Decals Again! Need Someone to Make a Set For Me.
 

Hello All, I am going to get my Echelon Spectra repainted and would like to know if there is anyone out there who might be able to make me a set of decals? I did trace all the decals before removal so have exact copies - they are white only no other colors. I know white is an issue to print because many printers do not print it. Anyway any leads appreciated. Have attached pic of semi stripped Echelon. http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...psaocd7hlz.jpg

Gorgeous frameset. Gus Salmon is the man. He's also a forum member.

I don't think Gus will be interested in doing it as he likes to work from excellent photos whereby he can copy all the original idiosyncrasies. He does not like to work from tracings as they are not accurate enough for him. I am not worried about these decals being super accurate, just want the size, font and color to be correct.

I had excellent luck working directly with a local sign shop - they do custom pin striping, etc. for cars, logo and promotional stickers and door decals for commercial vehicles, etc. etc.

I'm absolutely positive they could produce a quite accurate version of your decals simply from the photo you posted above. They had great designers on staff who knew how to use the software. My decals were quite a bit more difficult with stripes, different fonts, some little details that were hard to duplicate.

My bike is an uncommon old Italian brand (Sannino) and the normal online decal sources did not have decently accurate versions.

I gave them photos (which I got from various online photos, sort of like what you posted) and worked through a couple of revisions and they came up with decals - which to my eye - were identical to the original (see below)

They also have various materials and inks and, like I said, are experienced with making stuff for vehicles, so the durability is not a question.

I think the entire project, including printing a couple of interim versions from which I had them make changes, only cost me about $50, and I have two sets plus the electronic files in case I ever need them again.

That's what I'd try first.

Another idea - do a search on ebay for the name and model of your bike. A year or two after I did the above, I found a set of NOS decals for my bike from someone in Italy for about $35 shipped. I found that my current decals are pretty darn close - close enough for anyone except a full-on restoration. But I'm now going to have my local guy do exact copies of the originals, give me a set plus electronic files, and then I'll put the originals on the bike.

Thanks Camilo, Great information! I do not think I will be able to find a set of decals as there were very few of these bikes built and they were only sold here in the USA. It was built by Cherubim (mid 80s) in Japan and I did contact them about decals just in case - no luck there. Echelon was a brand name that I think DIN imports was trying to introduce. I suspect only one batch of Echelon Spectra and Echelon Odyssey were ever imported. Mine was purchased at Cupertino Bike Shop.

Wow! Is this shop in the Bay area by chance? Or do you think they'd be interested in business from out of town?

If you don't mind the thickness of the finished 'decal' this is an excellent candidate for inexpensive die-cut self-adhesive vinyl film, which would be completely opaque white, fairly easy to apply (use soapy water and a squeegee) and there are many suppliers in nearly every town.
OTOH, if you want thinner, "real decals" your choices for opaque white ink on (either) a clear vinyl carrier or waterslide are much more limited.
But I'd say try the usual guys and I'd highly recommend this guy (Josh) for the waterslide type, plus I'm pretty sure he will work with you to create the vector art needed to print this (for a price): https://www.bedlamcreations.com

Beatutiful frame, BTW...I almost snagged one of these off Craigslist, years ago, but...no dice.:(

Thank you Unworthy1, I appreciate your help! Looking at the original decals I think they were printed on a vinyl film so that would work out anyway. I have actually come across some really good photos of an Echelon Spectra on the web and will clean up my drawings considerably to the point that they are exactly the right size etc. I will definitely contact Josh when I am ready with the final draft and see what he can quote me. Yes it is a very nice frame and I did contact Cherubim in Japan for confirmation that it was indeed built by them. They did confirm. Can't wait to build up and ride!

I downloaded Inkscape .91, a free online vector drawing program and generated my own artwork. I saved as a PDF and sent to a sign shop to create the decals. You could easily do the same. Scan your original tracing and import it into Inkscape to be your template.

Lot's of recommendations on rcgroups.com for Custom Graphics Work - Callie Graphics. I wonder if she would branch into classic/vintage bicycles? Worth an email to ask.

Looks like she/they are a vinyl film die-cutter (or more accurately a CNC plotter-cutter is used for this). Most of those operations require a vector file to use in the computer-controlled cutting process, and in order to get mutiple colors they have to cut and "book" each soilid color of vinyl film together into one "sticker". So it's a perfectly good choice for a single color, simple graphic such as this ECHELON logotype, but for something that's complex, mutliple colors, involves halftones or fades and fine detail you really have to print...not cut.