Repaint: stencils or decals?
#1
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Saint Paul, MN & Clear Lake, IA
Posts: 72
Bikes: CBT Italia, 73 Peugeot, Gary Fisher Joshua, John Deere custom hybrid, K2 EasyRider, Yakota tandem, Pinarello Montello, Colnago Mexico, Gitane Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22 Post(s)
Liked 59 Times
in
23 Posts
Repaint: stencils or decals?
Hi Friends!
I am building a mostly period correct Italian road bike: a late 80s or early 90s Pinarello Montello. The frame color from the factory was originally chromovelato Blue Record with decals but the previous owner repainted with a basic blue in all areas except the section between the seat stays where the rear brake is attached, so I have a reference for true color. I bought it unfinished and without any hardware, so it’s a ground up restoration. I have learned that Pinarello decals are known to break down easily so am thinking that some of the larger letters could be painted on the frame instead with the idea that it would be an improvement even though it was not done this way originally. What are your thoughts on painted letters instead of decals?
Thanks!
I am building a mostly period correct Italian road bike: a late 80s or early 90s Pinarello Montello. The frame color from the factory was originally chromovelato Blue Record with decals but the previous owner repainted with a basic blue in all areas except the section between the seat stays where the rear brake is attached, so I have a reference for true color. I bought it unfinished and without any hardware, so it’s a ground up restoration. I have learned that Pinarello decals are known to break down easily so am thinking that some of the larger letters could be painted on the frame instead with the idea that it would be an improvement even though it was not done this way originally. What are your thoughts on painted letters instead of decals?
Thanks!
Last edited by TLaurent; 09-23-20 at 06:31 PM.
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 20,305
Mentioned: 130 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3464 Post(s)
Liked 2,831 Times
in
1,997 Posts
reference
Velocals
Cyclomondo
They are vinyl - there are options- possibly even they could cut a paint mask.
Keith Anderson used to get vinyl paint masks cut, the results were terrific.
He is out of the business.
A quality vector art file to cut the masks is the basis of success.
Velocals
Cyclomondo
They are vinyl - there are options- possibly even they could cut a paint mask.
Keith Anderson used to get vinyl paint masks cut, the results were terrific.
He is out of the business.
A quality vector art file to cut the masks is the basis of success.
Likes For repechage:
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - burrrrr!
Posts: 11,674
Bikes: 1958 Rabeneick 120D, 1968 Legnano Gran Premio, 196? Torpado Professional, 2000 Marinoni Piuma
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1372 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,752 Times
in
939 Posts
Check out Cyclomondo, on Ebay, for decals. The product offered is great, very thin vinyl stickers that are reasonably easy to apply. Once applied, just shoot a few coats of clear top coat over them and, presto, Bob's your uncle. The decals on this frame set are true, water slide decals and fragile, to say the least. Just yesterday, I shot four coats of clear over the decals. Tomorrow, I will rub the paint out, hoping for a nice glossy finish...
Stencils were used on some bikes, such as my Legnano. Making a proper stencil, for the down tube art, is one of the things holding me back from painting my Legnano...
Stencils were used on some bikes, such as my Legnano. Making a proper stencil, for the down tube art, is one of the things holding me back from painting my Legnano...
__________________
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
Last edited by randyjawa; 09-23-20 at 06:13 PM.
#4
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Saint Paul, MN & Clear Lake, IA
Posts: 72
Bikes: CBT Italia, 73 Peugeot, Gary Fisher Joshua, John Deere custom hybrid, K2 EasyRider, Yakota tandem, Pinarello Montello, Colnago Mexico, Gitane Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22 Post(s)
Liked 59 Times
in
23 Posts
Thx repechage ! randyjawa , I understand about holding back on repainting the Legnano. I like the look of your bike and if my Pinarello was decently original, I would leave it as-is. I will check out Cyclomondo. I ordered a decal set that I can either apply before the top coat or use some for the stencils.
Last edited by TLaurent; 09-23-20 at 06:41 PM.
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Wurundjeri Country
Posts: 2,469
Mentioned: 32 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1079 Post(s)
Liked 1,899 Times
in
931 Posts
Has to be decals. Here's my '85 Montello with Cyclomondo decals:
Interested in your Montello. When you get to ten posts don't forget to https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...pinarello.html
Interested in your Montello. When you get to ten posts don't forget to https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...pinarello.html
Likes For P!N20:
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Bloomington, IN
Posts: 2,950
Bikes: Paramount, Faggin, Ochsner, Ciocc, Basso
Mentioned: 117 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1303 Post(s)
Liked 1,911 Times
in
1,141 Posts
Check out Cyclomondo, on Ebay, for decals. The product offered is great, very thin vinyl stickers that are reasonably easy to apply. Once applied, just shoot a few coats of clear top coat over them and, presto, Bob's your uncle. The decals on this frame set are true, water slide decals and fragile, to say the least. Just yesterday, I shot four coats of clear over the decals. Tomorrow, I will rub the paint out, hoping for a nice glossy finish...
Stencils were used on some bikes, such as my Legnano. Making a proper stencil, for the down tube art, is one of the things holding me back from painting my Legnano...
Stencils were used on some bikes, such as my Legnano. Making a proper stencil, for the down tube art, is one of the things holding me back from painting my Legnano...
I use Greg's decals for most of my restorations. But please be careful about the type of clear coat used. A lacquer coat applied heavy for the first coat can cut into the vinyl and cause something that looks like a bleed of the underlying coat of paint into the decal set. I have found that for clear coat it takes about three very light passes of the clear coat so it can set before it does cause the bleed.
I got a set of SLX decals from overseas that washed off with a light coat of clear forcing me to look very carefully at the person selling the decals. Greg's work is pretty darned good and are exact replicas of the originals. Smiles, MH
Likes For Mad Honk:
#7
“Senior” Member
I would only recommend stenciling if that is a skill set you already have. I have an art background in all forms of traditional media so it worked out fine and a lot of fun also. You actually use a “frisket” material. It did take me two attempts to cut a good mask. The last photo is before a final gloss clear.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada - burrrrr!
Posts: 11,674
Bikes: 1958 Rabeneick 120D, 1968 Legnano Gran Premio, 196? Torpado Professional, 2000 Marinoni Piuma
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1372 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,752 Times
in
939 Posts
I would only recommend stenciling if that is a skill set you already have. I have an art background in all forms of traditional media so it worked out fine and a lot of fun also. You actually use a “frisket” material. It did take me two attempts to cut a good mask. The last photo is before a final gloss clear.
Would it be too much to ask for your help in showing me (us) how to make a stencil for my Legnano? I will do the work, once I figure out how to cut the stencil...
__________________
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
"98% of the bikes I buy are projects".
#9
Full Member
This guy used a signwriter with pretty terrific results on his Montello. May not be an option for you if you are going for a full respray.
Pinarello Montello : Aqua Blue Cromovelato - final on page 4 | Retrobike
Pinarello Montello : Aqua Blue Cromovelato - final on page 4 | Retrobike
Likes For old_dreams:
#10
multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Mentioned: 584 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1908 Post(s)
Liked 574 Times
in
339 Posts
If you're just doing plain white letters (which is probably what your Pinarello had, like the photo above) then I'd think a stencil is the way to go. Decals would probably be easier.
__________________
www.rhmsaddles.com.
www.rhmsaddles.com.
Likes For rhm:
#11
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Saint Paul, MN & Clear Lake, IA
Posts: 72
Bikes: CBT Italia, 73 Peugeot, Gary Fisher Joshua, John Deere custom hybrid, K2 EasyRider, Yakota tandem, Pinarello Montello, Colnago Mexico, Gitane Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22 Post(s)
Liked 59 Times
in
23 Posts
P!N20 , thanks for the honest opinion. Yours is a great example. I am getting close to eligibility for posting pics.
#12
“Senior” Member
I have given thought to using "fiisket" material also but don't know how to cut out a stencil and get the two colors (white and red) applied.
Would it be too much to ask for your help in showing me (us) how to make a stencil for my Legnano? I will do the work, once I figure out how to cut the stencil...
Would it be too much to ask for your help in showing me (us) how to make a stencil for my Legnano? I will do the work, once I figure out how to cut the stencil...
I did create a bitmap image (in Powepoint) for the Lygie dwntube logo to lay under my frisket to hand cut over (with a sharp exacto knife both freehand on curves and with straight edge guides on the horizontals and verticals.
and a note on using the frisket: once you cut the negative image out of your mask, you need to put a whole new piece of frisket over the top—so that when you want to apply the mask to the frame and you peel off the bottom carrier material (usually a translucent waxy paper) to expose the adhesive under mask the whole thing will hold together. This new top piece is essentially a new carrier. And that new carrier may need to have its adhesive defeated just a bit so that when you pull it up it doesn’t also pull up your mask.
hope that made sense. If you look at my first photo it will show this. And if you look closely you will see small threads in my top carrier which is from me patting that adhesive against my clothes to reduce
or defeat its stickiness.
Likes For obuckler:
#13
Full Member
This guy used a signwriter with pretty terrific results on his Montello. May not be an option for you if you are going for a full respray.
Pinarello Montello : Aqua Blue Cromovelato - final on page 4 | Retrobike
Pinarello Montello : Aqua Blue Cromovelato - final on page 4 | Retrobike
Likes For fliplap:
#14
Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Saint Paul, MN & Clear Lake, IA
Posts: 72
Bikes: CBT Italia, 73 Peugeot, Gary Fisher Joshua, John Deere custom hybrid, K2 EasyRider, Yakota tandem, Pinarello Montello, Colnago Mexico, Gitane Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22 Post(s)
Liked 59 Times
in
23 Posts
Can I just say WOW at the amazing responses and examples of dealing with the question of restoring a vintage bike frame to professional quality? Bike Forum is the internet at its finest. Grateful thanks to fliplap obuckler rhm old_dreams randyjawa Mad Honk old_dreams repechage , and of course P!N20 who never fails to offer sage advice. This is post #9 , so pics coming soon!
Likes For TLaurent: