Yes I excitedly claimed no respray required after seeing my shiny carbon weave frame arrive. However, as I started buying the parts – more of that later – the minimal or retro stylings really didn’t suit the techno feel of the carbon weave. So I’ve return to the idea of painting it. But without the go faster stripes I think. Not sure, but I think.

It was while pondering the minimalism I realised the front left braze-on for holding the front derailleur cable was completely superfluous to my needs – I don’t have a front derailleur to wire up. So I decided to remove the braze-on before I get the frame sprayed.

This dodgy picture shows the fruits of scarily taking a drill and hammer to my new carbon frame. (1) shows the braze-on. I then drilled very delicately and slowly into the rivet heads until they came loose and could be tapped out (2). I thought the braze-on would just come off then but it didn’t so I had to grit my teeth and take a hammer to it. (3) shows the braze-on is no more. I then used a water resistant epoxy to cover the holes (4). This has now been sanded and the frame has been sent to Mario Vaz in Hither Green to be sprayed a dark brown/ almost black paint, then varnished twice for a classic retro glossy finish. More on that when it arrives. Gulp.