[beaker]

I know this doesn't have much to do with SS'ing, but this bunch tends to be pretty schooled in all things bike.

I'm looking to replace the fork on my wife's bike, but she would really like it to be orange. I know, how 1998 of her, but it's her bike and it's actually replacing an orange Manitou Spyder that recently blew a seal. So, my plan was to get her something and have the lowers repainted but what is the best method? Should I go paint, powdercoat, crayon? Any hints/ tips on what to do/ not to do? Thanks

 

[roadiegonebad]

I know this doesn't have much to do with SS'ing, but this bunch tends to be pretty schooled in all things bike.

I'm looking to replace the fork on my wife's bike, but she would really like it to be orange. I know, how 1998 of her, but it's her bike and it's actually replacing an orange Manitou Spyder that recently blew a seal. So, my plan was to get her something and have the lowers repainted but what is the best method? Should I go paint, powdercoat, crayon? Any hints/ tips on what to do/ not to do? Thanks

Don't know what's the best (prob not crayon), but you can check out Landshark and (I think) Spectrum's sites for examples.

 

[Hollywood]

paint

due to the heat involved in powdercoat, you'd have to disassemble the fork completely before paint. I've had lowers painted before through a shop - I think they used an auto paint guy. Then all they have to do is mask off the rest of the fork. Much easier.

I don't know how often they'll have orange running through their sprayers, but it would be cheaper if you can piggy-back an existing job rather than just spraying your fork alone.

good luck!
HW

 

[fireball]

I know this doesn't have much to do with SS'ing, but this bunch tends to be pretty schooled in all things bike.

I'm looking to replace the fork on my wife's bike, but she would really like it to be orange. I know, how 1998 of her, but it's her bike and it's actually replacing an orange Manitou Spyder that recently blew a seal. So, my plan was to get her something and have the lowers repainted but what is the best method? Should I go paint, powdercoat, crayon? Any hints/ tips on what to do/ not to do? Thanks

I repainted the lowers on my '01 SID XC over the winter. But I had to rebuild the fork and install new seals anyway so I took the whole works apart. I wasn't happy with the crappy orange (hehe) that rock shox called red so best time for a repaint. Here's what I did.

Went to the auto parts store and bought 1 can of black automotive touch up paint, 1 can of clearcoat and 2 sheets of 400 grit sandpaper. Total cost was less than $20 CAD.
Sanded through the clearcoat on the fork lowers to get it nice and smooth and remove a few scratches, but not right down to bare metal.
Tapped off the internals and brake posts with masking tape, then ran another peice of tape around both posts, used this to tie a string to hang it for painting.
Sprayed 3 light coats of black paint (drying overnight between coats). Then 1 coat of clear.
Then left it there to cure for a week.

Sounds easy, but was actually alot of work. Especially the sanding which took about 2 hours. I think it turned out pretty well though. I left it decal free 'cuz I dig the stealth look.

Bad picture, but you get the idea.