Here's the deal.. I'm a roadie (29 gears too many, unfortunately), but I've seen some amazing designs on fixie wheelsets.. from wild colors to beautiful artwork to fancy lettering.

So I've got a question for you guys. We've got a medium-profile wheelset.. let's say this one.



I'd love some cool-looking white letters on the rim. Maybe "THE BEEF", in the Campagnolo Bora font. (below) Any ideas as to how I might accomplish this - decals? stickers? paint?

Crazy or cool ideas totally welcome.

crazy idea:

tape the entire outer surface of the rim, then use an exacto knife to cut out the pattern. soak the exposed areas in a solution of ajax and hot water to deanodize them.sand/hand polish the **** out of the deanodized pattern and get some icy hot details.

Too much work. Just get some adhesive-backed vinyl from a sign shop, cut 'em out, and stick 'em on.

Or have a sign shop do some die cut vinyl decals for you. SHouldn't cost too much, (they usually charge by the square inch) and the design consists of typing "the beef" in your font of choice, then putting the correct curve on it to fit your wheel. Cake for anyone who uses Illustrator on a regular basis.

crazy idea:
how about get rid of your triple?

Try www.bikenames.com. They will do custom work for you, but I would recommend having a professional designer set up the image to ensure the decals fit your rims.

Their products are great and installation is easy.

Heheehe. No can do. I'm a hill climber in the P. Northwest. Gets up a slope faster than a double, esp with a high cadence. I've only had to use it a few times ever but it's made the difference between a 10 minute crawl and a 6 minute climb.

Awesome ideas so far. The deanodizing thing definitely sounds interesting. The decals might work too. I was also thinking about paint - maybe taping / cutting out the letters with an exacto knife and using some sort of permanent white paint? (What this paint would be, I have no idea)

Thanks so far.

Use 1-Shot sign-painters paint. It's opaque and goes on like butta.

if you want paint, still have the vinyl stickers made, but have them made in reverse, so it becomes a stencil. apply the sticker, then paint in the negative space. you'll get waaay better results than trying to do it freehand.

I would paint... and you could actually just print the font on adhesive backed paper from your inkjet, cut them out and paste them on... paint around it. It'll cost ya $5.

It wouldn't be to hard to do the vinyl work yourself but here is what I'd be worried about. My dad used to run a sign shop when I was a kid and we would do lettering for most hotels limos and what not in Vegas. Anyways, wear and tear up on the windows was bad enough that we replaced vinyl every five years. I can't imagine the peel you'd get from riding the streets. Might want to do some sort of vinyl plus a clear coat over the top if that is possible or even a stencil then clear coat. Anyways, good luck. Cheers.

LOL!

vinyl sticky letters from an office supply store

if your rocking brakes (road bike) um wont the brakes wear off the viynal and paint?

Only if it's on the braking surface...

The reverse decal/stencil is the way to go. Find a graphic designer friend and ask a favour. Wouldn't take too long in Illustrator.

Actually thinking about it, as there is a (for want of a better word) 'dish' on the rim edge it would be pretty hard getting a piece of vinyl to fit perfectly.

I think the vinyl letters would work fine and wouldn't peel off. They use this stuff on cars etc too.

Good luck. I plan to do this also......when I get time.

where might i find this adhesive backed vinyl, art supply stores dont seem to know what I'm talking about..

Ask a signmakers who make decals for shops etc.