Unknown Year, Make, Model and Origin: The Penguin
Having found the path of regeneration for the Peugeot fairly limited (namely due to the rarity of pre-80's french spec parts), i needed to upgrade. I walked into Brick Lane Bikes, and inquired for a lugged steel track frame, about 56-57cm. And what do you know? They have one, delivered that day, not even put out yet. I bought it on the spot, yet it would be another few months before it was fully ready.
Impact:
Still relying on recycled / reclaimed parts means less carbon-footprints all over the place.
The Frame @ Brick Lane Bikes, January 2007
This is pretty much what i first saw, when i first bought it.
Fresh Paint, April 19 2006
Having no real plan on how to paint the bike, i went to the paint shop and got one tiny can of white primer and one tiny can of black primer. I started out shooting the entire frame white, then i moved on to black. Only, as i was painting it, i decided to only paint one side, it looked alright, and i left it that way. Now the joke goes something like, "If i ever get chased by cops, i just have to pull a quick u-turn, and it'll be all like "no no guys, WERE looking for someone on a WHITE frame!" At this point, i noticed it had a similar feel to Tim Burton's rendition of the Penguin, so i started to call it that for lack of better name.
First Build, April 26 2006
Although I'd had the frame for some months, i had been waiting to paint it untill i had all the parts. Thus, within 7 days of paint application, i had it built, and ready to shoot.
100 Friendly Revolutions of Arnold Circus, July 29 2007
One of the events during The Sharing Picknick - an event organized to bring the community together - was 100 laps around Arnold Circus (about 12 miles, in about 70 minutes, at a constant pace) for no real reason, other than to show community support. About 30+ riders showed up, all of which got a number (mine was 28) and a little paper thingy to prove it. It occured to me that it would make a nice spoke card, so later that day i stopped by work, and made quick work of their lamination machine.
New Parts, NEW LIFESTYLE!
What started as perhaps just a interest in getting it powder coated, turned into an all out trick fest - get everything looking purty! Heres the crank as it was getting hand polished (by me); the first three show what the crank looked like before and after, the latter three just how shiny it really is...
