Slacker seeks to aesthetically improve bicycle

March 23, 2006 6:45 AM

What's the best quick-and-dirty way to change the colour of my bicycle?

I recently bought a second-hand mountain bike that looks almost new. Most of my frame is black, but there are some ugly pastels on the in-between sections, and a couple sticker decals under the top coat.

I bought some sandpaper, and am thinking of sanding the paint off these bits and covering it with a color I can stomach better (while also making it look less finished, and therefore less attractive to thieves). So far I've only found advice for repainting an entire frame. Given that I'm not going to take off all the fittings, spraypainting is out; what kind of paint should I use, then, and how should I apply it? What do i need to do to make it weather-/rust-proof afterwards?

(Also, there's already a tiny spot of rust in one place; can I sand this off and paint over it, too?)

posted by xanthippe to sports, hobbies, & recreation (23 comments total)

Use rust-proofing primer beneath the paint.
posted by thirteenkiller at 6:52 AM on March 23, 2006

Given that you're not going to take off all the fittings:
* mask off all the fittings
* primer, several coats
* spraypaint, several coats

But you should take off all the fittings. It's not very hard, will give you a reason to talk to your local bike shop mechanics (you may need a few special tools), and teach you about your bike. Then you can:
* take off all the fittings
* primer, several coats
* spraypaint, several coats

Your spraypaint finish will chip over time (maybe in very little time) and you'll have to reapply. The best long-term color change would be to have your bike stripped and get it powder coated.
posted by beerbajay at 7:13 AM on March 23, 2006

Sorry, I know you don't want to use spraypaint, but its really the best way for "quick and dirty."
posted by beerbajay at 7:15 AM on March 23, 2006

How much do you want to spend?
remove all the fittings and mechanicals and take it down to you local auto body shop. Have them strip and re-paint the frame, just like a car. They can properly repair the rust, as well.
That should be relatively durable.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:29 AM on March 23, 2006

Thorzdad, do you have any idea how much something like that would cost? I've been considering a bike-repaint as well.
posted by youarenothere at 8:02 AM on March 23, 2006

Don't want to strip and spray? Decals are the only easier (and cheaper) option.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:34 AM on March 23, 2006

Is it a Steel or Aluminum frame? Steel will rust, and Aluminum will not.
posted by delmoi at 8:36 AM on March 23, 2006

Since you'er going to strip the frame, ask an autobody shop how much it would be to beanblast the frame (you don't want sandblasting---it's way to harsh). Some places will do this for $20 bucks or so. It's a relly easy job for them. Sanding by hand will take to days and won't do as good a job.
posted by bonehead at 9:16 AM on March 23, 2006

Oops, sorry. that's what you get for skimming. If you're not stripping, just break out the Krylon.
posted by bonehead at 9:17 AM on March 23, 2006

gaffer's tape, aka duct tape comes in colors.
posted by hortense at 9:31 AM on March 23, 2006

Trouble is, I live in a tiny village in a country where I don't speak the language quite well enough yet to get into bike mechanics and all that - hence the DIY. Otherwise I'd take beerbjay's advice in a minute.

I'm not sure if it's aluminum or steel, but i suspect the latter (due to the bike having been cheap, and the presence of rust).

So, rephrasing of the question:

Will I make my frame susceptible to destruction by the elements if I sand the paint off of it, stick some primer on with a little brush or spongue, and hand-paint over it with anything I pick up from the hardware store? Are there specific kinds of paint (that are not spraypaint) that are better or worse for this?

I will get the rust-proofing primer and mask off all the fittings. (Or maybe i'll just wait until I have time to take it to the big city, where there's a bike shop, and I can afford to have it done the fancy way.)
posted by xanthippe at 9:36 AM on March 23, 2006

youarenotthere...
Unfortunately, I don't. However, I can't imagine it casting too much. Especially if you can talk the shop into piggy-backing the bike frame with another, larger auto paint job (painting the bike the same color as the car, of course)
Heck, if you really want to save some bucks, go to a local technical or trade school and see if they'd take the bike in as a class project.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:36 AM on March 23, 2006

(beerbajay... sorry.)
posted by xanthippe at 9:38 AM on March 23, 2006

For the rust spots, "rust converter" or "rust reformer" works wonders. It chemically converts rust into something essentially inert and the rust therefore doesn't spread. There are lots of different brands but it's all the same stuff: phosphoric acid.
posted by tiny purple fishes at 10:17 AM on March 23, 2006

If there's rust on the frame itself then it's probably steel. If it's just the steel fittings that have pitting or rust then that doesn't tell you much. But steel frames tend to have more slender tubing and aluminum frames usually have fat tubes. That can be a good clue.

I'm curious how you plan to work around the crankset, though. Maybe that's why you want to avoid spraypaint?
posted by Songdog at 10:20 AM on March 23, 2006

There is an acceptable colour located near the crankset. About 65% of the frame is already acceptably coloured; I'm just doing the ugly bits.
posted by xanthippe at 10:34 AM on March 23, 2006

If there's rust on the frame itself then it's probably steel.

probably steel??? no. rust=steel. there are lots of different kinds of steel, but, as far as bike frame materials go, only steel rusts. if it's rusty, your bike is made of steel. there's no other way around it. to determine if the rust has/will compromise your frame, get out a paper clip or other suitably sharp metal object and grind it into the rusty spot; if the spot gives way and your pointy-thing punctures the tube, your frame is more-or-less toast... this can be fixed, usually by having a framebuilder replace the tube or flow brass filet into to, but this is a costly and time consuming option. not that any of this really matters, in view of what you're proposing...

on the subject: where i live, a home paint job says just one thing: i stole this bike and repainted it X (where X = the color of your choice). i've only once, maybe twice, ever seen any non-professional do a nice painting a bike.
posted by RockyChrysler at 11:50 AM on March 23, 2006

Gaffer's tape is not aka duct tape. Rather different, in that gaffer's tape is made to have good hold yet be easily removed, and duct tape is made for...something. Also, gaffer's tape is super-expensive.
posted by breath at 1:46 PM on March 23, 2006

And neither of them are going on my bike. Despite everyone's helpful insistence on spraypaint, i've settled on a mosaic of electrical tape and nail polish. With rust-proof primer. Thanks.
posted by xanthippe at 2:58 PM on March 23, 2006

While learning about building my bike I saw quite a few posts on www.bikeforums.net about doing this(bare URL cuz it keeps getting prefaced with ask.metafilter and don't feel like switching browsers or whatever I would have to do). Everything from rattlecan to some pretty involved homemade powdercoating. Try a seach for "diy paint".
posted by a_green_man at 3:02 PM on March 23, 2006

Oh, and while you are at it you should coat the inside of the frame with something like framesaver or other rust-proofer/transformer. It won't cure really bad rust, but if it's still mostly OK in there it will help prevent problems in the future.
posted by a_green_man at 3:04 PM on March 23, 2006

bare URL cuz it keeps getting prefaced with ask.metafilter and don't feel like switching browsers or whatever I would have to do

You don't have to switch browsers, all you have to do is type a URL. URLs begin with a protocol. Thus "www.bikeforums.net" is not a URL, and is assumed by the browser to be a page on this site, while "http://www.bikeforums.net" is.
posted by kindall at 4:01 PM on March 23, 2006

Ah..thx, apparently I haven't been paying attention to the changes here. I was used to using the full html.
posted by a_green_man at 7:04 PM on March 24, 2006