I purchased a bicycle. Unfortunately it is light blue, dark blue and silver. I would really like it to be red, charcoal grey, and silver.

How would I go about prepping and painting it?

What quality of paint should I use?

Should I just take it to a body shop and get an estimate?

Thanks for your input.

10/14/2005 7:34:22 PM

west coast customs

10/14/2005 7:34:49 PM

Too bad I'm on the east coast. I don't think it would qualify for pimping anyway.

10/14/2005 7:36:34 PM

no, i mean the mexican guy there does side work, call him up. you can UPS him the stripped frame cheap.

10/14/2005 7:45:39 PM

Have the frame media blasted (something like bead blasting or sandblasting) and then primed with PPG DP40 epoxy chromate primer.

You should use the best automotive grade paint you can buy. Everything else will look like shit.

This is really an expensive idea. Why did you get one you don't like?

10/14/2005 8:06:12 PM

I liked the shape and style, but I think the color may make it vunerable on State campus.

I wanted to see if it was possible to accomplish on a budget, and figured the Garage would know. I guess I will have to live with the blue and ride fast.

10/14/2005 8:11:09 PM

dude, spraybomb it flat black, tires and all.

10/14/2005 8:26:31 PM

Just for shits and giggles, let me tell you this: red is the most expensive color you can get.

I'm doing a job for a friend of mine...he has a deep red Nissan Sentra. ONE HALF PINT of the basecoat for this car is $57. Granted, that's enough to paint two bike frames, but it's the MINIMUM QUANTITY mixed color you can buy.

10/14/2005 8:30:29 PM

Why is red so expensive? Takes more to cover? Made from crushed rubies?

10/14/2005 9:39:26 PM

its a bike

seriously

krylon that shit

take all the parts off
sand it down
spray it up
clearcoat
done

its a bike

10/14/2005 9:44:11 PM

It might be a bike but a good bike is on par with a car. You pay top dollar to have some Krylon looking lame-ass shit? I think not.

10/14/2005 10:25:13 PM

It isn't an expensive bike at all ($80 mountain bike), aluminum frame. Not a tour-de-france bike or anything. Thanks for the sentiment though.

10/14/2005 10:38:47 PM

I seriously don't think that folks are gonna wreck you or your bike because of some stupid color. I mean, it's not like it has Carolina or Duke stickers all over it or anything. I can't imagine wasting my time vandalizing a bike just because of its color.

10/14/2005 11:36:41 PM

If you strip it I will sand blast it for $25

10/14/2005 11:59:02 PM

Quote :

"It might be a bike but a good bike is on par with a car. You pay top dollar to have some Krylon looking lame-ass shit? I think not."

if you can pay top dollar
you're not

1. buying a bike that isn't the color you like
2. painting the bike yourself

10/15/2005 12:00:23 AM

1) Sell bike.
2) Buy one with the paint scheme you want.
3) Profit.

10/15/2005 12:12:33 AM

Quote :

"If you strip it I will sand blast it for $25"

strip as in take all the parts off that don't need to be blasted, or strip as in chemically take the paint off and then retexture it with the blast?

Just taking it down to bare metal and clear coating it sounds appealing. No idea how good the metal is under the paint though.

10/15/2005 9:44:38 AM

Take all the parts off. You dont want any bearing surfaces to be blasted or any blast media getting into the bearings. Strip all the parts down to a bare frame. Sandblasting then clear coating almn usually leaves a grey color to it, not very pretty.

[Edited on October 15, 2005 at 10:05 AM. Reason : durrrr]

10/15/2005 10:04:12 AM

^^ haven't you graduated yet? damn, i'm working on year five already and you were like a senoir when i was a freshman.

anyway, if the old paint is in good shape, remove any stickers, wet sand it with 320 grit, hit it with a few coats of primer, wet sand it again with 400, then tape off the patterns you want, spray it with some dupli-color or equvilant laquer paint, wet sand with 800 grit, then spray it with clear

10/16/2005 8:41:15 PM

go to a body shop at a big shop....like at a dealer or something, find one of the painters and ask if they want to make some $$ on the side...have it done that way, if you even find someone willing to do it on the clock it is going to be mad $$$.

when i was racing for real, i had one of my frames stripped and custom painted, lost about a 1/4lb total weight

10/16/2005 9:07:21 PM

I've graduated. I live on Centennial campus though.

10/16/2005 10:47:27 PM