Repainting Old Bicycle Tire

by asundli in Outside > Bikes

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Repainting Old Bicycle Tire

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This project is a part of restoration of my bicycle and I think that this will helpfull to many peoplebfor not only in painting the tire and rim but also in different thing like changing the tire or uninstalling and installing spokes.Hope you all like my 1st project on instructables and I would be very pleased if you will also vote for it .

Things You Will Need :

Tire.
Spray paint.
Primer can.
Sand Paper.
Screw Driver.
Cassete remover (optional).

FOR PAINTING DESIGNS:

Scotch tape.
Paper Cutter.

Removing the Tire.

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The first step is removing the tire from bicycle which is pretty easy . Just open the nuts joining the axle. Some cycle contains disc brake , so you have to be extra carefull about it.

Removing the Tire From the Rim.

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First deflate the tire , then using two rod like tools like I used remove the tire by inserting the tools inside and then pulling them outward. Can be difficult in double wall tire as some of them contains special grooves to hold the tires . Be carefull so that their are no scratch in the rim.

Removing the Spokes .

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The rim of the tires contains small nut like the one in second pictures which can be easily remove with a long neck screwdriver . You have to always carefull while removing the nuts as they can slip inside the rim and can be difficult to remove, for preventing this always before the nuts is completely losen use a toothpick to hold the nut from from top where a hole is given.

Prepairing the Rim for Repaint .

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Remove all the decals from the rim and any grease or dirt if there is.
If you do not have any tool for removing the cassete then you can make a bundle of spokes like in the 3rd image for better handling.

ONE IMPORTANT POINT IS , that if the paint is bit old and there is not major rust and bubbles in the paint then the paint itself can work like a primer like in my case but if there is rust then you have to do the sanding and the priming before the actual paint.

Painting the Rim.

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After all the sanding and priming (if necessary) take a spray paint of the colour you want .

Paint should be done in a well ventilated space and should be free from dust .

While doing the paint the can should be placed at least 10 cm (although in cans it is written 30cm.) and one should keep moving the can to prevent spots in the surface .In the can I used it was written to hold the can in upward diretion but I also tried to paint downward as in last two images which gave me the same result .

Keep repeating the process after 10 minutes till the desire effect is gained.

Painting Other Part of the Tire.

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After painting the rim , I painted the spokes the cassete and the bolts by tne same process.

While painting the spokes we have to keep turnig all of them till all the sides are painted

Adding Designs on Rim

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Though I will not be painting designs on my rim I will still tell you how to do it

The main thing in doing this is the scotch tape as it is easy to remove and can be also cutted easily .

First cover the part of rim where you want to have design with scotch tape and then with the help of dark pencil or colour pencil make the design you want.

Then carefully cut the design with a paper cutter ,this whole process is time consuming and so you should think about ti before you do it.

After this simply paint the part where the design is, let it dry and then remove the tape.

Reinstalling the Spokes .

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This can be very difficult if the correct method is not known.There are two methods.

1st Method:
(Image 1 to 3)
Take nine spokes and install them on one side mainting a gap of 4 spokes at the rim between them . Rempeat this on the other side then again on the 1st side and vice versa .

2nd method(THE BEST):
(Image 4 to 5)

For this you have to know take 2 spokes , install them besides each other and then have to intersect each other then joins them on the rim with 9 spoke space between them then take another spoke beside one of the two and have a space of 13 spoke between the two .Then add another spoke beside third spoke and repeat the 1st step of this method.

LAST IMAGE CAN BE USED AS A GUIDE FOR METHOD 2.

NOTE: While installing the spoke keep less tension on them for easy installation of other spokes.

Finished.

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Install the tire and you are finished ! . I also painted the tire for a nice finish .

Hope you liked my instructable . For any suggetions or question give a comment . And please vote if you found this helpfull.