Absolutely not sold on spray.bike. $16 cans of paint and $8 shipping with no idea of matching.

I've got a pretty sweet steel road bike. A couple years ago I made the decision to get a carbon fork, I needed a longer steerer and couldn't aesthetically justify other cockpit options.

I have been very pleased with the ride and fit, but a carbon color fork on a nicely painted steel ride is a little fugly. The bike was built for straight legs anyway.


The fork it came with. A beauty.



As it sits except I went back to Look and put black hoods on.

I was pretty lucky that Lowe's had some industrial paint the exact color of my bike. I found a 1" straight leg fork I like. I've been having a pandemic of a good time sanding and priming it. Hopefully I'll have the final color on today so I can wet sand (2-3000 grit) tomorrow.

I've got some ideas so I won't have to learn to do a fade. It'll look good. Pics this afternoon.

For weight weenies. Steel fork, 650g, curved fork 480g, straight fork 375g.

The straight leg fork in 1" didn't seem to exist a few years ago. It does now. Such is the life of a consumer.

What brifter is that?

Dan

There's STI's, Ergo's and generally brake/shifter combos. Are you interested in what sort of snipples I built my wheels with?

It's grating. Like that kid in class that called Crayons "crowns" then proceeded to eat them. Don't be that kid.

10 Speed Campy Chorus, right before they switched to carbon levers.

Final coat of primer. Off to the cab of my truck to "cook".

Wet sand, clean, and actual paint this afternoon if the primer seems sufficiently hard. If not, tomorrow.

That will look great when it’s done.

I loathe the dorky term “brifters.” It sounds like something that someone would say who also calls a saddle a “chair.” I never like “spork,” either. (Or Spock, for that matter. I’m a Star Wars guy. Come to think of it, “brifter” sounds like something that a guy who actually learned how to speak Klingon and went to Star Trek conventions would bandy about in casual dorky conversation.)

Anyway, post more pics.

What? Crayons? No...I'm asking what brand/model (speed) they are. I have a couple old bikes with downtube shifters (7/8 gears) that I want to covert, but want something with both brake AND shifter cables that can route beneath the bar wrap.

Dan

Dan

​​​​I know that 8 speed Campagnolo is available on eBay. It should suit your needs. I don't know if parts and hoods are still available though.

Getting closer. Probably going to do a couple more coats with about 30 minutes dry time between.

What paint are you using?

I saw a 30' boat a guy had painted with hardware store spray paint. It looked good, and lasted at least 3 years in a marine environment.
Good luck

Red





Sorry, couldn't resist. It's the Rust-Oleum professional high performance enamel. It'll get hit with 2000 and 3000 grit sandpaper. I have some pinstripes I'll use in the color of the bikes decals. It should pop. I don't particularly want to clear coat it, but I might since I have to go to Lowe's tomorrow anyway.

Hard to tell because your camera focused on the floor rather than the forks, but otherwise looks like an excellent job so far.

It's a bit late now, but you should have posted some pics of part of the sanding process.

​​​​​​What's to see? Carbon fiber sanded looks a little less shiny.

I had a better shot of the fork but it actually ended up with my license plate in the pic, so I skipped it. Pretty sunny outside, I couldn't see the screen.

I will mess with it a little tomorrow, likely finish sanding and pinstripes. Gotta work the rest of the week, last I heard we had 18 cases. Hopefully none of them need surgery.

Well ****.



Pretty, isn't it? The fork, not the lawn.

Here it is, ready to go and looking great. All it needs is a clear coat and a few days to harden.

About that clear coat, I hit it with a light spray and right before my eyes watched the paint lift up in a scale pattern. It looked like I'd just applied paint remover. I had to double check that I didn't have a can of paint remover in my hand. I guess there are paint+clear coat incompatibility. I didn't scream or throw anything, though I'd like to.

Ruined.

I'll see if I can get to a reasonable base to start over with 400 grit. I don't want to have to go down to 220.

The only good news, a fork is small and everything else is in big can. I have more than enough to start over.

So either they were incompatible or you applied the clearcoat at the wrong time. You would need to put it on within 30 minutes of the last color coat, or wait two days and wet sand and clear coat it at that time.

Interesting. It was about 24 hours.

I work Wednesday-Friday this week. So I'll be on pause.

I already got in down to where I want with 400 grit. I got one new coat on. I'll probably get 2 more today. It'll probably be next Sunday when I get back to it.

I'm going to find something else to paint today, so I can test the clear coat on it next week.

I'm confused. The carbon fork you show in the picture, that you used because you needed a longer steerer, does not show more in the way of spacers than you would get from a steel fork/steerer with a quill stem. Or, did the steel fork come with an integrated stem?

I used to have the same exact problem. I thought the surface was contaminated or something. I even called Rust oleum. That's the advice they gave me.

I saw a threadless set-up for the first time in 1994. By 1998 quills were not on anything meant to go fast.

This bike came equipped 1" threadless and slammed all the way to the headset. I think the fork was even too short for that. I would have needed something silly like a 50 degree stem to get it right. I was completely unwilling to do that.

I just painted this frame a few days ago. Same color Rustoleum I believe. Still waiting to put on decals, sand and clear coat.

I'm honestly pleased with the paint. A little less pleased about faceplanting at the finish line though.