I own a KH 20" that I bought off of somewhere on here, and I love the thing…for the most part. I absolutely hate the color…Blue. (such a good deal though, I could I pass it up for a silly color)
Enough small talk people! I need a new color, and I’m on a budget! I can’t just afford new parts. I am going to paint it neon green on black. Frame and seat post most likely.
I realize the unicycles are powder coated. Perhaps even anodized? I guess, I actually have no idea. So this brings me to my questions…
Has anyone ever painted their unicycles? Can you show me pictures?
Anyone ever painted crank arms? How do you recommend that I do it?
Is it possible to get to the hubs without having to take apart all the spokes/wheel?
my plans:
Disassemble, lightly sand the frame/seat post.
Primer it.
Sand again with very fine grit paper.
Lay a layer of green. (resand with very fine grit)
Another layer of green.
Cut fine strips of masking tape, and place as I see fit.
Repeat the painting with Black.
Remove the tape,
Apply clear coat, and hope for the best.
A lot of people on the forums have painted their own unicycles. One person on here, who’s name escapes me at the moment, even glued newspaper funnies and stuff to it then clear coated it. If you are going to spray paint it you’ll want more than a few layers of clear coat and probably more than a few layers of paint as well. I think the best way to paint your hub will be to take the whole wheel apart unless you want to wrap every spoke in masking tape and try it that way. If you want a more durable color you’ll want to get it powder coated or since it’s aluminum find someone who will anodize it for you. I’ve never personally wanted to risk spray painting my unicycle myself but I have looked into getting my unicycles powdercoated. I just haven’t had the budget to do it. I hope at least some of my information is helpful. A quick search of the forums typing in Custom Unicycle should bring up the various custom unicycle threads, take a look through those and there are plenty of pictures to look at.
i put straws on all my spokes and painted my rim with several layers of yellow. works ok…at first it looked good up close and from a distance…now it just looks good from a distance. it’s all beat up now. even if you put many layers of spray paint on it still easily comes off…compared to powder-coating.
Thank you both for responding. I had found one of the custom unicycle threads, didn’t really give many tips, although admittedly, I didn’t search it in incredibly hard either.
Did you also paint your hub? I just can’t figure out how to get to it without completely disassembling the wheel. I wouldn’t even begin to know how to put it back together.
I have started on my unicycle frame, and have been taking pictures along the way, hopefully it will be a success and I can make a new thread.