hi friends!! i bought this 1984 centurion cavaletto off facebook marketplace and love it so much. i got new tires/handlebar tape (not shown here, this is the day i got it), but otherwise its perfectly rideable and so fun. i have been watching some restoration videos, and would reallyyyyy love to paint it. i am not worried about the painting part (my dad will be helping me and he has significant painting experience) but i am concerned about the disassembly and reassembly.
any tips? should i just forget the paint idea entirely? thank you !!!
by juicyjuicy777
5 Comments
Disassembly and reassembly should be straightforward and easy. Things like bottom bracket and headset can be dealt with by your local shop fairly inexpensively.
Replace the cables and bearings while you have it apart.
This is maybe the wrong sub.
r/Vintage_bicycles would be better.
That being said, painting a bike frame is not a weekend project unless you’re completely set up for that kind of thing. That bike looks great as is and doesn’t really have much value. It’s the perfect “get around and not worry about it”, commuter, bar hopper ride. I’d say leave as is or make little changes to the fit and comfort.
It’s a lower-end bike, nothing particularly exotic. But it would be a perfectly fine commuter bike, and if you enjoy it, that’s what really matters. Since its also not anything rare or sought-after, that can be a small blessing, as you needn’t worry about ruining something valuable or special that would otherwise be “sacrilege” to modify.
It looks to be in good shape, original paint seems to be in decent condition, I’d probably just go the easy route and keep the original paint and instead focus on maintenance or parts upgrades, such as aluminum wheels. But if you are set on it sure, repaint it. You’ll really need to entirely strip it down, though, including the bottom bracket, removing the fork, every single little piece of hardware. Also please either remove or mask the headset; a painted-over headset is probably the number one way to identify a cheap DIY paint job.
[https://www.youtube.com/c/RJTheBikeGuy/videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/RJTheBikeGuy/videos) (search the channel page)
[https://www.sheldonbrown.com/](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/) (Google “sheldon brown [search term]”)
I’d strongly recommend getting a used 1970s or ’80s repair book from [abebooks.com](http://abebooks.com) Some can be found on [archive.org](http://archive.org) Search for “bicycle repair” on [Archive.org](http://Archive.org) (not “bike repair”). It’s so much easier to have a book to get an orientation than watching 20 videos. Like:
* The Bicycle Repair Book – Rob van der Plas
* Bicycle Maintenance Manual – Eugene Sloane
You’ll need:
* High quality set of metric Allen wrenches (Bondhus, Wera)
* JIS/ISO screwdrivers (Vessel black ball handle multi-bit set, or German brands. Don’t use American Phillips – they will tear your screws up.)
* Metric spanners or sockets.
* Cone Wrenches (Measure yours. The short double ended short Park ones are good. Don’t get the ones with 4 sizes in one wrench.)
* Standard Crank Extractor (Park. Get one without a handle.)
* Headset Wrench (Two. Measure yours. Pedros or Unior. Don’t get Park.)
* Chain Tool (Old “Cyclo Rivoli” are fine. For 5-7 speed, you only need basic.)
* Freewheel Remover (See what freewheel you have. Get one with a 1/2″ socket receiver. Also get a 1/2″ breaker bar.)
Pedros, Unior, and Park make good tools. Some Bike Hand tools are good. Some Park stuff is overpriced. Park tools like crank removers are great, the large spanners are not.)
Painting that bike would be a great way to spend a lot of time and energy to make your bike look worse.