Making a classic bike look modern,or ?
 

I have an old tall cruiser bike with typical classic look and big(29') medium-thin tires ,but i have no idea what to do in order to make it look better.I want to restore it and the first thing that comes to my mind is -new powder paint.Yet i also want it to look modern instead of old style and in that part i hit the wall.There is absolutely nothing that comes to my mind that will make the thin frame look more sleeky except paint.Any sudgestions on what can be done ?Paint colour?New front with shock absorbers?
If i can sum it up how it looks (have no photo right now aside from crappy phone) ,this bike looks almost the same as mine http://api.ning.com/files/1TbLF-gaWE...eenbriar01.JPG

Nice looking bike. I'd love to have one like that if I had the room. Personally if you'd rather have a more modern bike, sell this one and buy a modern bike. I'd keep it like this and use it for grocery errands and riding through the park.

Looks good to me the way it is. I don't see much point in trying to make it look "modern," whatever that means to you. You'll spend money needlessly and wind up with an old bike without an old bike's appeal. As for the "thin frame," that's what a bike is supposed to look like.

I have a few "modern" bikes, but I'd love to have something that looked like that. Hard to justify getting N+1.... but if I were to get N+1, it would either be a classic bike, or a recumbent.

I think there are some forums on here where people could give you suggestions on how to restore it.

Pragmatically new wheel with aluminum rims will stop better, maybe replace the rear wheel
with a nice internal gear hub rather than the derailleur setup.. so 2 wheels.
use it as a utility bike for riding places that would steal anything better.

but mostly I would not bother its what a AMF-Huffy or something out of the Sears store?

anything more you need to go buy that Modern bike. A whole new bike. in a bike shop..

Having been looking at a lot of bikes recently that come with fenders and a rack I can say that there are modern bikes that have a thin frame like yours. If you want to make it look more modern you could replace the handle bars and grips with a flat handle bar and ergo grips, or a drop handle bar (if that is your preference). Replace the seat with a modern single contrasting color seat like a gray, white, or brown, and replace your peddles with new modern design for easy foot griping.

That will go a long way without having to deal with the paint. If you are using a friction shifter you may want a more modern indexing shifter etc.

It's absolutely personal preference, but I don't like indexed shifting at all. I rode for 20 years before it came along, then used it for several years, and now all my bikes but one have friction shifters again.
All my cars are manual trans, too. I just like to shift.

Well == the reason i got fired up at ''modernising" is that i made a small mistake.I bought a new bike but neglected a model that i really liked afterword ,so i got pissed lol.I have no idea why ,but i just adore that bike so much ,but it is too expensive to buy the other one now,so the other thing i can do is make this one look more out of the store.The only thing that comes to mind right now that can make a change is the paint, but i have no idea what paint to use. Problem is that it turns out i like muscullar thick bikes and i never even thought that i actually like them.I like thicker frames ,manly look ,rugged and strong. My new bike now is sleek version of the one i overlooked and its more elegant than rugged, but i can't repaint it because it is still under warranty and i need TWO bikes so i can ride with my friends.The old one has no issues with the brakes at all ,or infact anything mechanically,but i am thinking of putting more gears ,since it has only 6.
This is why i am starting to think that some matt paint might work ?Maybe blue matt?
The other thing that would have really made it nice is the suspension ,because the roads here are bad ,but as it turns out buying suspension is quite expensive.I have no idea if a cheap suspension would do the same thing as an expensive one,or if it will last .
Althought to be honest i have nothing against old looks on bikes.I like ellegant bikes ,but i really like diversity ,so one elegant and one more rugged would be a nice combo especially if i can mount suspension.The other version i liked also has suspension in the front.

Sell this and buy your "muscular" bike online .. say bamf or bikesdirect. Please don't put a suspension fork on this bike.

I Was starting to read somewhere that epoxy paint + polyurethane overcoat is a good combination and is quite strong.If i want to sell it for even medium amount money it must look good,so its a good question will this kind of coating be resistant on a bike frame.I could cheaply make it since i have both epoxy and poly paint at disposal and i have a paint spray machine .I used it to paint poly and work on old cabinets of antique clocks.I made mirror finish that way .If it will be durable i would not hesitate to use it .I may even like the bike that way since i can make all the details to the frame that i want.I can even paint it with different colours and choose the tone .The problem is that i never thought that poly can be used for that purpose yet in the archives on this forum i read something about it ,thought i do know that poly is a very resistant coating.But to what extent ?

Chances are nothing you can work with at home will be as good as the paint you see on modern bikes. Some bikes are powder coated which is of course the most durable. You could get the frame powder coated for probably less then 100 dollars. If that is too much then you are best off choosing a decent paint and clear coating on top of it. How durable will that paint be? Well it probably wont flake off from regular handling, but it will probably chip if you bang a wrench against it. I have a decent amount of experience doing home done paint jobs on metal as I restore old woodworking machines as a hobby. Paint is always a difficult problem when looking for durability. The best I have found so far has been Benjamin Moore's Super Sec HP paint and Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel HS - Alkyd Coating. The latter only comes in gallons whereas the former can come in quarts. This of course requires a spray gun.