Hello!
I have a few days off work and I'm hoping to tackle a project. I have a Cannondale Q5 that's about 7 years old. I've never really gotten much use out of it until now since I finally live close enough to my college campus to bike.

I'm thinking I would like to paint my bike purely for aesthetic reasons, just to make it pop a little more than the boring silver/gray that came standard. Unfortunately, it turns out that the Q5 frame is aluminum which apparently makes things a little more complicated.

I've read through many different articles and threads and have found advice ranging from "only a professional" to "scruff up the old paint and hit it with some spray paint and some clear coat."

Now I'll be honest, I'm not very mechanically inclined and I'm sort of afraid to take the bike apart in the first place so unless I can get a clear plan down on how I can paint it myself I'll probably just not do it.

From what i've read though, it seems like most of the advice is to avoid stripping the old paint off and just run some sand paper over the old paint to rough it up for adhesion, give the frame a good wash and then go over it with several thin coats of spray paint plus a few thin coats of clear coat. That advice seems do-able to me. But I also don't want all the paint to come peeling off in a months time.

Will I be wasting my time by going this route?