While it was raining the past few days I’ve been tinkering with a bike. Thought I’d share how its changed over the years.
I got this Huffy for free many years ago through some sort of rewards program at work.
At some point in time I repainted and reconfigured it for my Dad to ride.
He rode it on a few rides with us but tired of it being in the way at his house and gave it back. I then repainted and rebuilt it for me.
I later convinced Nova she needed a klunker style bike and built it up for her. It went through several changes while she had it.
She never really liked the bike (other than the color) and gave it back to me. Over the past couple of days I ratted it out. I stripped it down and gave it a faux patina. I built it back up with parts I had and added a few of my “road finds” to it which include… the rear fender a garden shovel, the front fender I believe is a heat shield off a motorcycle, the tank plate which is some wing looking piece of metal and the bungee cord.
I even added a road find (safety orange pennant) while riding it for the first time yesterday.
So that was fun and kept me occupied over a couple of rainy days. I’m sure I’ll tire of the bike, tear it down and stash it away to be rebuilt differently at some future time.
I love it when a bicycle becomes a “canvas” of sorts for one to apply their imagination and unique touch to make it their own. I doubt this was your intention, Randy, but the “faux patina” sort of makes me think back to when clothing manufacturers started to “distress” new jeans to give them a vintage look; I guess. As I said on Instagram: I like the patina. Truly an entertaining blog post! Thanks! Doc
Yes like the distressed jeans of the 90s(?). I really like the patina look even if I have to fake it. Wish I could find something with a natural patina that I really like. Thanks for reading and writing.
I guess the 90s was when the distressed jeans look started to become a thing. Well, that “natural patina” look seems to be out there. I came pretty close to bringing one home from an antique shop in Door County, Wisconsin but just didn’t have the room in the van as I already had a bike in the cargo area. I still think about that bike…
I have a couple bikes with a more natural patina but not a real great looking patina like I’ve seen on others.