Experi-mental

The entire history of this iron horse has been a lovely experiment and I'm happy to bring you its abridged history as well as the latest step in the grand tinker.
Originally built for Kevin Burke by former Lincolnite Scott Maurer, the Mächtig was a cross stead worthy of the area's county roads and if you know Kevin, you also know that he put it through its paces. Originally it sported a flat red powder coat, which there's nothing wrong with, but for some odd reason (I can only speculate why) it was built around V-brakes, it has side-of-the-top tube cable routing, and a couple other eclectic touches (180-spun seat stays, backward scalloped binder bolt, little fancy scallops around the bottom and top of the head tube, and a pump peg (!) to name a few) - Maurer definitely pushed the experimental "what ifs" when he jigged this baby together. But no matter how much hindsight you look at it with, it's a damn cool and functional piece of welding and brazing.
I borrowed it from KB when my OCLV was back at Trek for repair, and so fell in love with it that even after I had my beloved carbon fiber returned to me, I didn't want to give up the Maurer. Kevin reluctantly parted with it, and the four years since have been rich in the same style experimentation the diamond frame was born to facilitate.
Right away I begged local torch Tom Spahn to braze a rear cantilever bridge on the seat stays (it didn't have one because of the V-brakes it hosted before) and eyelets onto the rear dropouts in case I wanted to fenderize in the future. I sanded off the rusty spots, sprayed primer on the bare metal, raced it in that condition for a cyclocross season, and our fate was sealed - I'd never let her out of my sight.
The next year Tony at Walton painted her black, Nate and Hoss made me some replacement stickers, I ditched the threaded fork in favor of an a-head version, and raced her again a half season the year Cian was born.
The following trinity of years have seen the Mächtig mainly as a winter trainer, collecting various bits and bobs over those muddy and sticky days, and eventually acquiring the silhouette enhancing and stripe-avoidance mechanisms you humans refer to as “fenders” sometime last year.
Now this:
Resurrected and rebuilt SRAM 9.0 halfpipe shifters, old Avid take-off levers, and (the piece de resistance) upside down Mary Bars.
I'm claiming she's close to perfection, but life (as do all great experiments) moves forward at an unbelievable pace. I know change will come, but this is the new jumping-off point.
Not a bad place to leap from ... if I do say so myself.