I have an Aluminum Trek Checkpoint for the random gravel outing. Its matte black with the most obnoxious shiny silver decals and trim. Any ideas how I could black this bike out? The decals definitely have a clear coat over them. I would prefer to have decals or the appearance of decals, just something maybe glossy black or another more tasteful color.
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would you be down for some vinyl stickers to cover those under the clear coat?
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Yes. I would be but I’d like to be sure they were the same size as the original otherwise they won’t cover them up. Anyone have any luck doing this?
On some of my bikes where I had similar issues with ugly colors I bought a few sheets of sticky vinyl paper from Amazon and cut my own decals using the existing decals as a stencil. They’re basically 8x11 sheets of electrical tape, but thinner and less stretchy.
They’ve held on well for thousands of miles, and on a matte carbon frame you can hardly make out the difference.
How did you use the existing decals as a stencil? Did you trace them onto some other paper before cutting the vinyl?
I just saw this posted in a forum yesterday. This guy changed his decals on his Trek Top Fuel to match his new SID fork. Check out that link on post 1091. Looks Wicked.
Do remember the brand/type of the vinyl sheets?
Iirc I transferred to a transparent paper first, then laid that over the vinyl and cut both out. Need to make sure your new graphics are a hair bigger than the old ones, and don’t accidentally cut them out backwards.
I have created vinyl decals on a Cricut machine. Getting it to cover the existing decals would be tricky unless you have the right graphics file. That being said, I have used removable vinyl to paint graphics and I like how repainting turned out. There is almost no edge other than the thickness of the paint and the clear coat makes it even less noticeable. It is really smooth. It is a lot more work though. If you can manage to get the right shape to cover the existing stickers you are probably better off. Plus, some frame warranties are voided if you paint them. I was painting a repaired frame so it was not an issue.
Thanks!
I ordered some custom ones from stikrd for a trek remedy I had. They were exactly the right size.
The logo on the downtube was white underneath
That would be the way to go then, if they match up it would be easy