Wondering whether anybody here has done their own pinstriping around lugwork and would care to offer any words of advice or warning? Since pinstriping is done by hand anyhow, I am thinking I should be able to do it myself. Is it a case of "don't do it!" or have you gotten good results?

I am a painter, but have no experience with this kind of painting and the materials it requires. I have read that One Shot enamel is the stuff to use, and was also told that there is a pen-like tool that can be filled with the paint like a magic marker, which offers more control than using a paintbrush. Any idea what tool this is? I have not been able to find it. In case it matters, my frame will be powder-coated.

Thanks in advance for any advice. Would love to see photos of DIY pinstriping as well!

I think its called a FlowPen, made by Pasche, the airbrush people (I have one here somewhere). I've used a ruling pen before with model paints, and the gold paint pens.

Here's my Legnano. The gold was a paint pen and the red a ruling pen.

there have been several threads recently on this topic, with lots of pics. consensus is a paint pen, but it can leave a subtle choppiness to the line. some like using a pinstriping brush, with long, fine hairs. my only experience with this sort of thing as been with pinstriping cars, where i used an actual brush and slow-drying paint formulated for pinstriping. the trick is to keep a continuous, slow motion. i would imagine that maintaining that motion around the curvature of the lugs would be more challenging, and a paint pen would be far easier.

I just did my wife's Sports lugs with a brush, silver over black, and I wish I had a pinstriping brush. You should look them up Veloria, but you've probably seen them before.

I used a Testors pen. Easy as pie, but it wears off fast. I'd rather not do it permanent, so I don't mind that so much. It's a relaxing thing to do on a rainy night.

Looking at the pinstriping on my old Raleighs, the barrier to entry is pretty darn low. Some of them are awful sloppy.

Putting the frame in a bike stand, where you can rotate it all around and lean on it while you do it makes it way easier. First time I did it while the bike was just sitting there - it was kinda comical.

Sorry, I only have crappy pics:

Problem with searching the forum is that not everyone uses the same terms to describe the same process! I did find these two related threads just now, for others interested:
"Lug Lining"
"Painting Lugs"

It seems that some recommend the oil based Sharpie Paint Pen. I might just give that a try on my Raleigh Sports to experiment. It is permanent, but does not contain led (like the enamel paints do).

I agree with you about the difficulty vs subtle choppiness trade-off with the brush vs pen. I have the same problem when rendering fine detail in artwork. Will try to experiment with both methods and see how it goes.

I have them, but personally I don't like them much. They are good for long lines and curves, but not for painting very fine detail or around tight spaces. For around the lugs, I would choose the teeny tiny brushes used for painting illuminated manuscripts. They give you great control around tricky curves.

Thanks for sharing those images, that is some impressive DIY. Mine will not be multi-colour, but there will be lots and lots of lugwork and little cut-outs, which I will paint the same colour as the pinstriping.

I looked at the FlowPen seems to come in very wide widths, but maybe I need to keep looking and they also make extra-fine.


Not crappy at all; I can see the beautiful seat cluster just fine. That looks very nice. I will be doing the same gold outlines, only on a gray-green "randonneur"-style frame. I definitely want it to be permanent though, so I think the Testor's is out. I will do it to the frame right after it's powder-coated, before it's build up with any components.

I agree with you about vintage bikes having sloppy pinstriping, at least the standard production ones. On my Motobecane Mirage, it looks like they were done by a drunk kindergartner. Hopefully I can do at least a bit better!

this was the most recent thread that i was referring to. there was one poster who showed some very finely detailed work, far better than any factory lug detailing i've seen.

Thanks, you're too kind.

How would you go about making straight lines - pinstriping? The lugs are easy, you have something to follow along. But the pinstripes - they are amazing. Every bike I have seen with pinstripes is amazing. I wouldn't add them to my bike where they don't belong, but I'm still curious. Taped off? Metal ruler/guide?

Dr. Deltron did an amazing job on my seat stay caps. He says that he did it freehand with a brush and that the gold leaf paint is really hard to work with. This was his second attempt. He screwed them up badly the first time. It's clearcoated over the striping.

^ I remember seeing that before, that is very impressive.

Thanks, that's a great thread! And looks like the OP came to the same conclusions as I did about the choice of brushes.


There is special masking tape for this, with a cut-out in the middle that you peel off. I don't know what it's called though. Wish it were possible to use masking for the tight spaces around lugwork, but it's not.

Ooh very very nice, that takes a steady hand indeed!
Yes, gold leaf is a nightmare to work with - and a clearcoat would be a must, as it flakes off.

i tried to do it around some lugs but i ended up painting over it because it looked bad. i kept the pin striping i did around the bottle bosses.

I think gold over black is particularly challenging, because it is so high-contrast. Every tiny slip is on display. The outlining around the bosses looks fine. What was the problem with the rest of it?

i just had issues around the chrome lugs. i guess i did leave the pin stripping on the non-chrome lugs.

The long red lines on my Legnano I did next to a metal rule made with rubber undermeath for inking. The short ends were freehand.

With a pinstriping brush you would support your hand running along side of tube and pull a straight line. I bought some pinstripping daggers but haven't messed with them yet.

with all due respect to the OP, i personally feel that Procione's pics further down in that thread showed the most beautifully detailed lugs of any i have seen; his post was what i was referring to specifically in my earlier post. he uses and recommends a pinstriping brush, as i had recommended from my experience doing auto pinstriping .

+1 for a pinstriping brush. Pin striping paint too.

https://xcaliberart.com/new_paints.html




Thats beautiful work and probably was damn near impossible to make such a perfect oval.

Anyone try actual gold leaf as lug lining?

Pin striping is incredible, but takes more patience than you could ever imagine. One shot works very well. I'm new to doing it on bikes, but i've dabbled with it on cars too and know many people that do it.

One shot is great stuff. Very durable, and more forgiving than other automotive paints and much easier to use. Enamels work the best. Conventional automotive paints are too thin.

As for brushes. Mack are some of the best around. They make a wide array of them. 0 or 00 are some of the common sizes. But for technical areas like bikes, lettering or sign making brushes work better.

Dick Blick has a huge assortment of brushes and paint colors. They sell everything online and in stores. Or they have them at eastwood company as well. Its a blast to mess around with. But it takes a while to get the hang of. I suggest practicing on a piece of glass to get the hang of the strokes before doing it on a bike. But if you try on your bike first, you can wipe it off with paint thinner or mineral spirits.

There are also tools available like this:
https://www.eastwood.com/pinstriping/...iping-kit.html

Some are less expensize than the beugler, but they give you perfect lines everytime.

Well, I outlined the lugs on my Raleigh Lady's Sports and it looks like a success. I did it with an oil-based paint pen designed to work on painted metal surfaces (bought from an art supplies store). It worked just fine, though I didn't try anything complicated and the lugs on this bike are fairly crude and simple.

For more intricate work on a nicer bicycle, I will go with the pinstriping paint and paintbrush method. But for an older bike with simple lugwork, the paint pen method is quick and easy. I will try to post some photos.

There are also calligraphy pens made with paint but the color selection is very limited.

Exactly. I have lots of calligraphy pens, though most are italic (with beveled edges). This paint pen is sort of in the same family, but is formulated for making permanent marks on metal. It works just fine if you need a simple colour, like white, gold or silver.

Okay, here is my handy-work.
There wasn't a great deal to outline and the lugs have a rough finish to them (with jagged edges),
so it's not exactly impressive. Still, it's an encouraging start I think!







Below is an example of the jaggedness: My line is actually straight, but the lugs themselves have
uneven edging, which makes the whole thing look messy : (



From a distance it isn't noticeable though