Dupli-Color Metalcast Anodized surface color system designed to give the appearance of anodized aluminum. http://www.duplicolor.com/p roducts/metalcast.html This coating comes in red, blue, yellow, purple, green and orange. Designed for application over aluminum, chrome, etc, the line also has a metallic undercoat for use over non-metallic surfaces.

We were introduced to ICING recently, by Joel Hedrick, a show rod/racing car builder in Baton Rouge, who's a recent convert to kustom bike building. We've always used traditional primer-based glazing putty, and have bitched about the stuff from day one. This stuff can be used without a primer base under it, which makes it very useful for fairing frame joints. It is also excellent for filling in the fabric texture of fiberglass or spandex composite surfaces. It's polyeser resin-based, catalyzed with the usual hardener used for Bondo. The difference between this and Bondo is that it's thinner, and self-levelling, to a certain extent, which means that it needs much less sanding than bondo, which tends to retain the peaks and valleys from spreading it on, This stuff wouldn't work as well for filling in bigger dents and depressions in a surface, but for most bike applications, it is far superior. The only drawback to it is that, being polyester-based, like Bondo, it gives off toxic fumes, which means you need to have good ventilation, or wear an organic vapor mask while using it. The photo above shows a composite fender being given the Icing treatment on its underside. We would normally just spray that surface with truck bed liner, but Joel suggested Icing, for a superior slick surface. Icing can be purchased at most auto paint and body supply shops. JW.

Triple-Tree Chopper forks from BicycleDesigner.com We got some of these to use on several projects, and we're quite happy with them. They cost $79.95 per set, and are well worth the money, in our opinion. The quality is quite good, with nice chrome on the plated steel parts (fork legs, bearing cups, screws). The clamps and stem are aluminum castings. The castings are not highly-polished, but they are well-finished, and could be very easily taken to a bright chrome-like polish, if the owner wished to put a bit of elbow grease into it. We chose not to do this on the ones we've used so far, but we might on the third one, just for variety's sake. For our second one, I gave one of the stems a clear red "anodized" paint coating, and it looked really good that way, too.

H A N D S - O N   R E V I E W S

Introducing a new department, in which we discuss products we've actually used recently; unlike Off-Topic, in which we tell you about stuff we've only heard about.  Anyone wishing to send us something bike-related to play with is welcome to do so. If we make use of it, we'll review it in this department.

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Triple-Tree Chopper forks from BicycleDesigner.com We got some of these to use on several projects, and we're quite happy with them. They cost $79.95 per set, and are well worth the money, in our opinion. The quality is quite good, with nice chrome on the plated steel parts (fork legs, bearing cups, screws). The clamps and stem are aluminum castings. The castings are not highly-polished, but they are well-finished, and could be very easily taken to a bright chrome-like polish, if the owner wished to put a bit of elbow grease into it. We chose not to do this on the ones we've used so far, but we might on the third one, just for variety's sake. For our second one, I gave one of the stems a clear red "anodized" paint coating, and it looked really good that way, too.

Below: We used the first one on Dave's Woody Sled. This photo shows it in place and mounted, in preparation for cutting the steer tube to length. The steer tube is of a generous length, which allows it to be used on bikes with extremely long head tubes, such as the Phat chopper, for example. The woody has a 5 1/2" head tube, so we trimmed it to fit. As we wanted a long fork, we didn't trim the legs, but used them full length. We used an abrasive chop saw to shorten the length, but a hack saw could have done the job, or a professional-quality tubing cutter could have been used, as well. After shortening, we had to transfer the threadless headset's  inner nut to the steer tube remaining. We did this by clamping the cutoff section in a vise, and driving it out with a short length of broomstick and a hammer. It's inserted into the steer tube in the same way, to a depth of about a half inch. That's pretty much the entire operation, unless you want to shorten the fork legs. The legs can be moved up a couple of inches in the clamps, but that's about the limit, as they would hit the handlebars if any higher. We recommend these forks to anyone looking for an economically-priced, but nice,  triple-tree. Jim Wilson

USC "Icing" Surface-filler  Compound

We were introduced to ICING recently, by Joel Hedrick, a show rod/racing car builder in Baton Rouge, who's a recent convert to kustom bike building. We've always used traditional primer-based glazing putty, and have bitched about the stuff from day one. This stuff can be used without a primer base under it, which makes it very useful for fairing frame joints. It is also excellent for filling in the fabric texture of fiberglass or spandex composite surfaces. It's polyeser resin-based, catalyzed with the usual hardener used for Bondo. The difference between this and Bondo is that it's thinner, and self-levelling, to a certain extent, which means that it needs much less sanding than bondo, which tends to retain the peaks and valleys from spreading it on, This stuff wouldn't work as well for filling in bigger dents and depressions in a surface, but for most bike applications, it is far superior. The only drawback to it is that, being polyester-based, like Bondo, it gives off toxic fumes, which means you need to have good ventilation, or wear an organic vapor mask while using it. The photo above shows a composite fender being given the Icing treatment on its underside. We would normally just spray that surface with truck bed liner, but Joel suggested Icing, for a superior slick surface. Icing can be purchased at most auto paint and body supply shops. JW.

Dupli-Color Metalcast Anodized surface color system designed to give the appearance of anodized aluminum. http://www.duplicolor.com/p roducts/metalcast.html This coating comes in red, blue, yellow, purple, green and orange. Designed for application over aluminum, chrome, etc, the line also has a metallic undercoat for use over non-metallic surfaces.

It looks very much like an anodized surface on aluminum, a finish which is normally achieved by an electrolytic process which builds up a layer of silicon oxide on the metal. This oxide layer is dyed and then sealed by immersion in boiling water. Anodizing gives a very attractive protective surface to the metal. Although the Metalcast finishes aren't quite as protective as real anodizing, they're equally attractive, and considerably less expensive to achieve. They also have the advantage of being applicable to surfaces other than aluminum. A reading of the can label reveals that the coating is good for temperatures up to 500 degrees F. (intermittent). As 500 degrees is in the neighborhood of the melting point of aluminum, I would take this to mean that it can be used on the blocks of small engines, as used on motor bicycles. The finish dries very quickly, so sufficient coats to look good can be applied within a half hour or so. The finish isn't super glossy, at least the way I applied it, so I prefer giving it a wet coat of clear, which gives it a high gloss. I probably wouldn't use clearcoat over it on an engine block, though. JW.