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Aging John's W/W Royal chains in 5 minutes

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jpromo

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
I had been thinking of how to attack these beauties for a while now; considering used teabags, pickling them with vinegar coupled with weeks in the sun, and the like. I was standing out in the shop today and spotted my degreaser pot. It's this milky mineral spirit that I leave bearings, chains, and other greasy parts in to break them down. It often looks as such, where it's been used a few times but hasn't yet reached the end of its life.

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Yum. Makes good hand cleaner too.

So I took a gnarly, dirty 3M pad, dipped it in my gnarly, dirty degreaser, sponged it on a spot and it looked good, so I kept going. Wiped off a minute later and voila. It stained the white with just enough discoloration to look the part.

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It looks dramatic compared to the bright white, but it's quite subtle. I would have liked to experiment and find a way to age them further and yellow them a bit, but the white details on my bike are not yellowed so these match it very well just knocked back.
 
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My elgin with johns us royal chain

Put these on my elgin. They were first intended for my roadmaster but decided to put red tires on it instead.

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Look in that bucket, I see a caped chupacabra doing something weird to a rabbit while a strange snozola beast watches near blond palm tree :eek:

Or is it just another one of 2jakes bizarre dreams ...

pap
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No, no...I definitely see the rabbit.

Everything else is around the top from left to right.

Oh, the tires look real good, I wouldn't expose them to anything too harsh that would hasten that dreaded all too common separation between the white sidewall and the black tread.

I hate it when that happens.

pap
.
 
I had been thinking of how to attack these beauties for a while now; considering used teabags, pickling them with vinegar coupled with weeks in the sun, and the like. I was standing out in the shop today and spotted my degreaser pot.

So I took a gnarly, dirty 3M pad, dipped it in my gnarly, dirty degreaser, sponged it on a spot and it looked good, so I kept going. Wiped off a minute later and voila. It stained the white with just enough discoloration to look the part.

It looks dramatic compared to the bright white, but it's quite subtle. I would have liked to experiment and find a way to age them further and yellow them a bit, but the white details on my bike are not yellowed so these match it very well just knocked back.


jpromo .. Well Done !!

........ thanks, patric


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Great technique and degreaser pot artwork.
But it begs the question why anyone could not be able to actually ride the bicycle with those stark white tires and get them aged and dirty the "normal" way???
 
I wouldn't expose them to anything too harsh that would hasten that dreaded all too common separation between the white sidewall and the black tread.

I hate it when that happens.

pap
.

Typically, this would be a concern since standard old whitewalls are white rubber fused to the black rubber. These are all black rubber with the white "painted" on. I say painted for lack of knowing how it's really done. They're colored white by means of magic and mermaid scales.

All things aside, no fear of separation!
 
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