Suppose one wanted a finish on an aluminum frame similar to a Litespeed. Can aluminum obtain that look by stripping & fine sanding? Can it be clearcoated for protection? Anyone have any experience with such a project?
(I know this has probably been covered but my search turned up empty.)
the easiest way to do that is by getting a company to bead blast the frame and then polish it. I have done a few bikes and it works really well. A clear coat on top can also be added but I usually go for a clear ano but this dulls it a bit
I’ve done it on motorcycle frames. Mother’s aluminum polish should do the trick. Welds will be the most difficult area to get to look nice. Be careful with the sandpaper, avoid if possible, because you can put in pretty deep scratches that will be a bear to get out. Also bare aluminum goes to crap pretty quickly, and is difficult to keep looking nice, so I would clear coat, as you mentioned.
heehee, you said nude
Yes you can get the look of polished Ti, of course it still looks like polished aluminum because the tubes are so large. Fairly commonly done a few years ago, heck Cannondale made a poilshed frame of their own. Never did it myself, but have been told that clearcoating keeps the finish looking good with a lot less work.
I’m not looking for the polished chrome-like finish, but the dull brushed titanium look. Something like this:
So what are the basic steps involved if I were to do it myself?
Spray on Permatex Decal and Paint Stripper #80577. You can get it at most auto/jobber stores. Let sit 5-10 minutes, then scrape off with plastic putty knife and/or wire brush. Then, for a brushed finish, use fine steel wool. You can experiement with 000 to 000000 to see how “brushed” you want to go. Highly polished finishes look nice, but scuff easily unless clearcoated.
pm me your e-address, and I’ll send you a pic of my “nekkid” Leader TT bike.
Eric
we offer a finish option on our frames called “Works”. Raw aluminum right out of the heat treat oven. We made a few for sponsored racers and consumers wanted them so we began offering it as an option. It saves about 100 grams of powder coat and
looks pretty cool.
Instructions to strip bike. You saidf you didn’t want polished so I’d say skip the polish step and go directly to clearcoat. This p3 looks awesome.
Thanks for the link, I’ve come across that site before. The anodized final product is pretty amazing.
It seems (from the little I’ve seen) that the aluminum either ends up looking very rough or highly polished. I like the look of the mountain bike frame, but not for a roadbike. Is the finish on the Litespeed atainable for an aluminum frame? I’d guess it’s a matter of finding the right type of sanding surface/grit and lots of elbow grease.
Klein had an option years back called ‘bare no blast’. It was really for people who were then going to send the frame out for custom paint. At the shop I worked we sold a bunch of mtn frames like this. No paint to chip. My workhorse road frame for years had the ‘bare no blast’ finish. If it got too dirt from grease, a bit of ScotchBrite pad would take it right out. Good fun to stick it to folks on a no-name bike.
Those Intense frames look great with that finish.
Nice job Eric! That’s exactly the look I’m going for. I assume the method you described is how you achieved this look?
Yes, that is it. I couldn’t find a Scotch Brite pad fine enough for my needs, and went with the steel wool.
Glad you brought this up as I am planning on trying this sometime this week on my TT bike. I want this:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/cslone/DSC01115.jpg
To look a little more like these:
Cannondale offers this as an option on their frames. I had all my frames done this way (it was lighter than paint and didnt slow down the painters). They use a green 3m scotch-brite belt on a dyna-file, but I presume a green 3m pad and a lot of elbow grease would work! Try to be uniform in the direction you sand, or the results, with scratches going every which way, look a bit odd. The Cdale frames are clear coated afterwords. You will want to take it to an automotive painter to have it done right. If you dont clear it the luster will fade fast, but cleared looks great.
Looking at the seat tube it’s obvious that the Leader and Fort are the same frame so you should get the exact same result.