General Cycling Discussion - Painting sidewalls on my tires

Hey,

I was wondering if there is something I can paint the sidewalls of my tires with so they match my bike better. Heres a pic, kinda hard to tell, but you see how the sidewall has brown on it?
http://www.lunacycles.com/images/36cmPB_lg.jpg
I want to paint the brown part to match my bike. Any ideas?



Deep

You would probably have to add some flex additive to the paint to help keep it from cracking.
Dry paint is usually pretty brittle.

I'm not saying it will work, as I've never actually tried to paint my tires, just a thought though.

Rub charcoal/grime into the sidewall - it will tone it down, but will wash off in rain. (avoid oil/solvent based stuff).

A better choice may be to use brown bar tape.

I don't think the sidewall color is an aesthetic problem at all.

Maybe get pedals first, then worry about the colors.

Al

If I remember correctly, I think that some of the BMXers would take indelible ink markers (such as the fat Sharpie markers) to the sidewalls to colour them.

Don't know how well it works, though.

[and welcome to Bike Forums :) ! ]

East Hill

there are sidewall paints (in multiple colours) available for car tyres, i don't see why they wouldn't work for bikes. check the cosmetic/detailing section of your local auto parts stores...

edit: here's some i found with a quick Google search - http://www.truechoice.com/products.asp?dept=1289

I was wondering if there is something I can paint the sidewalls of my tires with so they match my bike better.
Dry paint pigment can be used to color latex rubber, that can be painted on.

You get latex rubber kits from craft places online that deal with casting and mask-making; I don't know what the difference is, never having used either. Paint pigments can be bought from Dick Blick (http://www.dickblick.com/zz029/59/), online.

It is my understanding that when color-painting tires, you have to do multiple coats as thin as possible, because the latex shrinks as it dries--and if it's too thick it will just crack and peel off.
~

I have to say that in nearly 40 years of cycling as an adult, I've never once thought about whether my tires matched my bike. But here's your solution: http://www.rivbike.com/search/run?query=speedblend#product=10-054

Maybe get pedals first, then worry about the colors.



Haha I've got pedals, thats not my bike actually, just a picture I found to represent what I was talking about.

Deep

thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll investigate this further and keep you posted.....:D

I've used Sharpie's to cover garish white lettering on black tires. It holds up pretty good. I don't know how well it would work on the gum wall.

Paint marker mentioned seems like it may work. When my bike was new all the colors and lettering was quite annoying to me so I used a Sharpie wide black marker and it worked quite well. Try spinning the tire and holding the marker against it to make straight lines of black, can easily be removed with lacquor thinner on a cloth.
:)

Eleven replies and still no one has said, "just buy some blue tires." You can get 'em at Nashbar for heaven's sake. Why go through all this nonsense of painting tires? Latex custom blended with art pigments? Gimmie a break! Life is too short. You want blue tires? Buy freakin' blue tires.

Want pink tires (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000121&subcategory=60001254&brand=&sku=21902&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20700x18c%20to%20700x28c) instead, Nashbar has those too.

Eleven replies and still no one has said, "just buy some blue tires." You can get 'em at Nashbar for heaven's sake. Why go through all this nonsense of painting tires? Latex custom blended with art pigments? Gimmie a break! Life is too short. You want blue tires? Buy freakin' blue tires.

Want pink tires (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=6000121&subcategory=60001254&brand=&sku=21902&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20700x18c%20to%20700x28c) instead, Nashbar has those too.

+1

just tryin to see what other options I have.

the brown of a conti gatorskin and similar goes really well with a well worn brooks honey

Boil a big pot of RIT tye dye and rotate the tire in it.

first tie it up with strings and rubber bands for best effect

The time and effort you'll spend on this won't be worth the quality of final product compared to what you could buy for $20.