Welcome to part 3 of my series on restoring my Bianchi Gold Race 100.
Today I removed the decals from the bike. The stickers were ripped and frayed, so I decided the easiest solution was just to remove them and buy some more. This was certainly not the most exciting job of the project, but revealed some hidden surprises.
Tools Used
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- Degreaser
- Microfibre cloth
- Finger nail!
- Elbow grease
Starting Out
Here are comparison photos after about half an hour’s work.
You can see how nicely the frame has come up.
I also had a really nice surprise as underneath the green sticker halfway along the top tube was a beautiful angled join between the black and white paint. I’m really pleased with how this looks and think I’ll leave it this way.
Peeling Away The Stickers
This is where the fingers nails and elbow grease come in.
I did not want to use anything else to take the stickers off as I was worried about damaging the frame.
The key is to get hold of a corner of the decals, and pull very slowly to try and stop them tearing.
Removing the Glue
This was the most time consuming bit of the whole process.
When the stickers are peeled away they leave a sticky glue behind, which is really difficult to get off.
My advice would be focus on really small sections, use lots of degreaser, both on the frame and the cloth, and rub in circular motions to remove the glue.
The Result
