Painting an Aerospoke

Last week, to my awesomely great fortune, I was able to nab a pair of Specialized (Now branded HED-3) Carbon fiber tri-spoke rims for my bike off of craigslist. These wheels are super light and super fast and are normally reserved for professional cyclists or uber-hipsters, since they cost a cool 300 to 400 per wheel. I fortunately was able to get them for $75 a pop, after an extremely sketchy craigslist deal. They were in great condition, however I wasn't a fan of the carbon fiber look and wanted to paint them a fresh white.

After a quick trip to Lowes, I picked up some masking tape, multi-surface cleaner, white primer and regular spray paints and a flat, non-gloss, clear coat.

Once I removed the stickers, cleaned the wheel from all dirt, grease and oil, and masked off the edges and hub, I moved everything outside ready to paint!

My workspace

End of the day

Painting took one of the rare beautiful days we have in Pittsburgh and I got to watch the construction of CMU's spring carnival throughout the day. Overall the painting came out very well, put a very insane and unnecessary number of coat of paint on it just to be safe. But the end product came out smooth and clean, just the way I imagined.

Masking tape removed

Installed on my bike

Looking back on the project, there are a couple extra things I could've done. First off, the white paint revealed a couple blemishes and dents in the carbon fiber which I could've filled and repaired before painting. And second, was to scruff and scratch the surface of the wheel before laying a primer coat to get rid of the resin epoxy layer on top so the paint sticks better. But I am damn pleased with myself on how the whole thing turned out!

Now I have a rear tripsoke, with a multigear cassette already in it, to do something with. I don't know whether to just use it as is, paint it, convert to a front wheel, or just sell it for a profit. Either way, it'll be a project for the summer!