zesty under the orange cotton, finished off with cotton twine and then three coats of garnet shellac, the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The amazing thing is the feel, grippy, but soft, with just a touch of cush.  It will soften with time, last for years with an occasional re-coat, and only look and feel better with usage.

And for the color, most would not know it isn’t leather unless you told them, a perfect match for a worn in Brooks.