Painting Campy Crankset

[Crackerkorean]

Has anybody ever painted campy carbon cranksets?

I won an auction on that site and lo and behold the pictures did not tell the story. Literally in the box when I received my mini group was a handful of paper towels in a box of a crankset, rear derailleur, front derailleur, and cassette. So at least to me, they look damaged because of shipping. A bunch of little pits where it looks like the cassette hit the crank arms.

Depending on how the whole situation is mediated I could still end up with them. So to pretty up the yellowed and chipped epoxy I thought about painting them.

I was planning on using super glue to fill the chips and then acrylic paint and several coats of clear to protect the paint.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Louis]

Why are some sellers / people so stupid?

It would have taken just a few minutes and a teeny amount of effort to pack that properly.

Idiots.

Good luck.

[Crackerkorean]

By the sound of it the guy got the box, recycled the pictures and posted it on the site.

Even the USPS person said "I hope its supposed to sound like that" when I went to pick it up.

On one hand I wouldn't mind keeping them because they are chipped I can go ahead with what I think will be a killer idea for paint. But at the same time, I wouldn't have paid as much as I did for the mini group.

This is the only example of a painted crankset that I can find.
http://www.dominguezcycles.com/images/gallery/12/mres/063.jpg

[Louis]

I'm no painter, but with all the chips in the clear I bet it's going to be a nightmare to get it to look nice and smooth.

If you care about how it looks, I'd send it back.

[R3awak3n]

I wouldnt paint them, why not sand them and then clear coat them? They will end up looking pretty nice if you do it well. No logos, nice and stealth.

[ultraman6970]

Paper towels, cassete and carbon parts... is that guy an idiot?... ask some money back to get the materials you might need to reclear the group... or return it to the sender... he will give you money back IMO.

Dont paint them, the only thing you need to do is to sand them and reclear the crankset with polyurethane car clear coat, even the bad and deep scratches will be gone if the job is well done.

Not at job hard to do just be carefull and protect the bearings really good.

[Crackerkorean]

The paint job that I do have in mind has graphics included and not just a single color.
Maybe if the paint looks like its not going to work I can take it down to carbon and reclear. The epoxy coating is yellowing and there is no real way to fix that unfortunately.
Here is a picture of the box and its contents.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/crackerkorean/20150228_103008_zpsdsjmeyd2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/crackerkorean/media/20150228_103008_zpsdsjmeyd2.jpg.html)

[thirdgenbird]

I wouldnt paint them, why not sand them and then clear coat them? They will end up looking pretty nice if you do it well. No logos, nice and stealth.

I saw a Campagnolo group that was stripped and painted with a satin clear. It looked amazing. Basically 80th super record with no logos.

[ultraman6970]

This is the deal ok?the yellowish in the clear it might be the epoxy? you can sand that thing off but be carefull of going too deep, once you get black while doing the wet sanding you have to think on stopping.

As for painting, well... if you arent going to use the black nude carbon finish, just dont worry about the yellowing, sand with 600 grit wet sand paper... the primer that with something like epoxy primer, that will cover all the imperfections big time, probably you wont even need to sand or retouch the bad areas using that. Then do your paint job... and to finish 2 coats od polyurethane car clear coats.

You can paint straight after being cleared but the stuff looks like really beat up, I would primer to get a nice foundation to your design.

Hope this helps.

[one60]

Depending on where the damage is you might be able to use crankskins to cover it up? They come in a variety of colors or faux carbon looks besides just clear or matte.

They have campagnolo specific pieces

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-25125611137096_2268_128894671

[vqdriver]

if you end up keeping it just paint away. nothing sacred about bike parts.
just make sure to tape off all the surfaces the chainrings will be in contact with. you could even plastidip it to experiment with different colors. it sticks very well to a clean surface and peels off quite easily if you want.

[berserk87]

I am a somewhat of a heel-rubber on cranks, so painting would be a bad option for me. The heel rub that would inevitably mar the cranks would make the paint job look worse than just the plain crank, as it were. Obviously this depends on your style of pedal stroke.

[weaponsgrade]

I once researched getting my Rotor cranks anodized and found this guy:

http://ceramikoat.com

I never went through with it but maybe he has some ideas.

[ik2280]

I once researched getting my Rotor cranks anodized and found this guy:

http://ceramikoat.com

I never went through with it but maybe he has some ideas.

Wow, this is intense:

http://ceramikoat.com/products/lgpic/cranks/039.jpg

[Dead Man]

Wow, this is intense:

http://ceramikoat.com/products/lgpic/cranks/039.jpg

Wow... I wonder what that looks like after mile 1

OP - you could sand out the chips if the clear coat is really well adhered... and it probably is, being Campy Record and all. It'll take some elbow grease, but we're talking about an after-work project tops. Then just zap it with some clear coat. Krylon has recently come out with some new "clear paint" clearcoats that are easy to use and look great. The stuff is brand new, so I can't testify as to durability, but I'm a big rattle-can painter, and properly prepped, almost every Krylon product I've used has been great. Bike parts, guns, tools, climbing gear... always had great looking, durable results.

Their fluorescent paint sucks, and they've had some failures with oddball colors.. but clear should be pretty damn hard to screw up. I refinished a fork with it recently (posted here, too)

[elong8]

Definitely send it back.

[Shoeman]

Just lodge a complaint not as described with the auction site. They are great at keeping the customer happy won't cost you a thing. It could be sanded down and and a new clear coat. I have also done it with finger nail polish, if it is only a couple of chips. Just carefully build up the area so it is just above the original finish. Then wet sand with 2002-2500 grit polish with a buffer it'll look as good as new.

[cmbicycles]

By the sound of it the guy got the box, recycled the pictures and posted it on the site.

Even the USPS person said "I hope its supposed to sound like that" when I went to pick it up.

On one hand I wouldn't mind keeping them because they are chipped I can go ahead with what I think will be a killer idea for paint. But at the same time, I wouldn't have paid as much as I did for the mini group.

This is the only example of a painted crankset that I can find.
http://www.dominguezcycles.com/images/gallery/12/mres/063.jpg

Painted cranks is nicely done on this one, but my eye was first drawn to that battery/electrical setup on this bike.

[mistermo]

I'm a Campy guy but run SRAM carbon cranks on my bikes in order to use more available chainrings. I had Craig Ryan of Foresta Frames paint my SRAM Red cranks all black so that they wouldn't clash with a stealthier build I was doing. I ride the cranks regularly and they've held up great. I'm too lazy to go find pics, but know he posted some on his site. Or maybe he posted them across the hall. Anyway, I would not hesitate to paint the carbon cranks and can recommend Craig.