4up Dutch Colorways

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  O mentioned in passing one day that his family was from the Netherlands and maybe we should choose a Dutch flag colorway for his roadie commuter. I'm a sucker for orange bikes, and always leap at the chance to build one, especially one with subtle (or not so subtle) blue and white accents. I'm kind of leaning towards RAL 2011 for the frame, fork, rack, and stem with RAL 5005 cable housing and gloss white saddle, bar tape, and fenders.

  Several pending builds are essentially fast commuters... or road bikes with just enough clearance for fenders and 28c tires, and all of them seem to be stalled around the issue of racks. I personally prefer handlebar bags, but that's because I have no occasion to carry a laptop on a bicycle. Some bicycles look downright dowdy with a Carradice bag, but sometimes dowdy is part of the design, and so I've given in and will begin stocking carradice effective immediately. As for racks, there are really only three worthwhile options: Nitto, Tubus, or custom. I like the idea of a minimalist fender-mounted rear rack for this build... something strong enough to carry one Orange Ortlieb and little else.

  As much as I love Nitto racks, this build kind of begs for matching orange racks, and it would be a damn shame to powdercoat over that nickel plating. The black Tubus racks, not so much -- and so an orange Fly is my second choice. Still, a Singer-derivative mini rear rack may yet win the day. And why not?

  As for the fenders, if in fact they survive the design process, they will be metal with extra skinny 4mm struts. If hammered, then untreated... and if not, then coated to match.