Painting Carbon Wheel Rims - In brief

[Dead Man]

Howdy

I see pretty much nothing out there on this, and only one reference to one page on Sheldon Brown's page on this whole board. So I figured I'd put this up in case anyone else out there in internet land is considering doing it, especially with these wheels in particular

Grabbed this used EC90 Aero wheelset for cheap a few weeks ago. Hoped something on my shelf would remove the water-transfer decals and not-so-clear coat, and leave me with raw carbon matrix... no love. Easton's got a serious technique. You want bare carbon, you gonna sand down to it and re-clear coat. But that's way too much effort.

I decided to paint instead. I wiped the rims down well with acetone for prep. I figured I'd use flexible electrical tape and try to force a nice curve, following the brake track all around. I taped the spokes individually, just a few inches in from the rim. Gave them a spin by the skewers and zapped two light, even coats per side. It worked well. If I'd given it just the barest additional time and effort, I could have even gotten the brake track masking perfectly round.. but I was happy (and impatient enough) to settle for a fast eye-ball masking job. I'm only off by about .5mm in the worst spots, though. Start to finish, about 1 hour for the set.

I'm happy with the result... quick, easy, no damage to the wheels, and the desired "stealth" look is achieved, if not the bare carbon look I originally wanted.

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/IMG_03061_zps185ef680.jpg
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/IMG_03071_zps93488319.jpg

I'm theorizing another way to get the brake track perfectly concentric would be to actually deliberately overspray a bit into it, then chuck the wheels up and spin them and wipe out the overspray with an acetone-soaked rag. Could give a better finished product, but would be a little more of a pain in the ass, maybe.

These look perfectly clean, spinning on the rim, though. Either method is going to look fine.

[nooneline]

Do they look as good in person as they do in the pictures? If so - nice job.

I've been considering doing a disc wheel I have. It's an old Zipp950, and I hate the painted-on logo. I'd love to have it straight black - matte or glossy.

You didn't sand down lightly first?
What kind of spraypaint did you use?

[ultraman6970]

Looks good but have some questions...

Which paint did you use???

Did you sand the surface before painting?

Did you clear over the black paint? If you did which clear?

[Dead Man]

I think they look better in person than in the pics, actually

I didn't sand, just wiped down well with acetone. Wiped until the paper towel came up clean. Sanding wouldn't be a bad idea if you don't care about reversibility- the paint would probably tend to resist scraping better. But short of that, they should hold up fine once fully cured.

I used Krylon's "Colormaster" paint+primer. I've never used it before, but it seems like solid stuff. Time will tell! I still haven't even glued these up yet.

No clear coat. I'm just gonna see how the bare paint does.

[Louis]

Nice, but your wheel hasn't really been painted until Eric Noren's painted it... ;)

[Dead Man]

Oh, I make no claims of artisanship, here... this is just a schmo zapping some crap in his garage with a rattlecan. I have no doubts a pro would do it totally different, and there'd be no concentricity issues or mask lines.

But I did want to demonstrate the fact that it can be done cheap and easy. I saw tons of "OMG I hate mi Easton wheels plez tell me how to get the decals off" threads, but no viable DYI solutions. This is one... and if you don't sand, it's totally reversible... so worth a shot, right?

[Dead Man]

Attempt at slightly better pics..

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/100_4624_zps28c2af69.jpg
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/100_4627_zpsfe86e0e1.jpg

[Cicli]

Looks good to this untrained eye.

Keep in mind, I think wine tastes like vinegar so I don't have much class.

Look a lot better than the billboards they once were.

[tv_vt]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but has anyone ever tried to paint an alloy rim? Taping the brake track might need to be more precise, but what else?

Powdercoat or car paint?

I've got some mis-matched rims I'm trying to keep in the rotation, so to speak.

Thanks.

PS. The carbon rims look great!

[Dead Man]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but has anyone ever tried to paint an alloy rim? Taping the brake track might need to be more precise, but what else?

Powdercoat or car paint?

I've got some mis-matched rims I'm trying to keep in the rotation, so to speak.

Thanks.

PS. The carbon rims look great!

Masking would need to be more precise for aesthetic, but I think it would be a LOT easier to get it exact, because most (all of the ones in my garage) have a very definite line between what is and isn't brake-track. These carbon rims didn't give me anything but an iffy pad wear line.

[Louis]

I have zero problems riding mis-matched wheels (or tires for that matter). Unless we're talking about a concourse-material show bike, I couldn't care less if my wheels or tires don't match. As long as they're round and do the job I'm asking of them, they're fine with me.

Ever since a nipple-thingy broke on my daily-driver's Topolino rear (in such a manner that it's impossible to repair without huge effort) I've been riding a Topolino front and a Vecchio's / Old P-built rear (WI hub, Velocity rim). I plan on keeping that front on until the Conti tire that's on there is showing threads, at which point I'll put the matching front wheel on with a new tire (which may or may not match the rear, depending on what I decide to try).

(BTW, that rear wheel has been awesome, with no problem at all. I don't know if Peter's still building, but if he is, I would highly recommend him.)

[foo_fighter]

Carbolift probably would have worked...

[nooneline]

I used Krylon's "Colormaster" paint+primer. I've never used it before, but it seems like solid stuff. Time will tell! I still haven't even glued these up yet.

a layer of primer, and then the paint?

[Dead Man]

a layer of primer, and then the paint?

No, the paint itself claims to be a two-in-one

[Charles M]

The only issue you might have is heat... The carbon nearer the brake track will get hot and the paint can come unstuck fairly easy.

For those anting to give this a whack make sure you use an epoxy friendly engine / Brake Caliper paint made to play with heat rather than grabbing a can of XYZ...

[Dead Man]

The only issue you might have is heat... The carbon nearer the brake track will get hot and the paint can come unstuck fairly easy.

For those anting to give this a whack make sure you use an epoxy friendly engine / Brake Caliper paint made to play with heat rather than grabbing a can of XYZ...

One of my other expensive hobbies is gunsmithing and tactical shooting.... and believe it or not, most rattlecan paint, and Krylon specifically, actually holds up just fine on semiautomatic rifle barrels, which get a lot hotter than carbon rims during braking.