Actually, there are three kinds of people in this world. Those who can count, and those who can't.

I apologize for my earlier remark about the decal looking like it belonged on the seat tube. I had no idea they did it that way in production. I've always seen that font style applied in two different orientations. My bad. Ya learn something new every day, indeed.

DD

What went wrong for me was that a decal I was removing pulled up the paint including the area both under and next to the decal, so even with a new decal the missing paint area was still abundantly visible.

:lol:

this is me... :thumb: Advice: Heat the decal with a hair dryer. Catch an edge with a razor knife and peel it ever so slowly at a 180, not pulling upward but peeling across the surface, almost rolling it back and down.

Rereading this...
...in the post just above, I can't help but wonder why you made this...
...the basis for the thread in post one. Clearly you're not interested in what we would do (despite that last sentence), but how we would attempt what you've already made up your mind to do.
A few techniques have been offered up; I say it's about time you pick one.
Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead! Post pics of the results! :thumb:

Heh. Calling me out! :-)

Indeed the responses were overwhelming "live with it". But I also got the responses of "that would drive me crazy" and a couple "fix it". And like any human being, I latch onto the message I want to hear :-)

I'm probably going to talk to the painter before I grab the heat gun.

Given that the vinyl decals are over the clearcoat and that the clearcoat was cured in a hot-box overnight, I'm optimistic that I won't lift paint or clear.

I used to be a little bit OCD, but life (which is too short), hard work, and diminishing returns beat it out of me.

I'm sympathetic to your situation. I'm straddling both the "it would bug me" (though not quite drive me crazy) and the "I'd leave it" camps. As much as I wouldn't like having mis-aligned decals, I'd be more afraid of making it worse by trying to remove and re-apply the decals. You see it when you focus on it, but overall it doesn't stand out to me unless you are trying to notice it.

It occurs to me: How different would our responses be if the wonky decal were on the drive side? :D

Gosh, that is really a beautiful bicycle, decal issue not withstanding. I hope that things work out which ever you decide to go with. Oy vey, what a dilemma to have to fight with.....

That's a stupid screw-up for such an expensive paint job, imo. I would say to ignore it but since it really bugs you that much, I think you should try and fix it, even at the risk of repainting.

I just started a thread about having the TT decals replaced on my Trek 5900 at Ruckus Composites in Portland, OR, where they did a perfect job. If they had gotten them crooked I would've been ok with it, but would've expected a substantial discount.

They do decals on steel frames too, btw. You could email them some pics and see what they say. Good luck.

Seems like you've set your course, but I thought I'd add a thought. I've done a few Trek seat tube wraps decal applications over the years, with decals from JR at Velocals. I was amazed that even when I got them applied 'perfectly' -- they didn't appear perfectly symmetrical when viewed from the direct front or back, simply because the left side of the letters are 'boxed' -- the R, E, and K of "TREK" are all closed with a solid, stroked line -- and the right side of the letters are all 'open.' So, even when perfect, they look a little 'off' from direct front or rear, simply because the letters themselves are not symmetrical.

Since you seem sensitive to the perfect symmetry of it, I thought I'd point that out. Maybe lay the new ones out so that they look perfect in your view from the saddle, and damned be the view from every other angle? That's a strategy you could go for when you reapply.

Good luck with the re-do...I hope it goes quick and easy!

Piece of cake. The existing decals came off with a heat gun and finger nails.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iT...=w780-h1040-no

I carefully lined up new decals to my liking and used masking tape to hold them in place while I removed the backing:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/K0...w1140-h1518-no

Now watch me go crash/wreck the bike in the coming months now that I've achieved the perfection I've been looking for...

Yup that would drive me crazy too, especially since it was a custom job.....

Redo looks great.

******' A HELLS YEAH!!!


I would have voted to do it.

It would drive me bonkers. I have a dent in the TT of one of my bikes- My eyes constantly keep going to it.

Bonkers.


Congratulations!

Well done. What a relief! Like when you straighten that painting in the living room and life is good again!

And a great victory was had that day! I'm thrilled that it worked out so well.

Beautiful bike, and ... uh-oh ... decal overlaps the bottle braze-on. That lifted edge. Can't... unsee! :twitchy:

Heh. Kudos, man. Looks awesome.

So, were you able to reapply the decals you removed, or did you destroy those and apply new ones? I assume the latter, but the former would be quite an achievement. Well done, either way! :thumb:

I ordered and applied new decals, though the ones I removed are likely still usable. I may apply them to a different beater Trek I own.

Whoa dude, way to harsh my mellow! ;)

I think that can be solved with a bottle cage, however.

Yup, that was the decal I did *not* remove ;-) I did the other side. I can live with the tiny overlap. To me the important thing was getting them fairly symmetrical. I'm happy with the result. Watch me wreck the bike now.

I would trim that overlap with an xacto and get it sealed down so it doesn't start creepin on ya.
Congrats

Yup. I'm on the "it would drive me crazy" side. Had a Gitane like that, though the mis applied decals were self inflicted. Finally sold the bike. I'll be WAY more careful next time! Nice bike btw.

OK. So now it's just a regular Trek. :(