solbrothers

I am going to have my 1988 trek 400 repainted this winter and would love to be able to put new decals on it. I have access to a vinyl cutter and can make the decals if I had a decent picture of the logo. Is there some sort of archive of logos?

Here is a picture of what the logo looks like.

Snydermann

Aren't you still going to need a vector image of the logo to send to the plotter?

I've been taking 2 or three photos of the logo from different positions radial to the center of the tube, merging them together in Photoshop to eliminate the curvature distortion, then outlining them in Adobe Illustrator. My plotter cuts right from Illustrator.

solbrothers

i have all the programs to make a vinyl decal.

maybe i'll just take a picture of my bike and go from there.

solbrothers

i use inkscape to make the vector and manipulate from there.

dedhed

https://www.velocals.com/servlet/the-...-Elance/Detail

Wrong color but he could probably change that.

DIFFO

You could try Lloyds

https://www.hlloydcycles.com/

cudak888 

Wrong downtube decal style too. Velocals has a few variants on the correct downtube decal, though not for the 400:

https://www.velocals.com/servlet/the-...0-decal/Detail
https://www.velocals.com/servlet/the-...0-decal/Detail
https://www.velocals.com/servlet/the-...0-decal/Detail

-Kurt

RaleighSport

I do it on a much ghettoer/cheaper scale but I have a good friend who actually lifts the designs from pictures of the bikes for me, uncurls them a bit (I have no idea how) and then he sizes them to whatever tube dimensions I give him.. seems fairly easy if you have graphics knowledge..

RNDM

There are some good ideas in here about how to get some decals made. I want to repaint my bridgestone and have been thinking about how to reproduce the decals.

RaleighSport

His latest work for me... still not sure if I even want to put decals onto it though.

+1, that's what my guy uses.

Snydermann

An ALPS printer can print white, gold, silver, foil gold, foil silver plus standard printer colors. ALPS printers use a tape cassette with wax based ink, so they are very fade and water resistant. You can print on adhesive vinyl or water-slide papers. It's good for short-run or one-off decals. Add to that a vinyl plotter and one should be able to print and cut a decent replica of any decal, given the artwork.

I've recently purchased both, but I haven't mastered the learning curve yet. The decal sets for the Lotus bikes we are reproducing are being screen printed by Screen Specialty Shop in NC, they specialize in bicycle decals and supply a lot of big names. Minimum quantity was 25, 12" x 16" sheets, or enough decals for about 100 bikes.

This photo shows a three photo merge (white outlines added for clarity) of a head tube emblem and the resulting vector art. There is a lot of distortion when an object is wrapped around a tube. We're considering having sewn patches made using the art.

solbrothers

Thanks for all the help, guys. It looks like I will have to take a photo of the decal to reproduce, which isn't a big deal. Will report back with my findings

solbrothers

Just an update: I decided to go with custom decals since it got a good deal of work done and a lot has changed.

I had canti studs brazed on, the rear brake bridge was moved up to allow for more clearance and i filed the fork to make room for the 700x35c cross tires.

I also had the bike powdercoated red with pearl. I am very happy with the finish. I just finished the tuning the derailleurs tonight, havent gotten my bartape in the mail yet. It will be black fizik batrape. The drivetrain is full shimano 6600 and the brakes are tektro cr720.