I spray-painted my bike

When I was exploring Berlin with a friend and we went into a creative shop that had all kinds of materials and colors, the spray paint aisle made me spontaneously decide that I want to spray-paint my bike.

Up until that point, my bike looked like this (the photo of the bike in the train to Potsdam is literally the only picture I could find):

I decided to change things up completely and give my bike a light-colored look with some vibrant accents. I immediately settled on the "bone" color, a friendly, warm white. I chose a darker "aubergine" brown for the parts near the wheels, so that I don't have to clean my bike that often. As an accent, I chose "strawberry" red (and later I also added "sage", a turquoise, pastel-like green).

First, I took my bike apart. I had no idea what I was doing or what parts a bike generally has, but you can get far by just unscrewing things. For the handle, I had to watch a YouTube tutorial (you have to hit it with a hammer), and some more intricate parts I didn't even attempt to disassmble (like, the gear box and the chain). Insight from future me: Changing the chain is actually super easy. Well.

My flat was a mess for a couple days, but at least I put everything on labeled paper so that I had a vague idea how to put stuff back together.

I removed stickers on the bike and metal-brushed the paint everywhere (it didn't go off completely without lots of effort, but I roughened it up at least so the new one sticks).

First up: Replacing the old black with ... a dark-brown. I swear there is a difference!

I generally worked outside (I live near a forest) and wore a mask – better be safe than sorry. After letting it dry, I covered up the newly aubergine-colored parts and applied the bone-color to the rest.

(The picture is from during the painting – I added more paint.) I colored the handle with bone color as well, after applying a primer, which turned out to be unnecessary according to the bottle description.

Next, I wanted to add shapes and patterns on the bike. I covered most of the bike with newspaper and used painter's tape wrapped around the frame to create some shapes. I had one go with the sage color:

And then another one with the red color:

After letting everything dry overnight, I sprayed all sides with multiple coatings of transparent 2-component car laquer. This should keep the colors protected, even in bad weather. The laquer also gives everything a coherent, shiny finish so that you don't feel the extra paint at the shapes. The big reveal:

Turns out, putting a bike together is a lot harder than taking it apart – some parts are left over and I still have no idea where they belong. I asked my senior neighbor for help, who has experience with bikes and once helped me repair the bike. We managed to assemble everything and I learned a lot – how to align the handle, how to adjust the gearshift, how to adjust brakes, and how the lamp system works.

A couple days later, I went on a bike tour with a friend. Everything worked (including the brakes) and it was a lovely day.

The takeaway? Having a customized bike is really nice. First, I never ever had to search for my bike in the university bike rack – among hoards of dark bikes it really stands out. Second, I feel more at ease when locking my bike to itself. I feel like thieves would have a harder time selling the bike without being tracked. And finally, putting some effort into personalizing everyday items is really rewarding. I ride the bike almost every day and since I spray-painted it, there were many moments where I just appreciated that my bike really feels like it's mine.

Happy biking!