Bodge spray job / uglification

[Bodhbh]

Couple of interesting articles on making a bike look a mess to theives:

http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol11/?pg=77&u1=texterity&cookies=1

http://bikehacks.com/8-ways-to-ugly-your-bike/

Not sure how effective this is?...

I don't like the colour or logos on my bike anyhow so considering giving it a bodge job. My question tho on the painting: you would literally just buy a few tins of spray paint, give the frame a quick wipe clean, duct tape up any place the paint shouldn't go, and get stuck in? Don't mind a bit of peeling, crappy finish but would like at least the coat thick enough to cover the logo's etc underneath. Hand brushing is doable too, what paint would you use?

Will draw the line at gluing human hair on it tho.

 

[Arch]

I'd say for a bodge job, forget spray paint and brush on Hammerite instead. Sprays are designed for flat surfaces, so you lose each side a lot if you spray a small target like a tube. I sprayed a frame once with car sprays, and it took a lot of cans, - if you spray so close that most of the spray goes on, it runs and wrinkles and drips off...

Use a cheapo brush and you'll get the bristles glued in automatically...

 

[fossyant]

No...no...no....how can you do a bodge job to your bike..... lock it properly.....

Might be commuting into town tomorrow for a meeting in the morning - on half a day, and it will waste loads of time to ride into my local place, then get the bus in and out of town - adding about an hour on, and I need to be home sharp ish - unfortunately the bike will be locked in a very public place..... argh...might just have to cycle past work to pick up my 10lb chain lock.....

 

[shimano]

re removing logos: I once had a bike with a name I didn't like and found the neatest way to remove the logos was to wrap a brake cable once round the tube and gently draw it to and fro. No scratches and no logo - job done.

 

[John the Monkey]

Might be commuting into town tomorrow for a meeting in the morning - on half a day, and it will waste loads of time to ride into my local place, then get the bus in and out of town - adding about an hour on, and I need to be home sharp ish - unfortunately the bike will be locked in a very public place..... argh...might just have to cycle past work to pick up my 10lb chain lock.....

Where's your meeting Fossy? If it's near the University's Oxford Road buildings, I might be able to help...

 

[Joe24]

Why deface it? What i would do if i wanted to cover the logo, is to get a new set of stickers with a rubbish brand on and put them over the top.
But then actually, i might sprey it lime green, put your name on it in another bright colour that would stick out on the lime green in big letters, get rid of the nice wheels, put some cheap ones in and use the good ones for weekends, put a big lock on it. If its ally, put a big chain lock on it aswell to scratch the paint aswell, if its steel put one in an old inner tube then gaffa tape it up. Put some gaffa tape on the bike aswell to give it abit of style and your done.
Would have to be strange if they steal a bike with your name on it i would think, would stick out.

 

[fossyant]

John,

I should be OK - it's at the back of All Saints and there are some sheffield stands by the library entrance - so that should do - if it's hissing it down, I'll stop off at my base then catch the bus in, as soggy clothes in a rucksack for 2-3 hours will smell terrible !

But don't make the bike ugly - anyone who knows about bikes can spot the parts etc - I saw a road bike with exactly the same done outside the Medical school - I could still tell it was half decent.

 

[palinurus]

Just get a shoot-looking bike to start with and save all the bother.

 

[Bodhbh]

My current backup bike is a 15quid ebay wreck I'm used to been able to leave outside tescos etc, just upgrading to a 300quid MTB I can actually have fun riding but it's also a horrible salmon pink. So while I am bothered about it been more nickable, not entirely pure in my motives...

I may stick a rack on it at somepoint and take it camping so, thinking at can bodge it so it at least matches the panniers and I don't looke like Julian Clary on tour.

 

[Twenty Inch]

A basket on the front. The most effective security device bar none.

 

[spindrift]

wHO IN THE NAME OF LEFT-HANDED gREEK BUGGERY WOULD GLUE HAIR TO THEIR BIKE!!????111ELEVEN

 

[Piemaster]

John,

I should be OK - it's at the back of All Saints and there are some sheffield stands by the library entrance - so that should do - if it's hissing it down, I'll stop off at my base then catch the bus in, as soggy clothes in a rucksack for 2-3 hours will smell terrible !

But don't make the bike ugly - anyone who knows about bikes can spot the parts etc - I saw a road bike with exactly the same done outside the Medical school - I could still tell it was half decent.

Wouldn't want to worry you.....but I'll plant a tiny seed anyway
Chatting to owner of lbs, he was saying that the library in the centre of town is a known hotspot for bike thefts. Bikes tend to get left for longer periods with owner inside, giving plenty of time for thieving scumbags.
Any CCTV in the area?

 

[Tynan]

let the tyres down, nothing like that to make a bike look sad and useless, thieves will never have a pump

 

[fossyant]

Wouldn't want to worry you.....but I'll plant a tiny seed anyway
Chatting to owner of lbs, he was saying that the library in the centre of town is a known hotspot for bike thefts. Bikes tend to get left for longer periods with owner inside, giving plenty of time for thieving scumbags.
Any CCTV in the area?

Cheers but the weather was shi!p so I lost the bike carp at base and bused it in.....

Mentioned it at the meeting..."so ....base... is like a laundry"...yes.... like everyday.......

We had 2 or 3 bikes knicked from the bike to work day - so a bit of a 'isser...but that's what it's like...lock it or lose it...

 

[Trillian]

stickers that are stuck over the paint work can often be removed by heating with a hairdryer on the lowest setting and then peeling away