Little Black Dress

One of the greatest advantages of having four seasons within a year is that not only is there a change in pace between cycling and skiing, but that there is also some downtime from riding that allows you to really put some tender loving care into your bike.

Ever since I first purchased Miss Devinci (My downhill bike )back in 2009 I've had plans to eventually rebuild her into a race worthy machine. Well this last winter. Thanks to a very hefty tax return and some friends who are great at scanning the internet for deals I'm proud to present:

MISS RAVEN DEVINCI

If you can't remember (or even cared to remember) what she looked like before just scroll down a couple of blogs and you'll see some pictures of her stripped down to the frame just before I started painting her.

The paint job sure took awhile. I started back in February by first stripping all the paint off the frame and bringing her down to bare aluminium (No pictures were taken of Miss Devinci naked, it wouldn't be proper), and then with a loosely obtained permission from my landlord I pitched a tent in the yard and through the month March I began laying down layers of primer, and then paint.

Unfortunately Winter made a come back for the beginning of April and the process was put on hold, as part of the painting process requires a full day where no wind or dirt or rain could contaminate the drying paint. I don't think I've ever followed the news as closely. Also not to mention that between each coat a paint the surface had to be wet-sanding and any paint runs or mistakes had to be removed before the next layer was put down.

On top of that the rear shock was sent off to Fox Racing Suspensions to be overhauled, new bearings for the headset and bottom bracket were dug up, and a brand spanking new set of race wheels were located by my friend Ty (Who desperately needs to get back from the Middle East so we can go ride).

You may not understand everything that was done but it's ok. A picture says a thousand words, and I think I'll let Miss Devinci tell you everything. Here are a few less than professional quality pictures.