mgwilder

I had considered Spectrum because they were on the east coast and I could drive there and back. A good friend, who lives in the Seattle area recommended Cycleart, but from reading some of the comments here, I was not feeling it.

I sent the bike to Elliot Bay Bicycles in Seattle. I posted on the Classic Rendezvous forum about dating my bike (it was an 80' even though I bought in around 84') and Robert reached out to me. He had an 1980 Super so I felt he was familiar with what I wanted. It was also comforting to know that they'd been around for some time and that they did quite a bit of restoration work. And EB was connected to Davidson Bikes, so I felt a craftsman would be handling the "heavy work". In fact, Bill Davidson did the paintwork on the bike. Again, really nice work, but the color is off. The decal work is entirely a different story.

KonAaron Snake 

Thanks. My feeling is that the decals are an issue, but the paint is terrific. I'm color blind, so likely less sensitive...but with fading to the paint and harsh lighting, I'd give the paint the benefit of the doubt.

ricohman

The decals are a joke. I'm really surprised they sent it back looking like that.
I've done a lot of bikes, cars, trucks ect and floating a decal on and positioning it isn't very difficult. Use masking tape as a guide if you need to.

repechage

I referenced this:

https://cyclomondo.net/page4.htm

I do not see your graphics exactly, I do think a custom set could be created though.
It does appear that the seat tube originally had the "club" in the counter of the C.
As to the left/right stagger of the down tube graphics... I am puzzled.

mgwilder

https://www.velociao.com/2011/colnago...o-80-decalset/

Minus the "Mexico" chainstay decals, this is a match. Black with the yellow outline. I'm inspired to find someone who can sand down the clearcoat and replace the decals. Anyone come to mind?

mgw

repechage

That I think is a task almost all would shy away from.

I see a few warbles in the shape of the C that would bother me. (the outside arc between 9 and noon is the biggest) These are the closest to what you started with though.

ricohman

IMO it would be far easier to strip and repaint than try and sand the clear and get those decals off the base coat. As soon as you try and remove those decals off the base you will end up with shiny patches under the clear and it will never look right.
Some guys put the decals on the clear and then recoat. Either way its a nightmare to get it right.
If this was my baby, I would glass bead the entire thing, primer, base, new decals and clear. It would be a good way to spend the weekend.

the_tool_man

One thing you could do to improve the color comparison between old and new is to adjust the coloration of either the before or after photo to get other items in the photo to match. The door, brickwork, etc. are noticeably different in the new vs. old photos. Color theory being what it is, you probably can't get a perfect match, but it could be visually closer.

As for the frame...I'm generally a conflict avoider. But I'm picky enough that I'd have them redo it in your case. The misaligned decals would drive me crazy every time I looked down at the frame while riding. Good luck.

Regards,
John.

23skidoo

I've been in a similar situation with three different painters and the immediate reaction from all three was 'send it back and I'll make it right'; no quibbling or whining or rationalization why the job didn't turn out according to instructions and expectations. Two frames got sent back for complete do-overs and both received significant added value on the repaint and the one I didn't return in spite of the immediate offer sits languishing in a corner of the garage because I can't bear to look at the 'wrong paint' on it.

I was just looking at a Trek TX-900 hanging in my local shop after a very expensive frame modification/repaint project. The owner is a very technical guy who works in a manufacturing setting who embarked on the project for the sole reason of being able to run a 'modern' grouppo with Campy Delta brakes; he did all the measuring himself and had a top-quality builder move and modify the rear brake bridge and add a dropped braze-on fitting for front fork and sent it out for a high-end fade job. Now he's in a tizzy because after building it up he's discovered there's about 1mm of clearance running 25mm tires! Oopsie.

I'm firmly in the send it back and get it done right camp. The paint match was close enough but no way to redo the decals correctly without blowing it all away for a fresh start.

repechage

Been there on a wrong paint project, mine is also just sitting.

Campagnolo Delta brakes are the 23 mm tires max, and preferably tubulars. One of the limiting factors of those. And the prototypes were even smaller.

aidanpringle

Shame you are not 100% happy, I prefer the new color though, looks great.