Zdawg

Can I take a can of spray paint and just spray all over the wheel (rims, spokes, hubs), just taking care of the bearings by covering them with tape?

Also, do I need to sand down the rims or anything else before painting?

Thanks

jccaclimber

1. Rim brakes?
2. I’ve seen a lot of ugly wheels with peeing paint on the spokes and nipples. Might just be cases of poor prep, but it’s not a great look. Scuffing and properly degreasing anything you want paint to stick to would likely help.

delbiker1 

Sure, you can do it. It is quite likely to have a short life span. What will you do about the brake tracks? As stated above, proper prep is essential, a self-etching primer would help the paint to adhere. I have seen pictures of wheels on the forums that were home painted and looked quite nice. IME, do not worry about good coverage on the first couple of coats. Final look will be better with multiple thin layers, letting the final work sit for a few days in a warm environment, like an attic or car on a hot day, makes a difference in the curing of the paint. Hopefully, you are talking about a set of wheels that has very little value.
For me, I thought about it, decided it just was not the way to go. Wheels take a lot of abuse.

andrewclaus

Getting paint on spoke threads and nipples may mean they'll never be adjusted again.

I spent my misguided youth as a plumber's apprentice and cursed every homeowner who painted pipe.

Iride01 

Hard to say. A lot depends on what your expectations are. If you want it to look like a museum quality piece and to remain in that state, then you need to do prep work. Lots of prep work. Cleaning, sanding, feathering, priming, filling odd looking places with filler so they look better to the eye. That's always the key to any decent paint job.

As for just spraying it. Sure, sometimes you get away with that and it looks good. Sometimes for a long while, sometimes for a short while, sometimes not even from the start. I and others have likely had some great results not doing prep and bad results not doing proper prep work.

And it's usually a good idea to see what the manufacturer of the particular paint you are using has to say. Compatible primers, other compatible paints, recoat times and the like are things you should find out about.

So roll your dice and see!

squirtdad

.if it is rim brakes tape the braking surfaces.

but no matter what it going to look like crap in a very short time.

so by all means paint if you are going to burning man and have to have a pink bike to match what you are or are not wearing, just don't expect it to look good for long

HillRider

Yes, you can have a bike that looks exactly like that one. All you have to do is die in a bike accident caused by a careless motorist.

cxwrench

Zdawg

It has a braking track but it isn't used (fixed gear back wheel). It's got this ugly white colour way which I hope to make black. Its a very cheap wheel so not too worried with imperfections. It's got white rims, silver spoke nipples, white spokes and a silver hub. A horrid look IMO especially when the rim gets dirty. I'm just looking to get rid of that aesthetic with little work involved

Thanks

Timothyevans

You can but you have to do it very carefully, besides that you have to remove all the old paint and wipe the wheel with spirit or acetone before painting.