I grew up on a bike, though I haven't owned one in years. Recently, the cost and stress of driving, along with a desire to get in shape again, have aimed me in the direction of bicycles. Though as an artist and craftsman by trade, I have almost zero interest in simply purchasing a bike - I need to build one. There is a fantastic resource in my city called The Bikery, a local, non-profit community-based shop where bicycle mechanics volunteer and help guide you along as you build your bike yourself from a rather large store of used and vintage bike parts for pretty cheap - so that's where I start.

At this point however, I am at square one: I haven't started anything. I am searching for the perfect frame first, which narrowed by my stature (6'4", 200lbs) and by my project guidelines (price, looks, intended use) is proving to be a bit more difficult than I thought for what I thought was an odd reason - I read somewhere on a forum that it is a bad idea to sandblast a bike frame. My plan was to buy an older road bike frame (I am currently the high bidder on a 60 cm Guerciotti Columbus on Ebay), sandblast it, then give it a fresh coat of paint and decals of my choosing. But if it is a no-no to sandblast a frame for some reason, how am I supposed to strip the old paint off? Wet sanding? I haven't been able to find any further info on this but it would be a shame to ruin a nice old frame simply because I didn't know something I didn't know I needed to know. Is there anyone here that can weigh in on this one way or another?

Nicholas

Sandblasting can damage even a steel good bike frame since it will be made of thin wall tubing and, if brazed, it can damage the joints. there is not any excess metal to tolerate the abrasion. Cheap, thick wall steel bikes can be sandblasted safely but that's not what you are interested in.

BTW, Aluminum frames are even more vulnerable and for a carbon frame it would be suicide.

If you want to strip the frame to bare metal and the bike is brazed or welded, chemical strippers can do a good job without harming the tubes or joints.

+1 on chemical strippers. If you are going for basic paint job, you might want to look into powdercoating. It will give you a more durable finish but will cost more than painting would.

Awesome. Thanks for the responses. I hope get this frame, I really like it. And though it will be a bit of a shame to strip off such a nice paint job (and I'm sure there are those who would cry foul of my attempts to do so) it's just such an obnoxious look-at-me! 80's red. I'm going for a British Racing Green frame with chrome forks and tan leather seat, handle wraps and accents. It's gonna be super slick. Once the ball gets rolling on this I'll try to post some progress shots!

Nicholas

I think you would be crazy to strip this but it still sounds like an interesting project: https://www.ebay.com/itm/251239173787



If you're going to have the bike powdercoated, the coater would probably do the stripping for you. If using paint instead of powder, that paint looks good enough as a base to simply sand and shoot over, in which case completely stripping might not be necessary.

I know, I know... But it's exactly what I'm looking for except for that paint job. The 80's did nobody any favors when it came to color choice or graphic design.

Nicholas

If that is the frame that you are bidding on, that would be serious sacrilege. Why in the world would anyone even just contemplate stripping that frame just to powder coat it or repainting it with mystery decals? That frame is beautiful.

Try to find a nice frame with horrible paint, the frameset will be MUCH cheaper and you won't feel bad stripping it.

If you do destroy the paint job on it, the value of the frame will be reduced to nearly nothing. An original nice frame with high end tubing and original paint is worth far more as unrestored condition. Just like guns and cars, if they are original and unrestored, they are worth far more even if they aren't perfect.

I don't get it? What is wrong with the paint? The frame is gorgeous. Looks like it was nearly new and the only thing ever done to it is putting a rear wheel in it.

That's your opinion. Truth is, I don't care about the "value" of the frame with original paint on it, I just want a bike. I want to build myself a bike I can be proud of. I agree that the frame is gorgeous I simply don't like the paint or decals, I find them to be quite obnoxious. I knew this would ruffle some feathers when I posted it and I'm sorry you take issue with my intentions of repainting a 25 year old bike frame I plan on purchasing, but if you think about it - it doesn't affect you in any way. If you know of any frames that you feel fit my specifications and have a less than stellar paint job I'd love to see them, that's what I set out to find in the first place.

Nicholas

EDIT: Capitalization

You can blast it with walnut hulls or bead blast it.

Thank you. I'll see if the plating company I'll be using does either of those.

Nicholas

I hope you are just trolling here, but if not, you are dead to me. Good luck with your project.

Don't blast or sandblast the frame whatever you don't cheap ppwder coat it. The finish is great as is if you must sand it down by hand and use your art skills to do something really great.

+1

The magic word here is "media blasting". Basically, a media blaster will do sand as well (if the job calls for it), but a company advertising only sand blasting might be just that.

I'd skip the fancy paint and chrome until you get the thing together and put some miles on it. You never know if you're going to like a bike until you ride it for awhile. Also keep in mind that building on a used and untested (by you) frame can be risky.

Yes, you'll need to disassemble the bike in order to paint it, but this is better than putting a bunch of paint time and money into a old/used frame that ends up being unsuitable for some reason or another.

That frame was SANDBLASTED and powdercoated. Nothing wrong with sandblast a frame the issue is that you need to do it with the right media. Ask the powdercoating people. yoou wont get a better etching that a surface that has been sandblasted.

Coming back to that red frame, you wont get better finish that the one already has, is powdercoating.

Good luck in your comeback.

+1 You haven't ridden in years and really don't know what you need or will be comfortable with. Buying and completely refinishing any frame, including the one you've bid on, before actually riding it for a significant amount of time can wind up throwing a lot of time and money down a rat hole if the finished bike isn't suitable.

+1 sacrilege. I hope you lose the auction, and find another frameset in a colour you like or that doesn't deserve to keep its paint so much.

Your plan for this frameset is not cool. People don't strip original paint on fine frames just because they don't like the colour... it's only cool to refinish such a frame if the factory finish is completely and utterly buggered, and then it should be as original.

With stuff like this - even a frameset custom built for you - you don't entirely own it, because the rest of us demand you act as a custodian for posterity's sake.

Ignore this aspect of looking after a fine old bike at your social peril.

-1.

It's your bike. If you love the way it looks, you'll ride more. Pity, I just got rid of a 62 cm Univega Gran Rally frame that would have been perfect. Chemical stripping is a pain. Sanding is an excellent form of meditation.

I had a Univega touring bike sandblasted by a company that does a lot of bike painting. Touring bikes have a lot more metal on them than a road bike.

Forgot to say; welcome back to bicycling, welcome to the Bike Forum, and good luck with your project!

Purists rejoyce! I have been outbid beyond my budget on the Guerciotti, so it and the flair of the 80's will live to ride again. To Davidad, Metacortex, Zukahn1, Dabac, FMB42, Ultraman6790, Hillrider and CAcycling - I appreciate your expertise when answering my question and your words of encouragement, I have been pointed in the right direction and I appreciate the help. FMB42 - Thank you especially for the welcomes and the luck on my project. Ironically, this thread has also reminded me why I hate forums, so your 'welcome to the bike forum' has been wasted. I never really understood why forums are so chock full of people ready to cut your throat for thinking differently about the same hobby - wasn't the idea of forums that likeminded folks could get together around the proverbial 'water cooler' and all discuss something they all loved?

The fly fishing forum I used is filled with traditionalists who scorn the 'egg fly and indicator' guys who, in turn, catch more fish and turn into bloated better-than-yous. Photography forums are just giant knife fights between Nikon and Canon users. My animation and compositing forums are a combination of the two, where you'll need to defend your brand of software package just as much as your style, and then your creative choices to boot! I don't see the point of coming to a place of convergence between so many viewpoints and so much experience simply to waste time flaming people when they do something that conflicts with your side of the coin. I don't care if John Wayne is an American Hero! Clint Eastwood is just as good! Branch out a little bit! It can be guaranteed that at some point you've also done something that someone 'more enlightened than you' has looked down upon with scorn.

Well, like I said earlier, thanks for the real advice. And to the people that will read this only to have what I'm saying simply bounce off your closed mind, you've won, I suppose. I will not be back.

Why do I not, then, feel the thrill of victory ? Could it be that there is absolutely no awareness on
your part that, conceivably, your original approach to this might be deeply flawed ?

No..............probably not. Good luck in your future endeavors. Write when you find work.

We should talk. Sent you a PM but not sure if you can receive/respond to them yet. Shoot me an e-mail at rccardr@cox.net.
Doc

I agree. I feel no happiness that you have decided to not come back. I would be much happier if you really thought your plans through, realized that destroying a vintage frame with very finite availability with an unneeded customization isn't in the best interests of the biking community and looked for a good yet cosmetically challenged frame that fits you and decided to go to town on that.

Its not that much different than the people who buy beautiful vintage classic frames and cut off all the braze-ons and drop out hangers and paint it lime green just to make a fixie out of it. That frame is no longer a classic vintage frame, its just an old frame that lost all its originality and beauty in a sea of fixies. Its just sad. There are a ton of vintage bike lovers who would kill to have a beautiful unrestored original frame and to read about someone who plans on stripping it and repainting it just hurts when there are a lot of mechanically sound high end frames that are not pretty and need restoration.

He was going to paint it!