Specialized Sequoia: Repaint in Progress

Sequoia at Alpine Lake on a cold January afternoon. Before repaint

 I got the Specialized Sequoia in the summer of 2011 as a frame fork and a rear rack. I converted it to 650b wheel size and used most of the parts from the then outgoing Bleriot. The bike has gone through a serious of significant changes:

• Replacement of stock fork to a Kogswell Konversion low-trail fork
• Adding cantilever brake posts
• Switching from VO front constructeur rack, to Nitto Big Front rack, to Mark's rack + Tubus Tara lowrider rack, and then finally replacing the Mark's Rack with a Nitto M12 to use the cantilever post and not sharing the mid-fork braze-on with the Tara rack.

Frameset before repaint; it looks alright from 3 ft away

I had put money down on a Rawland Stag pre-order. The Stag, if it turned out as described will basically be the TIG welded version of my Ebisu, with flat top tube, standard-size tubing, and minimal braze-ons. It'd be a lightweight, fat-tire 650b bike. For a short period of time, Rawland included a pair of Pacenti PL23 rims in the pre-order price, which made the deal sweeter. I began to sell off some parts and planned on selling my Sequoia to fund the purchase. About a month and half after I placed the pre-order, I decided that I don't really it, since the Stag will basically replicate my Ebisu. My decision was partly influenced by several rides I did on the Sequoia during this time, which reminded me how nimble the bike feels, and even though it wasn't built for 650bx42mm Hetres, after switching to the Konversion fork, the frameset can actually accommodate Hetres both front and back. Basically it isn't too different from the Stag. It has a flat top tube, standard-size tubing, can accommodate 650b fat tires, and is relatively light. The fork also has mid-fork braze-ons, which allows me to use the Tubus Tara rack and use the bike as a light-touring bike.

superficial rust; but none inside

Given that I sold bunch of parts to finance the Stag, but ended up not spending the money (I sold my pre-order spot, but arranged to keep the Pacenti rims), I was pondering repainting the frameset as the powdercoat the previous owner put on isn't in the best of shape, and the frame-mods that took place in the summer of 2012 are still unpainted (except for a layer of rattle-can clearcoat). The rust patches I discovered on the under side of the bottom bracket shell on a recent ride pushed up the timing, as I didn't know whether the rust was only superficial. 

Last weekend, I took apart the bike and examined the frameset to better understand the extend of the rust. Fortunately it seems that the rust is only superficial. I took a frameset to a powdercoater and should get it back next week. I picked antique pink (RAL 3014) to be the next color. I also sold the On-one Midge cockpit that was on the bike at the time when I took it apart, and will switch to a VO Grand Cru Classic Round Bend handlebar. I also upgraded the brakes from Avid Shorty 4 low-profile brakes to high-profile Tektro 720's.  I look forward to building the bike up and riding it again.