Mr_Stop

I have a 2000 LeMond Zurich that's my daily rider. I purchased it used (https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage-bicycles-whats-worth-appraisals/1213692-2000-lemond-zurich.html)]purchase thread). I have disassembled it for some much needed maintenance and some upgrades. The frame had some surface rust, mostly on the bottom bracket and cable bosses. I have taken care of that with Evaporust and will spot blast what it didn't get. Fortunately, the rust wasn't too bad and the inside frame looks great.

My question is, do I do a quick touch-up with Testor's paint (found a close match). Do I do a more professional touch-up with a base+clear auto paint. Or, do I do a full repaint? I have air brushes and automotive spray guns so equipment isn't an issue. I found a close decal match (https://www.wanit.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d21_01.html (Lemond Zurich V5)), but they are a thin adhesive back vs waterslide (I'm not sure what would have been used originally).

The Testors would be easiest, but I'm not sure how well I can blend it/colorsand it into the original paint. Using a color matched base+clear might yield better results, and avoids messing with decals. However it seems like almost more work than stripping, repainting and applying new decals. Thoughts?

Andy_K 

That's got a lot of good original paint and decals. I'd probably just go with the touch-up using Testors. Spots that size and in those locations have to be really bad mismatches to draw attention to themselves.

Those 853 Trek LeMonds don't have the collector's appeal of the earlier LeMonds like Bilato Brothers, but they're great riding bikes. If you like it, and want to go with a full repaint, I don't think it would be foolish. It sounds like you've got the tools and inclination to do it yourself. This isn't a bike that would lose significant value because the paint wasn't original, but it's nice enough that it's worth having it look great.

I had a Stella with white panels like that professionally repainted. The painter (Jeff Bock in Iowa) told me he had to paint the panels white to keep the tint of the paint from showing through. If you do a full repaint and keep that base color, I imagine you'd want to do the same, though it looks like the factory decal was opaque enough that it wasn't an issue.

Classtime 

If I had your equipment, had another bike to ride in the meantime, and really liked how this Lemond rides, then I'd paint it Candy Apple Red. I don't feel it is worth a restore. My 2001 Maillot Jaune had stickers and I felt it was a little sketchy on fast descents.

Mr_Stop

I have another bike to ride, so no big hurry. However, I do like the LeMond slightly better since it has brifters and bit wider gears which are nice on the hills around me and arguably slightly faster in group rides.. Never felt uncomfortable on the downhills with the exception of the brakes which didn't work well from the old corroded cables. Custom paint could be interesting, but the factory scheme is one of my favorites of the Trek produced LeMond Zurich's. It's also a great conversation piece when riding past a sea of carbon sameness on rides.

Interesting on the paint process. Judging from the paint chips and wear, it looks like the whole bike was painted white and then the panels were masked and blue sprayed over the white. Decals appear to be clear backing that were applied and then clear sprayed over everything. But that is just a guess.

kroozer 

It depends how picky you are. Maybe try the cheapest and easiest option first and see how you like it. If not you can always do a full refinish later.

Mr_Stop

I think your right. I'm going to try and airbrush the Testors Enamel. Worse case, it will stabilize and protect the bike, get me on the road the fastest and probably look better than it does now. I can then repaint the bike over next winter if I don't like it.

RustyJames 

POV is a funny thing. I look at that frame and think it’s fabulous!

I agree about the Testors touch-up and possibly strip/re-finish later. I suspect you will do the latter since you are already considering it.

Kabuki12

My take on refinishing a bike is to ride it for a year or so first. That bike is very nice the way it is and after riding it with the mods you have in mind , you can decide to go further with a total new paint job….or not. I have a few bikes that I put together that I love and still don’t want to repaint them just because the patina or chipped paint is part of the charm. I recently decided to repaint a bike I bought and I’m glad I did. It just had outlived the “charm’ of its patina. So it is a personal choice but you are looking for opinions and that is mine .

Mr_Stop

Frame isn't bad for 22 years old and I'm guessing 70-80K miles on it. The big issue, if I do a repaint is that I'll be afraid to ride it!

jamesdak 

Well if it was me I'd just touch it up too. But having (well....on permanent loan it seems) the exact same year Zurich the paint on those was notoriously soft. You sneeze on it and you get a scratch. So maybe this is a good candidate for a repaint. I know I keep thinking if I ever get mine back I am going to take advantage of the situation and finally get it repainted.

Those are great riding bikes!

Mr_Stop

You aren't kidding about the soft paint. I feel like I could dent the paint with my fingernail!

RustyJames 

Nah - you’ll be proud to ride it!

Most of my bikes are way baggier but I’m fine with it - mostly.

3alarmer 

...I might have misunderstood your initial post, but it appears you've already decided you like this bicycle, and are using it as a regular rider.

It is already stripped down to the frame, and you seem to have found replacement decals that will work.

Based on my own personal experience, now would be the time to either strip it entirely and refinish it, or if you're in a real hurry, to rough sand, prime, and paint it. Again, based on my own experience, this turns out to be less trouble for me. The stripping is by far the worst of it, and the prime, color coat, application of decals, and final finish with urethane clear, spaced out over about four days in the hot weather of summer, or longer if it's cooler, yields a pretty durable result.

I guess it depends on your own habits and standards, but I have taken frames with good original paint down to frame and fork, just to coat that paint with 2 part urethane clear. Because it is so much more durable that it makes the riding of the thing less worrisome. I wouldn't do a urethane clear coat unless you have the paint job you want on there already, though. It's more work to strip it off for a repaint.

Mr_Stop

Thanks for the responses. Regarding the decals, what are your thoughts on materials? It looks like there is self adhesive or waterslide options depending on the vendor. Any idea on what the factory used?

Here are the two suppliers I'm looking at:

• https://velocals.com/materials-lamin...als-laminates/
  • Offers a choice of materials (1 or 2 mil adhesive and water slide)
  • Don't see the exact decals I need but in talks with them
  • Slightly more
• https://www.wanit.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d93.html
  • Adhesive only and appears thicker than Velocals (~2.7 mil thick)
  • Full matching set readily available
  • Less expensive

John E

People warned me of that when I did my one big splurge on a CyclArt repaint. The "new" (19 years old on a 60+ year old bike) paint job has not kept me from enjoying the bike, and it certainly gets a lot more looks now.

1959 Capo with Nervar Star crank and Campag. 980 derailleur upgrades and new Brooks Pro saddle.

Mr_Stop

Great looking ride. As you say, you get great looks on the older bikes. I probably strike up more conversations riding my old steel than those riding $6000+ new carbon bikes.

I'm going to go for a resto-mod approach. I'll keep the frame looking factory, but eventually upgrade everything else to modern components.

Andy_K 

I always use the 2 mil decals from VeloCals. They're thick enough that you can see the edges, but I think the original LeMond decals are kind of thick too.

Mr_Stop

You're right, the factory decals do have a decent pronounced edge to them. Based on the models I built nas a kid, I assume the waterslide decals have almost no edge to them. Adhesive would probably make more sense from a production line standpoint so they don't have to wait for the waterslide decals to dry.

John E

This bike is not only a looker, but as you can guess from the relaxed old school "sport touring" geometry and the spaghetti stays, it is supremely comfortable.

That is precisely what I plan to do with one of the littermate Siegers, which was already repainted by a previous owner. I'll keep the one with original paint essentially all-original, including the cottered steel crankset,

Almost all-orig. 1960 Capo Sieger

Repainted Cap Sieger frame, serial number very close to that of my other Sieger, so who was I to say no to it?
and I can use the repainted one, which I bought essentially as a bare frameset, as a blank canvas.

Mr_Stop

Interesting and gorgeous bikes! I hadn't heard of Capo before so I had to look them up. Seems like they were pretty rare in the US.

capnjonny 

when touching up the paint I would carefully mask around the area to touch up. You don't want to spray a larger area than necessary , If the color match isn't perfect you want the smallest area affected as possible. Make sure to thoroughly clean the frame and rub it down with white polishing compound and/ or rubbing compound before touching up. It is amazing how much better the original paint will look after this step. If you are touching up the dark blue do a test on a small chip first. If your t/u paint is any lighter than the original it will show up and look bad. I Will always try to have touch up paint the same or darker than the original. You can experiment with adding a tiny bit of black to the blue to darken it. I have done that many times and especially with a dark frame color , the t/u s will virtually disappear. With white you will be very lucky if the touch up paint matches . There are an almost infinite variety of "white" paints. the only way I can think of to match the color is to have a paint store do a color match. I used to build custom cabinets and regularly had my paint company do color matching for me.

zandoval 

If ya need it to ride then touch up or repaint needs to be your winter project.

I would first protect all the decals then sand or buff out all the chips and dings working one little area at a time and spraying a little primer to the raw metal. I then would remove the decal protection and re-evaluate. I guess what I am trying to say is that the touch up repair should be separate from the decal repair and done in a timely caring fashion...

Fun, Fun FUN!!!

Mr_Stop

Thanks for the tips. I hadn't thought about buffing out the whole bike first I ended up going to the automotive paint store and having a couple of pints of based mixed up using color chips which closely matched the factory colors. Unfortunately, there isn't enough surface to use a spectrometer. Funny you mention the seemingly infinite colors of white. I do custom home remodeling and always chuckle when the client says they want white. I always say which one!

Now that I have the paint, I kinda just want to go ahead and do the whole thing. Unfortunately, it will probably take some time to source the correct decals and I'm itching to get it back on the road. I'm going to try and tackle the touch-ups this week and I'll repaint in the fall/winter.

ehcoplex 

Having spent the better part of yesterday doing it, DIY chemical stripping/scraping/sanding is a LOT of work! (I'll find a blaster next time I think....)
There's a point at which patina is just too much....





My vote is for a repaint, but apparently that's the frame of mind I'm in at the moment...

Mr_Stop

Stripping paint is no fun! I have a large powder coater down the road. When it's time, I might check to see how much to strip the frame. I have a blasting cabinet, but it's a little small for a bike frame.