So this little detour started when my awesome nephew, Gavin, was about to turn four. Months beforehand, my father had talked about getting a bike for the G-Man because we felt he was long over due to actually have one. The reasoning for this idea was that I started riding a bike without training wheels when I was just over three years old. So at the age of four Gavin should have no problem learning how to ride. My Dad did a little research and found a Schwinn bike kinda like my first bike. But after taking a look at it, I decided that it wasn't good enough for my nephew. After looking around on KSL classifieds, I found a Specialized Fuze 16. Anyone that knows anything about bikes knows that Specialized is a respectable bike company and that the price on this bike was a steal of a deal. So after taking a look at it I talked the guy down even further on the price and sealed the deal. The bike wasn't in great condition aesthetically but it worked just fine.
First on my list was to dismantle the bike and get it down to pieces to see what needed to be replaces, that ended up being almost every moving part. Once down to the frame, my Dad and I decided that the bike had to be blue. There really isn't any other color that is acceptable in a boys eyes. A mechanic at Madd Dog Cycles recommended a great powder coating place in Spanish Fork called Cornaby's. They did a great job on the bike and made it look great. We ended up finding a lot of parts online and ordered them for pretty cheap.
Unfortunately the bike ended up sitting in my shed waiting for me to paint a few parts. I never painted the parts, I tried and tried to paint them but due to the freakish weather we got during the spring I never could make it happen. Cornaby's came to the rescue again and had the parts sandblasted and powder coated in less that 3 days. Then due to my lack of knowledge of bikes and pure laziness we let Madd Dog Cycles take care of the building of the bike. With the addition of white mag wheels the bike was complete. I do have to say that this bike is amazing. More than adequate for a four year old to say the least.
Gavin was amazed when his Pops, Nan and Uncle Trent gave him the bike at a family dinner. His first reaction was "Uncle Trent....". I laughed. I love that little guy and I am so glad that he could have a great bike to learn to ride on and to learn to love riding. He hasn't started riding yet due to the bike has some parts on it that don't fit but he will be out and about soon.
(Finished bike pics will be coming soon, never got a good chance to take any after picking it up)
No comments:
Post a Comment