I cut those little things off of my first bike.

You can spray paint the bike or get it powdercoated. Powdercoating is sometimes expensive, but lasts forever and is almost impossible to chip. Spray paint is cheap, but chips and dings very easily. You can strip or sand the paint off, apply primer, apply paint, apply clear coat. There are probably people here who have done a much better job than I did, depends how much time and effort you are willing to invest.