How and how to paint a bicycle frame at home

An old bike can serve faithfully for many years, but its visual appeal often suffers. The paint on the frame, wings, steering wheel begins to crack and peel off, especially during intensive use. The latest paintwork materials allow you to update the product yourself without unnecessary time and financial costs. Before painting the bicycle, it is necessary to properly remove and prepare the parts, and only then proceed to the main work.

Content:

• Bicycle frame painting
• Is it worth it to paint the frame from the tank
• Bicycle Powder Coating
• What to choose paint for a bicycle
• Tools and materials
• How to paint a bike at home
• Dismantling the bike and preparing the frame
• Stripping old paint and preparing your bike
• Priming surfaces for painting
• Painting process
• Frame varnishing
• Updating the wheels and trunk of a bicycle
• How to paint a bike without disassembling

Bicycle frame painting

On frequent trips, the Iron Horse invariably loses its external gloss. Its coating becomes dull, a network of small scratches, cracks, chips appears, some areas rust. All these troubles affect not only the aesthetic component. Metal pipes and plates on which the peeling paint, serve an order of magnitude less. In order not to subsequently throw away the old bike, it is necessary to resort to its full or partial renewal immediately after identifying the defects.

Is it worth it to paint the frame from the tank

The paint for the bicycle frame must be selected with all care and caution. Often, cyclists prefer to use spray cans with paintwork materials, which are very convenient to use and allow you to beautifully paint parts in minutes. Immediately after application, the paintwork shines, shimmers with attractive gloss and looks like a new thing.

Unfortunately, unsuitable compositions do not adhere well to the frame and can quickly scratch even at the slightest touch. According to professionals, you should not use compositions of spray cans, unless for partial tinting of defects. After a month of skiing, the bike will lose its gloss and will again require repair. Nevertheless, for a partial update, this method is quite suitable.

Bicycle Powder Coating

Powder method is ideal for painting a bicycle frame. Usually it is used in the manufacture of bicycles, because it gives the most durable, even and smooth coating. Painting the product at home with powder paint is an unrealistic task, because this requires special equipment. If you want to update the details of the vehicle reliably and for a long time, it is better to contact the workshops where this type of painting is practiced. The bike will turn out like new, but the price of painting will be quite high.

What to choose paint for a bicycle

To paint a bicycle with your own hands, you need to choose high-quality paint. Acrylic paints and varnishes on which there is a mark “for metal” have proven themselves best. They have a high degree of adhesion, are easily applied by brush, spray, do not have an unpleasant odor, are non-toxic.Nevertheless, nitro paints are distinguished by a better hiding power and faster drying, but they contain solvents, so you need to work with them with strict observance of safety measures. Usually, only 250-300 ml of paintwork materials are enough to update a bicycle.

What color to paint the vehicle, the owner will have to decide. With high-quality surface preparation and the complete removal of old paint residues, you can radically change the shade of the details, it is only in the artistic taste of the owner. You can also take into account current fashion trends and use the most popular shades of the season. Many people use special reflective paints for full coloring or partial design of the bicycle. Professionals give advice: since the frame of the product is rather thin, it is better to use the brightest colors for it, so that it is more noticeable. If you do not want to use monophonic coatings, you can use stencils or even apply exclusive drawings with an airbrush.

Tools and materials

Depending on the model of the bike and the amount of work, a different set of accessories and supplies may be required. Usually it includes:

• keys, screwdrivers for disassembling the vehicle;
• remover for old paint;
• iron scraper;
• stationery knife for removing stickers, logos;
• sandpaper of varying degrees of graininess;
• degreasing agent (acetone, white spirit);

• primer;
• putty;
• brushes or spray gun (air gun);
• paint for a bicycle;
• lacquer for metal;
• gloves
• respirator;
• rags;
• wire or rope (for hanging and drying the frame);
• construction adhesive tape, stencils (for complex painting options).

How to paint a bike at home

In order to carry out the whole range of work on painting a vehicle at home, you must first prepare it qualitatively, and then proceed to the main stage. Work should be outdoors in the shade or in a well-ventilated area.

Dismantling the bike and preparing the frame

Without fail, they paint the frame of the bicycle, because it is she who determines the main color of the equipment. Also often have to update the rim, plug, trunk. Therefore, first of all, the bike is dismantled, acting in this way:

• remove all canopies - shock absorbers, brakes and others;
• clean the front wheel and fender, if any;
• unscrew the steering wheel from the plug;
• take out the trunk;
• dismantle the rear wheel and wing.

As a result, a bare skeleton should be obtained, from the front pipe of which a fork is removed. Open threaded sections are covered with tape so that then there would be no problems with the reverse tightening of the nuts.

Stripping old paint and preparing your bike

Before cleaning parts, wear gloves and a respirator to protect the skin and respiratory system from harmful substances. Even if further work will be done with safe paints, the wash will still contain toxic components, and it must be applied only with the observance of individual safety measures.

The preparation process will include removing the old paint layer, smoothing out irregularities, degreasing the surface. The cleaning steps are as follows:

• moisten a cloth in a wash for paint;
• thoroughly wipe all metal parts with a tool several times, pay special attention to welded joints;
• after 15 minutes, paint is peeled off with a metal scraper;
• if there are stickers on the bicycle, remove them with a clerical knife;
• wipe the parts with a dry soft cloth;
• if there are stains from the paint, they are again washed through them, the procedure is repeated.

For maximum surface leveling, it is necessary to perform sanding. This will help remove small chips, scratches, and areas of corrosion. Granularity of sandpaper is selected depending on the size and depth of such defects. For example, paper with number 240 will cope with minor problems; the 80th sandpaper removes rust.

Impressive chips will have to be repaired with putty. If it does not hold well, use cold welding.The finished base is degreased with any solvent. Removing grease stains is an important procedure that cannot be ignored, because oils reduce the adhesion of the primer and paint to the metal, so paint and varnish will quickly fall off in the future.

Priming surfaces for painting

In order for the paint to adhere perfectly to the surface, lay evenly, a primer must be applied. The material can be sold in liquid or dry form, the latter being bred according to the manufacturer's instructions. The consistency of the soil for metal should be quite thick: with proper dilution, it flows smoothly from the brush. The thickened mass is diluted with solvent.

The cleaned frame, other parts are primed. The agent is applied in a thin layer, allowed to dry for 20 minutes, repeat the procedure 2-3 more times. After leaving the bike for final drying for a day (this can be done by hanging parts on the wire). The next day, they take sandpaper-nulevka, carry out accurate skinning of the base. It is necessary to act in such a way as to remove leaks, places of thickening and make the metal perfectly smooth, but not tear off the primer.

Painting process

Experts recommend making the first coat of paint white. This will help enhance the brightness of the fundamental tone. However, the use of white is not a prerequisite. Paint is applied with a brush or spray gun in several layers with intermediate drying for 30-40 minutes. The surface should ultimately become smooth, uniform.

If the work is carried out with a brush, perform it with small alternating strokes to prevent smudges. After the details are suspended or neatly placed on a newspaper, cellophane. Before varnishing, carefully polish with an emery cloth with zero grit.

If desired, patterns, inscriptions, symbols can be applied to bicycle parts. Stencils made of a thin sheet of rubber and a durable film are glued onto an already painted frame using masking tape. The inner part of the stencil is painted over with a brush or filled from a spray can with a contrasting shade. After setting, the stencils are removed.

Frame varnishing

For long-term preservation of color brightness, protection against burnout, it is necessary to varnish the base in several layers. It is advisable to perform at least three coatings: the first will be a primer, the second - fixing, the third - the main. Then let the parts dry completely. It is recommended to start using the bike one week later and after painting.

Updating the wheels and trunk of a bicycle

If the vehicle is disassembled, in addition to the frame, other elements can be painted with high quality. Beautifully decorated rims and a trunk will make the bike even more attractive. The sequence of actions will be as follows:

• disassemble the wheels, remove the tires;
• remove dirt, rinse, dry elements;
• to clean chips, scratches;
• make degreasing of parts;
• wrap the edges of the knitting needles that are adjacent to the rims, film or masking tape (this will prevent paint from getting on them);
• hang on a thin wire;
• sanded, primed in 2 layers;
• make 3 passes of paint with a spray can.

It’s not more difficult to paint the trunk of a bicycle, the procedure will be similar. The easiest way is to spray paint from a balloon in small portions, in several stages. If in some area the paintwork is collected in drops, you need to get it wet with thin paper or a napkin.

How to paint a bike without disassembling

It happens that there is no time or desire to disassemble a bicycle. It can be painted with a simpler method - without unscrewing the parts. It is only important to devote more time to problem areas - feathers, rear wheels, gaps between the rims and the front fork.

Before work, rinse and dry the bike, degrease individual elements. Release the brake cables (it is better to remove them all the same, as well as chains, holders). Wrap all mechanisms, bushings, knitting needles with masking tape. Put the bicycle directly or suspend it, apply a primer to the frame, wheels, etc. After drying, 2-3 layers of soil spray paint. Coat unpainted places with a thin brush. Such a procedure will be even faster and simpler; it will seriously save time and budget, allowing you to update your bike with a minimum of costs!