Originally Posted by maglia_grigia

So I have this old road bike, it is nothing special, a Carrera Zelos (I believe 2013) that I kind of fell into owning.

I'm not a hard core cyclist at all, but just want to get out for some exercise once or twice a week, as well as the odd commute - and for this, the bike is completely suitable.
Will no doubt end up getting something a bit more up to date, but ultimately the Carerra isn't going to be worth selling.

What I would love to do is a project on the aesthetics. Turn this bike into something I have genuine affinity for.
Paint job, wheels, saddle, handle bar tape, a few stickers as well.

I've seen a few YouTube tutorials and have an idea of how to do the painting bit. But I'm worried about taking apart and putting back together. The YT tutorials seem to gloss over this as if they just assume anyone who has a bike can do this no problem. I have this concern / nightmare about turning up at a bike shop with a bike in a dozen pieces and hoping that the shop take pity on me.

Would appreciate any guidance on how easy it would be for someone who hasn't done it before (and hasn't done much more than change a tyre). Would I need specialist tools, other than allen keys and a spanner? What are the potential problem areas? I'm ultra concerned about the cabling and gears.

I guess I could leave a few components on and do a bit of masking but I'd probably very quickly reach a point of no return when disassembling it so I'm very cautious not to the start this until I know I will have a fairly good chance of being able to finish it.

Any help much appreciated.