Hi everyone,
I recently purchased a Specialized Rockhopper that's in pretty good condition. I've already polished the frame and applied a new clear coat. The result is okay, but the existing scratches are still quite noticeable.
I'm at a crossroads now, wondering if it's worth the extra effort to completely repaint the frame. It would probably take another afternoon of work. So far, I've spent 40 on the bike, and I'll need to spend another $100 on wear parts and tires. My goal was not to spend much more, but I want to be satisfied with the final result.
What do you all think?
Additionally, decals are hard to come by in Germany and would cost me another $25-30. So, the total cost for repainting would be around for the paint $50-60.
Is it worth the extra time and money to repaint the frame?
Thanks for your advice!
by CoffeandVanagon
3 Comments
Best thing would have been to touch up the scratches before clearcoating but it’s a bit late for that now.
I would just ride it like it is, it’s a vintage frame that still looks decent and there’s plenty of stuff that can go wrong in repainting that means more wasted money or it still doesn’t look perfect after. Even if you did do a really good job with no issues it’s unlikely the paint would be as hard or durable as the original paint.
You should have wet sanded higher and higher grit then clear. If you aren’t happy with the current paint I would start over. Wet sanding though your clear to the original is going to be difficult, but doable.
I would buy your wife a Cricut or yourself and make the decals in whatever color you can dream up. Not my bike, could be epic and cool
I love old bikes. So biased opinion is leave it. I think it looks to be in pretty good shape. Original paint adds a certain coolness factor