General Cycling Discussion - Can I paint my wheels?

Hi, I've got an old bike that I've been commuting on and I'm starting to get bored with it, I want to change it up a bit. I've had experience with painting bikes (I painted one for my nephew for his birthday) and I don't really want to go through that again (plus this one's a little more complicated than his was). I was thinking I could just spray paint the rims and spokes and that would spice it up enough.
So I was wondering, do yall thought it's a good idea, and do you had any tips?
(and btw, it's a really beat up bike that was pretty cheap in the first place, so I'm not too worried about messing it up or anything.)

Paint + braking surface = bad.

Have fun.

If you Take Masking tape and go along the braking wall with it then i think you'd be fine if you painted the rim then because your brakes will still have a surface to work with

I have powder coated rims on an old cruiser, I have an old Murray tweens bike with 24" wheels that came painted and will be repainted and striped when I get the chance. If you have coaster, drum or roller brakes you can paint the whole rim. I find it is best to disassemble the wheel to make the painting easier, unless you plan to paint the spokes too. I saw one bike that had multi colored spokes done in a pattern that was very unusual, not sure if they were painted or powder coated. IMHO your imagination and wallet are the only thing that limit what you can do with a bicycle.

Aaron :)

If you Take Masking tape and go along the braking wall with it then i think you'd be fine if you painted the rim then because your brakes will still have a surface to work with

Bingo. I did this a few years ago when my daughter was going to ride her bike in a parade.
Of course if the bike has a coaster brake, you can paint the whole rim.

You can do whatever you want, of course. Mask off the braking surface and paint it Day-Glo Pink, for visibility.
Or get some brushes and several different colors of enamel and go artistic... some hippie flowers or some cool geometric design would be trick.

But dont paint the spokes; dear God no! That would just be tacky. :)

But dont paint the spokes; dear God no! That would just be tacky. :)


Ok, so 1) don't paint the braking surface, 2) disassemble the wheel and 3) be sure to paint the spokes, :p anything else?
Oh, in regards to wheel disassembly, does that little plastic ring on the back wheel serve any purpose? Can I just break it off? Cause I would think it would kinda be in the way.

Ok, so 1) don't paint the braking surface, 2) disassemble the wheel and 3) be sure to paint the spokes, :p anything else?
Oh, in regards to wheel disassembly, does that little plastic ring on the back wheel serve any purpose? Can I just break it off? Cause I would think it would kinda be in the way.
In theory, I believe its there to prevent the chain from running off the upper cog wheel on the cassette. What they did before someone decided we needed them is beyond me... probably had their derailleur adjusted correctly, would be my guess.

As for dis-assembly, well - this is why they make masking tape. Assuming you are using rattle cans,
a. Mask off all but the spoke nipples and the rim surface,
b. Support the wheel off the ground so it turns freely,
c. Spin the wheel as you apply the paint.
NOTE: Mask everything else - spray paint goes everywhere, and you wont know it until you remove the masking.
Keep a rag and solvent handy for getting it off.


The more I ponder this, the more I like the artistic approach, i.e., painting flowers or Peace Signs or something like that on the rim.
Besides, certain kinds of chicks are going to dig that... ;)

I Prettymuch said it mask off the brake wall and go crazy oh ya dont get paint by the bearings you might want to mask off the bearing crack