Hi All, I've found a bunch of references on this topic but I'm still not sure whether I can get my decals off safely. I'm a bit of a "Monk" and don't want this to look worse when I'm done. Is there a way to safely remove or cover the decals on my 1990ish Specialized MTB?

Thanks all.

p.s. There are a few spots of chipped paint on the CroMo frame too. This will be ridden in rain and snow. Should I cover these spots with something? Should I re-cover where I've removed (hopefully) the clear coat and decals?

Where are our paint experts? Can anyone help out Rio?

East Hill

There is no way to take the stickers off cleanly if they are under the clear. On top? That's a different story. If they are under it's damn near impossible to take them off without damaging the color. Its safe to say that if you try to take the stickers off and they are under the clear the clear will be messed up. It wont be there! It will look horrible. The paint chips...........getting a color match is gonna be hard. If they are not huge and you just wanna keep the rust away for awhile just use some clear nail polish or lots o' wax. If you just hate the way the bike looks paint it! Easier said then done. How about a just covering the whole thing in stickers? My 2 cents.....................

Did you wish to remove the decals because they are just extremely ugly? ... No surprise there.

Perhaps you could just mask around them and then paint your own decorative bands or panels on the bike right over them.

Alrighty, thanks all. Yep, they're way ugly. But I'll resist the urge to remove them, and just cover them somehow. The mechanic at my LBS suggested covering them with Gorilla Tape.

Happy New Year

for what it's worth, you can also get custom decals which could cover the ugly ones with something more to your liking. These would go on top of the clear coat.....

Do you have a source you like for custom decals?