Originally Posted by
USAZorro
You've been handed a rare opportunity - a great bicycle that NEEDs to be repainted. Consider your options before diving in. White is iconic, but if you shoot for a recreation of the "like-new" look and fall short, you'll have nothing to hide behind. Be creative. Boldly embrace vivid colors, or be more subtle by using a white pearl finish. The possibilities are nearly limitless.
I'm totally with you on this. It's the perfect solution to the "Do I paint this and marvel in its aesthetics, or keep it original and make excuses for it" dilemma. I have a Motobecane Le Champion frame that was mostly stripped of paint when I got it. This provides not only the opportunity to dress it up with a like-new paint job, but it has also allowed me to go in and do the lug filing that they didn't take the time to do at the factory. The PX-10s with Nervex Pro lugs hide their lack of finishing well in the already complex curves of the lug outline. Factory bikes that had Italian-style lugs don't benefit from this and the unfiled lumps in the otherwise smooth curves stand out like a pimple on a cheerleader. It might be different if it were a Cinelli, but this is your opportunity to make it even better than new.