Salsa Ala Carte 1991 Reborn! Again....

[richardpaulbaker]

Despite being professionally repaired and painted white (I painted the Rasta Flags on there) about 11 years ago my Ala Carte had now become decidedly tatty and in need of TLC.
Some of you may have followed my thread quite a few years back that followed my journey with this frame since buying it new in 1991 - now 33 years ago!!

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/salsa-ala-carte-through-the-ages.199104/
The repaint and renovation is now complete, but I know how you guys like a story so I'm going to cover the project over a number of instalments.

I'd used the bike quite a bit as a commuter through all seasons and I live near the sea, so the paint has been truly destruction tested!!

First step was to get the frame blasted back to bare metal...

 

[PanoIgano]

One of the first resto threads I read and then re-read in this forum! At that point I was super obsessed with Salsa's and their back story. The Pro's Closet video on Ross really did it for me.

There really is something pretty legit when you stick with an original bike from the start and keep finding ways to keep it on the road.

And yes a commuter Salsa must be a lot of fun riding and keep using.

Signing in of course!

 

[richardpaulbaker]

All the old paint and rust spotting was sand blasted back to clean bare steel, and on the outside it all looked good.
BUT, when the frame was blasted clean with the air hose quite a lot of chunks of rust flakes were blown out of the main tubes, so there is some corrosion inside, which is not surprising really given the age of this frame and the amount of use / abuse its had over the years.
So, I've come to the conclusion that it's time that it's retired to light trail duties / pub runs from now on - in the summer only !!!
The frame was they sprayed with a 2K Zinc Primer, followed by a gloss white top coat.
After a bit of sanding and another coat it's ready for the next stage.

 

[PanoIgano]

Looking very good already!

So you will do the rasta flags yourself I take it?

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Ah, yes - the Rasta Flags.
I went in a slightly different direction, and what I did next will probably divide opinion

 

[richardpaulbaker]

I drew up a set of decals that pay homage to the original head badge and Salsa logo style and colour palette, but followed a similar style to the Salsa Moto Rapido I have.
I call it 'Rasta Flame' !!!

 

[PanoIgano]

Keeps the original character intact enough I think.

And since you are not going for a full resto to original specs it's nice to see something new!

I would perhaps scale down a few mm the head tube decal but that's just me.

 

[27motorhead]

Love this and your original thread. Amazing you have had this frame from all those back AND some photographs capturing it in it's many guises.

I have ZERO photos of my first mountain bike and not many of others since and many of the early one are completely blurred thanks to my dads inability of how to use his SLR camera properly!!!

Newly painted frame looks great. Decal style is a very subjective thing. Don't blame you for looking for something different as you have had a Jelly bean brush finish before. It's funny when we're younger we can't wait to personalise our bikes, but as we turn to more "collectors" we can't wait to revert something back to catalogue spec!

 

[richardpaulbaker]

Here's how it's built up.
There are quite a few vintage parts on there - I'll post a full spec in due course.
I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out, but just wish I'd waited a bit longer before applying the second clear coat as it's wrinkled in a couple of places due to the first coat not been cured enough. Anyway I've left it as it is. It's perfectly normal to have a few wrinkles showing as you get on in years I reckon!!