Hey all, figured that Retro-Classic was the best way to put this in. So, the backstory:

A little while back, I was looking for a drink at my girlfriend's house and noticed something shiny out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold, her mom's 1978 Nishiki Custom Sport was hanging in the garage, calling out to me. I made a deal with her...if I fixed it up, Megan said she'd start riding with me.

Well, eight hours of labor spaced out over four days, six gallons of Simple Green, and some sweat, grime, and blood later...this is what came out. Her name is Ella (as in Fitzgerald, Megan's favorite singer). Being my first real build, feedback is well appreciated.

Good travels,
Aron

NOTE: the first eight photos are from the first view to the build stage. The next ten are the reincarnation, if you will. Again, comments welcome.

I guess it's too much to ask her to ride a fixed gear eh? That frame has the panache to be the cool fixed gear bike she's always wanted, but didn't know she did!

Good looking rebuild. Good looking girlfriend. And to me, chain tattoos are a good thing, not a bad thing. Ride on!

Nice job! It's great to see an old bike recycled. My first half-decent road bike was a Nishiki. Bought it in 1978, right after I graduated from college. Mine was the touring model and darker blue. It was a nice bike and I put lots of miles on it, sold it to my brother, who rode it until it rusted in half (he sweats a lot).

Wow! That's a lot of simple green but the results are outstanding. I guess the real question is does she enjoy riding?

Thanks for the compliments, it was a rough build, plagued with bike kharma...two blowouts in as many hours and all kinds of setbacks.

I took her for a 7.5-miler yesterday and after I put a gel seat cover on she was a very happy girl. This'll be her college bike, so I'm hoping I can take her on some 20-25 milers by the end of the summer and have a new riding buddy.

College bike? Kiss it goodbye, soon as she forgets to put it in her room for a short bit or forgets to lock it, It will be gone, just like every other bike taken to college for the last 40 years. History has the answer to this, it will happen!