"Bandit" (2bandit)
01/17/2020 at 10:43 • Filed to: None
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"Bandit" (2bandit)
01/17/2020 at 10:43 • Filed to: None | 2
| 20 |
My mountain bike got stolen over a year ago, and yesterday the local police department called to say they found it abandoned in a park a couple miles from where it was taken . The thief abused the hell out of it and made a ton of very distasteful mods. The matte silver paint is trashed, there’s a lot of paint transfer from where the theif leaned it up against railings or whatever, also tons of scratches and other damage. Take a look in the imgur album below for the extent of shitty mods and damage (if it isn’t kinja’d). How do I fix matte paint? I’m at a loss. Any suggestions of replacement parts I should consider? Needing a saddle, tires, pedals, and a full groupset at the minimum. It’s a 2018 Trek X Caliber 7.
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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 10:51 |
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Fixing matte silver? You might use model paint, as insane as that sounds.
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Bandit
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
01/17/2020 at 10:52 |
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Oh that’s not a bad idea! Thanks! I was thinking maybe nail polish but it would be so hard to color match and get the finish.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 10:54 |
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I’ve had some luck with polishing compound on paint transfer, but that is a matte paint so it will slightly polish the paint at the same time... The parts don’t look too bad, new tires, new derailleur hanger, new chain, cables and housing and it should be good to go.
Ssfancyfresh
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:07 |
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Not sure what your budget is, but I did a full 1x11 setup with a mix of Shimano SLX (cranks) and XT (everything else) for under $300.
MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick)
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:08 |
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I think you have some work to do before you bother fixing the bike
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:11 |
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I assume you already bought a replacement, right? If I were in your situation, I’d do the bare minimum to make it functional (new hangar, new chain, clean up the rust, lube everything, new cables, touch-up the paint to prevent rust) and call it good. It would become a loaner bike, a beater bike, or maybe I’d just sell it.
If you can’t live with the paint, you could consider repainting it yourself. The cheap route is a good sanding and some spray paint. If you have the tools and a place to paint , you could buy some automotive paint and do a little nicer job than what you can get out of a can. Sometimes the local body shops will give you a discount if you are patient and are willing to take a standard color. They can mix a little extra when they spray a car and apply it to your frame. You could even consider having it powder-coated.
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Bandit
> Ssfancyfresh
01/17/2020 at 11:12 |
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Oh that’s not bad... happy with the result? Where did you get your parts?
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Ssfancyfresh
> Ssfancyfresh
01/17/2020 at 11:13 |
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PowderHound
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:13 |
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I would poke around on jenson usa.com they have some great off season deals going on right now depending on your budget
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Ssfancyfresh
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:13 |
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Bandit
> TheRealBicycleBuck
01/17/2020 at 11:14 |
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No actually I haven’t got a replacement yet , I bought this back when I got an employee discount so I couldn’t stomach buying a bike for $1000+ when I know how much the profit margins are. I use to work for Trek helping in the paint shop, so I’m very familiar with how to paint frames but I just dont have the tools to do the work the right way.
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Ssfancyfresh
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:15 |
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Yes. Happy with the result. The SLX cranks are cheap and durable. The XT cassette and shifter deliver quick and precise shifts. Super nice bit of kit. Pretty affordable.
facw
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:15 |
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With some of those mods, I sort of wonder if it was stolen, sold on CL, and then stolen again (or just abandoned when stuff needed replacing) . Seems like someone made it their bike (even if they didn’t take good care of it), which doesn’t seem like what you’d want to do with stolen property.
Nom De Plume
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:25 |
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The thief abused the hell out of it and made a ton of very distasteful mods.
What you need to do first is make sure the frame isn’t out of alignment. Meaning a RD will even work correctly and the frame isn’t cracked. The bike shop you bought it from should be more than willing to spend an entire minute of their time during their slowest possible time of year, middle of Winter,
to assess this. Stripping the frame was a good start they will no doubt appreciate. Leave all that junk at home and let them focus on the real problem.
The matte silver paint is trashed, there’s a lot of paint transfer from where the theif leaned it up against railings or whatever, also tons of scratches and other damage.
It’s a #*#%& mtb. By doing you no favors it really appears they did you a favor.
How do I fix matte paint? I’m at a loss.
You don’t. If the damage to it is allowing intrusion that is harming the frame it needs to be stripped, polished, retreated, and resprayed with paint/powdercoated/gilded/chromed/the sky and your imagination($$$$) are the limit. You can spend the next year discussing the realities of this aesthetic choice with TREK or come to the conclusion i t’s a #*#%& mtb.
Any suggestions of replacement parts I should consider? Needing a saddle, tires, pedals, and a full groupset at the minimum.
While you are the bike shop see if they are amenable to giving to you a realistic very (Very!!!) low cost pile of OEM parts customers dumped on them at point of sale due to be heavy, outdated manufacturing practice, low quality base material constructed, BONTRAGER branded crap to restore it to previous showroom glory. Then hit up CL/ebay/FB Marketplace for whatever off trend quality stuff is available to cover your drivetrain needs. Once you have all that sorted out and came close to attaining a decent fit using the pile of OEM parts. Spend real money on a saddle that is comfortable and weighs less than 5 lbs. At no point should you avoid scuffed parts lacking structural damage or inherent design flaws. It’s a #*#%& mtb.
As said BONTRAGER branded showroom jewelry draws your ire or outright breaks. Replace it with good quality, honest value parts that fit your riding and physiology.
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TheRealBicycleBuck
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:36 |
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Did you have renter’s insurance? Did you make a claim?
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 11:46 |
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Maybe the trick is not to make your bike look good, but just the opposite - uglify it so it’s not a tempting target for thieves: https://makezine.com/2013/04/01/u-g-l-y-your-bike/
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Bandit
> TheRealBicycleBuck
01/17/2020 at 12:17 |
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Did that about a year ago, got about $600. Been riding my 10 year old 26" mtb since the theft. Also shattered my arm during a ride so I was out of commission for much of the downtime.
Chariotoflove
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 14:33 |
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If your local frame builder says it’s still aligned properly and salvageable, see what it would cost to have him repaint it. For the components, you can get some really good stuff used, especially if you look for old Suntour or Deore stuff.
haveacarortwoorthree2
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 14:54 |
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Sell it and take up running. That way when you go by, people can say, “just watch ol’ Bandit run.”
Apologies to all, especially Jerry Reed.
farscythe - makin da cawfee!
> Bandit
01/17/2020 at 16:42 |
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welp... i think i know what happened to the crank arms
riding in workboots.. i had almost the exact same wear on my old bike