I built this bike up in March of this year after 3 months of looking for the right bike. I really like the bike overall but I was never real nuts about the factory graphics. They didn't flow with the frame to me. This is how the bike looked before.

I spent hours looking at various graphic designs on all the bikes I could find. I also used Paintbrush to make up a basic white section of the frame so I could play with various ideas. This was alright but ultimately, I put the frame in the vice on the bench and made several tries with the tape.

I think the lines flow much better. Having only part of the carbon exposed actually provides better contrast against the white and red.

The 04's have clear coat unlike the older TCR's. Getting it off was quite a job. I sanded the whole frame down with 100 grit, being very careful to only remove the coating and not the carbon fiber. I finish sanded the whole frame with 220.

The frame was washed down with naptha (primary ingredient in wax and grease remover) then sprayed it with adhesion promoter (rattle can).

I then masked for the white. I used 3M's 1/4" blue plastic tape on the main areas. The paint is automotive paint; Valspar base coat/clear coat. The white was sprayed and left overnight. I sanded down a couple trouble spots and hit it again with a second set of coats. The white under the red provides a much brighter "pop" to the

Now, I masked the white off for the red coat. I used 3M Fine line tape to make the small stripes on the stays and fork. I bought 3 different widths so the red/white spacing gets bigger as you move away from the carbon parts. Sprayed the red and let it sit for 30 minutes.

I made up the decals using MS Word since we have hundreds of fonts in there already. I stored the file and converted it to eps format in Acrobat Illustrator. Another person on rbr had used Victory Circle graphics so I went with them. I just emailed a pdf of the file, along with the fonts attached and payed via paypal. Had my lettering in a week and it was perfect. I highly recommend Victory Circle in Colorado.

Letters were then applied. You just rub them on and remove the top film.

Now for the really fun part...clear coat. Base coat paint is very flat in appearance when applied so it looks just plain boring til you clearcoat it. I shot 3 full wet coats and let it dry overnight.

Next day, I sanded the whole frame with 400, attempting to level the clear over the decals to make them as smooth as possible. They aren't invisible but look just fine. Then, a final set of coats, thinning the final coat 30% for better leveling.

I sprayed all this in my garage as I no longer have a paint booth which I did at the house before this one. I really miss having proper lighting and exhaust but I got by.

The finish is as sprayed. There are 2-3 little nibs in the finish that could be color sanded and buffed out but I don't think it's worth it.

I forgot to mention that the clear coat is Valspar 4400. I've used their materials on guitars for years and had excellent results. This clear is their best and has an amazing transparency to it. This is the first carbon bike I've sprayed so we'll see how it does compared to Imron on steel which I've done many years ago.

For some reason, I thought it would be cool to have my name on the frame like the pro's do. I don't know if other people will think it's vain or silly but, hey, it's my bike so there:-)

I intend on keeping this bike for many years. With all the trick parts and carbon frame, it's not like I have to upgrade. I put 3200 miles on this bike this year so it's got many more to go....

Wow!
A

Very nice job indeed!

I think I can see one, but just in case I am mistaken, is there a chain stay guard on your bike to protect the tube from chain slap? Probably a good idea.

Andrew

I think I can see one, but just in case I am mistaken, is there a chain stay guard on your bike to protect the tube from chain slap? Probably a good idea.

Andrew

Yes, there's a clear chain stay protector. Victory Circle graphics nicely included a sheet with the chain stay protector as well as a bunch of the little circles for protecting the paint from cable rub.

Yes, there's a clear chain stay protector. Victory Circle graphics nicely included a sheet with the chain stay protector as well as a bunch of the little circles for protecting the paint from cable rub.

It is just SILLY how much better it looks... Giant should take note (as should Trek). I must be turning into a retro-grouch, because I find most non-european bikes to be quite garish in their logos and badges.

Wow, that's one awesome paint job. The lettering, however, is pretty gary (silent r) :p

Excellent job - shiny as hell.

After the 400 grit sanding job on the final clear, how did you polish it? The reason I ask is I spend hours polishing 400 grit marks out.

I have done jobs for friends and usually START with 400 to scuff the bike in prep for the base paint coat. I then paint and clear and follow up a day later with 1500 then 2000 WET papers. Then I compound, polish, and wax with 3M foam pads and chemicals.

Excellent job - shiny as hell.

After the 400 grit sanding job on the final clear, how did you polish it? The reason I ask is I spend hours polishing 400 grit marks out.

I have done jobs for friends and usually START with 400 to scuff the bike in prep for the base paint coat. I then paint and clear and follow up a day later with 1500 then 2000 WET papers. Then I compound, polish, and wax with 3M foam pads and chemicals.

The 400 grit was to level the first set of clear coats. I then resprayed a final set of coats. I would normally (guitars,cars) do the colorsand 2000/buff process. The gloss you see here is as sprayed...no buffing at all.

Great job, that really looks nice. I bet you get a lot of "what year is that??" questions! Very cool having your's personalized.

Ken

PS.I think the name is OK. :)

Wow, that's one awesome paint job. The lettering, however, is pretty gary (silent r) :p

...opinions vary... :cool:

That is an awesome paint job.

Beautiful job. You say you paint guitars too - if they look anything like this
they ought to be gorgeous as well.

Wish I could do that kind of thing. Very nice.

WOW, awesome job! I'll have to keep an eye out if I'm through your area.

Do you have an airbrush for painting? I was thinking about doing that to my bike. What kind of equipment do you have to make it look so nice. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did you spend on materials?

Do you have an airbrush for painting? I was thinking about doing that to my bike. What kind of equipment do you have to make it look so nice. And if you don't mind me asking, how much did you spend on materials?

I have a Sharpe Detail gun, also called a Jamb gun because they're usually for doing door jambs and other small jobs on cars. I've had the gun for 25 years and it still works great inspite of plenty of use.

An airbrush is far too small for bikes, guitars etc. A regular sized gun works but is rather clunky and puts out a much bigger fan that doesn't work quite as well for bikes.

I have a 2 hp compressor with a 20 gallon tank. I only spray at 30psi max and the gun doesn't use alot of air so you can use a pretty small compressor. Both the compressor and gun can be rented if necessary.

I spent around $200 but you don't have to. The problem is that the quantities that the supplies come in are pretty big for a small job like this. Part of the cost was I bought 5 rolls (different widths) of the 3M fine line tape which are $8.00 a roll. A pint of color, which I had to buy 2 of (white and red) were $50. You need stablizer for the basecoat (~$10), the clear(quarts are the smallest) ($28), activator($17) and reducer ($10)for the clear. I was concerned about the clear bonding to the carbon fiber so I bought a rattle can ($13) of adhesion promoter. You can see that you get nickel and dimed to death this way. Plus, you end up with lots of material left over. I also bought a new mask (3M disposable, $20) as these materials are VERY toxic.
Decals were $30.

Most body shops have their own paint mixing capabilities. If you were nice to them, they'd probably sell you the materials in quantities you could use for much less. I spent more than I expected (hoped to spend around $100) but like most things, it is more than you think.

Gary

Same frame. How much sanding til you get to the decals? I'm really thinking of ditching them and then clearcoat.

Same frame. How much sanding til you get to the decals? I'm really thinking of ditching them and then clearcoat.

This is not a project for the timid. I spent 1 1/2 weeks of 2 hours a night (no weekends, had to ride:-) ) getting it stripped. The clear coat is moderately hard and thick.

Well done.

You can make some extra cash with custom paint CF skills such as yours.

This is not a project for the timid. I spent 1 1/2 weeks of 2 hours a night (no weekends, had to ride:-) ) getting it stripped. The clear coat is moderately hard and thick.

SO how much sanding till you get through the decals?