Cycling Adventurer: How To... Paint a bike frame

The Cycling Adventurer
How To...	Paint a Bike Frame — Step 2

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Now... dismantle the bike!

If you want to do a clean, decent job on a frame, everything on it must come off.

But STOP!!! Do you have the mechanical skills to take it all apart, and even more importantly, put it all back together again? Not only that, but do you have the right tools?

If your bicycle mechanical skills are limited, you should reconsider your repainting project unless you have a friendly bike shop mechanic or knowledgeable friend who can do the rebuild for you.

If you think you'll be OK, dismantle the bike, and inspect each item as you take it off and put it into a box. Think about whether the parts and accessories need refurbishing themselves — a polish or repaint, or maybe even replacement with more modern items.

My little project tricycle when it arrived, minus a rear wheel and looking quite shabby.

The cost can add up quickly if you want to replace old steel-rimmed wheels that have galvanised spokes and heavy steel hubs with alloy rims and hubs and stainless steel spokes; or you want a new groupset, and maybe new shifters, and a handlebar...

Sometimes the expense and trouble of attending to the parts and accessories as well as the bike can put the worth of a project into the balance. In addition, replacing small parts such as brake hoods for aero levers can be difficult.

Do a bit of net research first if you are in doubt.

If you have a box full of old but good-quality parts from other projects or a donor bike, your job of doing a full frame refurbishment will be made easier.

Of course, the easiest route is to build your frame into a fixed-gear bike that requires no cables or derailleurs or shifters... and is the purest form of cycling simplicity.

You will need to remove some items that may be a bit tricky, more so if the bike is old and hasn't been serviced for a long time.

Things like bottom brackets, seat posts, brake boss bolts, stems and handlebar clamps can be difficult to undo or remove if they have corroded into place, or have been over-torqued. In addition, some old frames have different threads for bottom brackets. If you know the make of the bike, you can consult some of the classic bike discussion lists to find out.

Sometimes, you might have to take to the components with a bath of penetrating oil, ammoni (for alloy seatposts stuck in the frame), or a hacksaw, or an electric drill, or in a worse-case scenario, with a gas torch to heat the component or frame to break free stuck threads.

Now also is the time to consider any additional lugs by welding, or tap-and-die work that might be needed. Heat damage to paintwork is an obvious result of welding. Often, components such as racks need to be test fitted to ensure the holes all line up, and it is best to get drilling and threads tapped now when minor marring of the finish isn't going to do any harm.

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