Following majklnajt’s quest for an early gen Madone, I’ve commenced restoration of my gen 1. (it’s a 56 and no use to him)

The paint was in poor shape and so I had decided some time ago to strip it back and I only recently started that process. Here is what I’ve got.





The carbon is kind of weird. Rather than smooth, it has a fine weave texture similar to linen. This leads me to think that sanding isn’t going to be an option b/c I’ll start eating into the fibres before I have removed all the paint. If I can’t get all the paint off with stripper, I’ll be stuck.

Anyways, I’m actually thinking of leaving it somewhat as it appears in the photos. Kind of like a distressed piece of furniture.

If I were you I would change the name of the topic to indicate what you are doing, if you want more advice on what you are doing.

Always love people who try to remove the paint off old CF frames. The results are awesome every time IMHO. No sure what the stuff is beneath the paint and the CF, but as far as I can tell it is not carbon, so you should be safe when you remove it by sanding.

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^ Agreed. I am by no means a carbon expert, but from what I've read in the past the top "exposed" weave layer is usually cosmetic. You could try to sand it off - you'll then likely be down to the "real" UD carbon of the frame.

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Fear is healthy, panic can be deadly

That does look a bit odd . If it's painted I don't see the need for a cosmetic layer on top but that is what it looks like. Have you tried using a knife/blade and just cut into the paint and pull it towards you. On my old Trek the paint came off pretty easy using the knife method. Looking at the photo it seems you have already broken the cosmetic layer so you might as well go for it ...good luck

I like the "Mad Max" look of the frame like it is on the first pic

Tat would be a nice aesthetics change from what we are used to see. Lots of "post modernism" influences in there...just add some protection on it.

I suggest you change the title for : "- Look at the custom work Dario Pegoretti did on my Trek frame!!!" .

Louis

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that is a fiberglass scrim. it is used in molding applications sometimes when, for whatever reason, a nice surface cannot be obtained.

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This could quite cool if done right, something along the lines of the "rat look" that's popular in VW circles.
Making it look really used and abused, but retaining the potential to go surprisingly fast.

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I have stripped an old trek 5200 with razor blade and i got this finish on some part of the bike like de BB sheel.

But the rest of the bike was beter, for these part i just wet sand it, and you are going to see these fine weave texture disaper and you will slowly see a nice UD carbon finish.

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My 1998 Trek 5220 paint stripped 7.02Kg

Ditto to changing the thread title.
Also, move your topic over to the Road forum where there are a number of people who have done what you are doing.
This is, currently, the Gallery.

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Exp001

Looking fwd to this!! It may motivate me too for something lika that...

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EX Colnago C50
TREK Madone 5.9 SL #7

I wet-sanded my Madone 07. Still rides great. The "beauty", og fiberglasslayer was also on my bike. That was the layer I sanded down to. I thought it was some micro carbon waving. Off course i couldn't avoid sanding into it, but most of it stayed.

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Trek Madone SL 2007 Clearcoat

I was going to say leave it like that. Ride it looking like a mess. At least no one will steal it.

It will make a great looking "Rat" bike. as noted like a old Rat rod

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Let's finish the ride with a 20% grade.
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Thanks for the replies.

If I understand correctly, the weave is just an imprint in the surface and can be sanded smooth without damaging the frame?

My OCD nature got the better of me on the weekend and I've stripped off more paint and primer/filler. (I can't stop!)
As someone said, it is scraping off fairly easily. I'm still not really sure what I'm going to do with it.

Awesome!
Did you weigh the frame before starting to strip the paint off? I wonder whats the weight difference??

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EX Colnago C50
TREK Madone 5.9 SL #7