[Salespunk]

Looks good

 

[rodeoj]

Ditto on the looks good. So much better than the "retired 80 year old gets a hold of safety yellow tape and proceeds to cover every last square inch on the back of his pick up" look.

 

[doismellbacon]

so much better than the "retired 80 year old get a hold of safety yellow tape and proceeds to cover every last square inch on the back of his pick up" look.

aaaaaoooooooowwwww.....zing!

 

[rodeoj]

I do have one question for you, is the reverse P just matte black or is it semi translucent with some visual carbon weave like the original black HD?

 

[clewttu]

looks great fuenstock, does the area where the paint was removed look any different than the surrounding non painted areas, or is it pretty seamless?

its a nude carbon rodeoj, not black paint

 

[fuenstock]

looks great fuenstock, does the area where the paint was removed look any different than the surrounding non painted areas, or is it pretty seamless?

its a nude carbon rodeoj, not black paint

Its seemless. It pretty much looks as if it was never painted in the first place. I did 1000 grit wet sand to remove the green, which exposed white primer. I then rubbed isopropyl alcohol on the primer with cotton balls to remove the white primer. This is what took longest as I didn't want to damage finish. I just kept rubbing with cotton and isopropyl alcohol until all the primer was gone. I used 1600 grit wet sand very lightly to remove any stubborn primer, which there was almost none of. Im going to seal it with Jetseal 109 before I build it up. Its a carbon safe wipe on sealer that is very durable and highly recommended. I used it for years when I had offshore fishing boats and it held up to sun and saltwater very well. Im happy with the results! I had to get rid of the downtube color, to distracting and over done for me. I like a more subtle look.

 

[hillharman]

Its seemless. It pretty much looks as if it was never painted in the first place. I did 1000 grit wet sand to remove the green, which exposed white primer. I then rubbed isopropyl alcohol on the primer with cotton balls to remove the white primer. This is what took longest as I didn't want to damage finish. I just kept rubbing with cotton and isopropyl alcohol until all the primer was gone. I used 1600 grit wet sand very lightly to remove any stubborn primer, which there was almost none of. Im going to seal it with Jetseal 109 before I build it up. Its a carbon safe wipe on sealer that is very durable and highly recommended. I used it for years when I had offshore fishing boats and it held up to sun and saltwater very well. Im happy with the results! I had to get rid of the downtube color, to distracting and over done for me. I like a more subtle look.

I'd love the look of a pure black Ripley. What are your plans there?

 

[Ethan F]

No sanding needed, get some 91% or stronger isopropyl alcohol and a reg or blue shop towel and have at it! Its all carbon/epoxy no clear under coat, just unidirectional weave.
You can clean up the micro rubbing marks with rubbing compound, viola, no more decals!

 

[benja55]

No sanding needed, get some 91% or stronger isopropyl alcohol

Does the alcohol eat at the carbon or just the paint/decals?

 

[conekilr]

The resin/epoxy is fine with isopropyl and even acetone. Stay away from MEK tho, I've personally witnessed the resin destruction while cleaning a couple CF aircraft wing spars. Kinda freaky when you go to remove a few paint pen marks and then realize that you are wiping the fibers around! Somebody in the lab put acetone in an iso alcohol bottle = scrap.

My HD-R is shipping out tomorrow so I will be erasing some stripes soon. w00t!

 

[Dibbs_]

They look good. Think I'll wait for future color changes, angle changes and maybe internal cable routing and a stealth port?

 

[phat_tony]

What about the painter Cobra Blue HDR's?

I'm assuming the isopropyl will only work for the Vit P since it's paint on carbon? I've got a Cobra Blue I'm picking up today (woo hoo!) and while I was fine with the stock paint scheme, I'm liking this a look a LOT more. Think it might be tough to do without messing up the blue.

The resin/epoxy is fine with isopropyl and even acetone. Stay away from MEK tho, I've personally witnessed the resin destruction while cleaning a couple CF aircraft wing spars. Kinda freaky when you go to remove a few paint pen marks and then realize that you are wiping the fibers around! Somebody in the lab put acetone in an iso alcohol bottle = scrap.

My HD-R is shipping out tomorrow so I will be erasing some stripes soon. w00t!

 

[Ethan F]

Carbon is pretty impervious to most acids. Since the Epoxy is a catalyst type of glue, those are quite save against almost everything! So yes, the Alcohol only eats the paint only!
I think these are water transfer decals that are supposed to be clear coated, or might be a "pad" print on the frame? In any event, makes for easy removal!

 

[fuenstock]

I'd love the look of a pure black Ripley. What are your plans there?

I happen to like my black/green Ripley so will be keeping the stock paint. I do get the feeling the Ripley may be harder to raw. The paint seems more durable on the ripley than hdr. The hdr frame even came with warning stickers saying only to clean with mild soap and water or risk ruining paint where the ripley frame had no warning stickers.

 

[fuenstock]

No sanding needed, get some 91% or stronger isopropyl alcohol and a reg or blue shop towel and have at it! Its all carbon/epoxy no clear under coat, just unidirectional weave.
You can clean up the micro rubbing marks with rubbing compound, viola, no more decals!

I did have to sand away the green to expose the white primer for the iso alcohol to work for me, it didn't do much to the green. Once the green was mostly gone the alcohol just dissolved the primer fairly easy. It could be that I was using old iso alc and maybe it had lost some of its power through evaporation. Its a pretty simple job for anyone interest in doing it. Maybe an hours worth of work start to finish.

 

[fuenstock]

I'm assuming the isopropyl will only work for the Vit P since it's paint on carbon? I've got a Cobra Blue I'm picking up today (woo hoo!) and while I was fine with the stock paint scheme, I'm liking this a look a LOT more. Think it might be tough to do without messing up the blue.

I think you might be better off taping off the downtube white scuffing the finish and repainting a more subtle color than trying to remove it. Im going to guess it would be hard to remove the white with out damaging the blue.

 

[Maverick005]

Fork options become more and more legit, Suntour is a real contender imo, not ridden one but only hear good things!

XFusion def a fan of.

Pike vs XF Sweep!

BIKE MAGIC TESTED: 2014 All Mountain Forks - Rockshox Pike, X-Fusion Sweep a Mountain Biking video by Carsick John

 

[vamaro]

I posted this on the new Ibis thread earlier. I did not see this tread until last night.

Large frame with CCDB shock 160mm
Pike 160mm fork
I9 Trail wheels 26 inch
XX1 with Gripshift
XTR brakesj
King Headset
Lev seatpost
San Marco seat
Havoc Bars
Haven Stem
Hans Damph 2.35 front
Nic 2.25 rear
26.8 pounds

 

[martinizer]

Nice build! I'm suddenly leaning toward cobra blue. <27 is impressive for a 160mm travel bike--especially with the CCDB.

 

[martinizer]

That bike Magic test has me all excited for saving $400 and buying the x-fusion fork. I'm loving that it's internally adjustable too.