frantik

Looking for ideas on how to get rid of the horrendous decals on the Motobecane Fantom Cross Uno, so please post pics of your solutions.

Unfortunately the decals are under clear coat.. I was thinking of using rubbing compound or fine sand paper to take up the clear and remove the decals, then polish everything with rubbing compound to make the white shine like the clear.. but i'm not sure how good it would look. Other ideas i've heard are to cover them with tape or stickers, or repaint the whole thing, neither of which sound too appealing either.

Anyways yeah, lemme see your bikes..

EpicSchwinn

I don't have experience taking decals off from those bikes but I do detail cars professionally and have some experience with sanding and clear coats. If you break through the clear coat it will never touch up the same. Even if you try to re-spray clear over the spot there's a good chance you'll still have visible marks. If you really can't stand it I think your best bet is to strip and repaint. Trying to get the decals out from under the clear is just going to leave you with a big ugly mess and probably more time into it than just sending it to a powder coater for about $100.

frantik

yeah that's kind of what i figured... i can't really stand the decals but I won't be able to stand a sloppy removal job even more. $100 for a new powder coat doesn't sound too bad, though I'm pretty hesitant to spend money to replace a brand new, virtually flawless paint job from the factory just because of some decals.

europa

I don't know the bike apart from the pictures on the net, but is it possible to paint a coloured band over the top?

frantik

i'm sure it's possible but the way the seat tube decals are, it would mean most of the seat tube would need to be be covered to be "even"





I'm thinking of designing my own stickers to cover them, or perhaps just some plain white vinyl like the kind they use for sign making.. i dunno though.. not sure which would look tackier

europa

If you're just going to cover them, maybe make it useful and use that reflective tape

If the existing paint is still pristine, how about painting the whole frame a solid colour without going to the trouble of stripping it? (I may have just highlighted my ignorance of frame painting )

As the non owner, I know my opinion doesn't carry a lot of weight but to me, it doesn't look too bad.

Nagrom_

Yeah... some white 3M reflective tape seems like a good idea.

EpicSchwinn

I've gotta agree, those decals look hideous.

This calls for NeffyWrap TM. Impress the roadies.

frantik

^ lol fake crabon for a fake motobecane

the white reflective tape idea doesn't sound too bad.. at least anything like that can be easily undone when it comes time to sell

IvyCap

plastidip everything!

Muffin Man

Way to heavy. Fake crabon is much better.

Bat56

+1 dip it

Bat56

Thread title fail btw

Scrodzilla

You knew the bike was covered with those hideous decals before you bought it. Just ride the damn thing.

Dcv

I just used white electrical tape

frantik

yeah, that's not bad from a distance, but the edges of the tape would bug me i think

frantik

thanks for stopping riding your bike long enough to make the most insightful and informative post of the entire thread. kudos to you

Scrodzilla

Thanks to you too - for starting the dumbest thread this forum has seen in a while.

I'm simply being logical, while you are looking for hypothetical hoops to jump through in order to solve a "problem" that only exists in your head. If you don't like the way the bike looks, you shouldn't have bought it.

frantik

Bro. Go ride your bike instead of posting in dumb threads. You're wasting your time and being a dick while doing it.

prooftheory

Scrod's advice was the best though. Ride it hard. If you leave the stickers you will be less upset when you get scratches on it and then the bike will start to look awesome. Worry about the paint on your Lladro figurines.

frantik

that is definitely something to think about.. though the plastidip looks like it might be interesting. not sure how durable it would be, but at least it's not permanent

i know more of yall have debadged your bikes.. post em if you got em

Scrodzilla

Dude, I'm really not trying to start an internet fight with you here. I don't need to "go ride my bike". I just woke up, am eating a bowl of cereal and hanging out online until I go down to my shop.

Again, I'm just offering actual logic. Apologies if that offends you in some imaginary way.

frantik

I guess I didn't see the logic behind "you knew it was like that, so don't change it". I knew it had craptastic graphics, and I knew it came with a bunch of POS parts too. I knew I wanted to change those things before I even went to meet the guy I bought it from.

I'm just looking for examples of how people debadged their bikes, and happy for any other suggestions on how to do it. Your suggestion of "leave it alone" has been duly noted. Thanks. Enjoy your cereal.

FrenchFit 

Let's end 2012 on a positive note.

I did it to '89 Miyata Alumicross with the Miami Vice decals using a heat gun/hair dryer. Worked fine, left a very fine outline in the clear coat of where the decal used to be...not noticeable, and it disappeared once the tube was waxed. But, it seems entirely dependent on the OEM clear coat technique; does not work well with most modern bikes.

What can work nicely with white bikes is color block the decal itself with a matching white paint, then cover with cool decal, like a light silver or black reflective checked flag pattern on clear background. If you release the artist within you might end up with something that looks pure custom & expensive. Of course, if you botch it up then you will likely be headed to powder coat guy.

NateRod

what? there was a "miami vice" edition miyata? I kind of want to see this.