Mighty Martha II v2: Martha gets a new coat and loses her threads

 2013 took its toll on Martha. For one, I had a fall last spring, where I managed to twist the forks (somehow without messing up the wheel). I bent them back with a crowbar but it was never fully correct, and meant the left cantilever pad was ahead of the right. Cantilevers at the best of times are an arse to set up properly, so this just made it even harder.
Also, as I mentioned in the last post, the derailleur was always a little 'clicky' on the mid to high gears. This wasn't a huge problem, but no matter how many times I set it up, it was never 100% and always bugged me a little.
Top this off with me not taking the time to clean the dirt and grime off from daily rides through a wet autumn/winter, and she was getting to be in a bit of a state.

Mighty Martha II, before being ridden for a year more or less every day

 So, last winter I decided to take her apart, and sort out as much as I could. For one, the bottom bracket had never been serviced by me, and one of the cups had frozen into the frame over the years (to the point I couldn't get it out with PlusGas etc, and had to take it to the local shop where I get my wheels trued).
For two, I looked up the whole gears clicking thing, and diagnosed that it was because the derailleur hanger wasn't straight. The bikes had countless knocks, not to mention the time my housemate put the derailleur through the wheel, so this wasn't surprising. 
So, I got myself a Cyclus Gear Hanger Alignment tool from Wiggle. The hanger was definitely bent inwards a little, so it being a steel frame, it was just a case of carefully bending it back, using the tool as a lever.
 
 As much as I liked the Marin matte grey finish, it picked dirt up really easy and was rubbing away where I'd attached a big heavy chain lock to the top and down tubes. Plus my Halford's "Truck Bed Liner" paint job on the forks and handlebars wasn't up to much, and didn't take a lot to scratch off, exposing the steel to the elements.

The rattle can paint job wasn't doing anyone any favours, and the rough matte texture was a nightmare to keep clean

  
 So off I went to Armourtex Cycles in Hackney. I'd had one frame powder-coated by these guys before (the Raleigh Misty, which will get its own post once I've taken some pictures of it built up), and I was pretty pleased with the results. Price-wise, it doesn't seem much different from other places I've been to (£77 for a colour coat and then a coat of lacquer on a frame and forks), but the colour range is impressive, and they come highly recommended on most bike forums. 
Anyway, I chose a grey colour (can't remember the RAL number) and clear lacquer for the frame and handlebars. Like I said, the forks were twisted, so I decided to replace them.

 Another bugbear with the frame was the rising quill stem. Basically I think it's ugly as shit, and was the thing stopping my handlebars from being even lower. 
 

The original Marin quill stem, the dirty mess that it is

 A good looking quill stem for a 1 1/8" steerer is hard to come by, and one that has an acute angle like that on a 1" road stem is rare to the point I don't even think they exist. 

This road style of stem would have been nice, but finding one to fit a 1 1/8" steerer tube is rare

 Granted, I could have used a shim to pad out the steerer tube and used one of these road quill stems, but I really don't like the idea of relying on a shim, especially if it's really only for aesthetic reasons. 
So, with forks that needed replacing, and a stem I want to send to the depths of hell, what better time to go threadless!
 I ordered some cheap, threadless Raleigh forks with cantilever bosses from Freemans Cycles. Obviously this meant the Marin's original Ritchey Logic threaded headset was redundant, so that's been relegated to the spares box, and replaced with an FSA 'The Pig' headset from Wiggle. 
The threadless stem was a little harder to come by; most newer mountain and road bike handlebars are thicker in diameter than the bars I'm using, and this change must have come around the same time that everyone went threadless. There's not much of a market for a threadless stem that clamps onto 25.4mm or 26mm bars (the standard now I think is 31.8mm). I did find a road stem in the end though (again on Wiggle); the Deda Logo. Ironically, it was the logo on it that I didn't like; a cheap looking pillow-embossed sticker that had no place on a steed such as Mighty Martha.

Uggo logo sticker (purple and silver??)

 So, I got back on eBay and found a brass button the same size diameter, filed the back off, glued it onto the face plate where the sticker had sat, then sprayed some black paint over it. 

Because it wasn't primed, the paint has run off the skull and crossbones profile, which I think looks pretty cool

  
 Thaaaat's more Martha! Now to build up the rest of the bike.

Oooooh, baby

I replaced the bottom bracket with a sealed cartridge, and I've yet to give the pannier rack a lick of paint before I stick it back on.

The truck bed paint's already starting to scratch off, but even scratched it looks less out of place than if it was the original silver/alloy colour

 Although I kept the same crank arms (and primed and painted them with the leftover Truck Bed Liner Paint), I found a 44t Stronglight track chainring on Amazon to replace the original chainrings. I also removed the front derailleur I was using as a chain guide, and added the biggest bash ring I could find for that Bolt Circle Diameter (BCD); An FSA Chain Pimp.

The indexing now works great since I straightened the hanger

I also changed the brake setup. I replaced the annoying cantilevers with some Avid Single Digit 3 V-brakes; a massive improvement in my eyes, and a hell of a lot easier to set up the pads. 

Dual compound Kool Stop MTB pads

  I also replaced the levers with some Avid Speed Dials. This was more of an aesthetic decision as they're black and not silver. 

For me the 'speed dial' seems a bit of a gimmick; i don't really see much of a different in the lever action

 

I'm pretty sure the fascination with the skull and crossbone came from Danny from the Bash Street Kids' jumper

  
I also replaced the cables, and added some rubber skull-shaped (naturally) lights from On One/Planet X to the frame; they're not great (I've used them before and they tend to fail after a short time, especially when wet), but they're very cheap and make for good emergency lighting if I get caught short without my normal lights. Also (I hope I don't jinx myself), I've found that because they blend into the bike, they're less likely to be stolen.

  So, Mighty Martha II rides again. I think I've addressed every issue I had with the original build, and for me, we're nearing perfect bike status. Aggressive as hell, fast when it comes to it, but still comfortable and practical in a city. The styling is pretty divisive between my friends, but sod them, it's clearly cool as shit.