How to Apply Decals to A Bike Frame

Video Blog

February 26, 2021

Hi, it's Alanna from sixthreezero, and today we're going to talk about how to add your own custom decal to your bike, and we're going to give away a custom decal set. So stay tuned to the end of the video, we'll tell you how to enter.

So decals are a great way to add your own personal style to your bike. There are so many different places you can apply the decal and to get started, you're just going to need your decal, I've made a custom one with a cricut, painter's tape, and a clean bike surface. So this is the Pave N' Trail. It doesn't have any decals on the tube, which is where I'm going to put the decal, but if your bike does come with branded decals, they're pretty easy to remove. So I would suggest first heating the decal and you can do this with a blow dryer or even by leaving your bike out in the sun for a while, and once the decals pretty warmed up, it should peel off pretty easily with minimal residue. But if you are left with residue, you can use something like Goo Gone to remove anything that's leftover, and that should work on glossy finishes and matte finishes without messing up the finish.

So once your surface is clear of any decals, you want to make sure it's clean. So if you have a glossy finish like I have here on the Pave N' Trail, you can just use isopropyl alcohol and a microfiber towel to clean it, but if you have a matte finish, you're definitely going to want to buy a cleaner specifically for that. So you can just search matte finish cleaner and you should find plenty of options, or even by checking in the auto section of Target, you can find cleaners specifically for matte finishes.

So we have our clean surface, we have our decal, and now it's time to line it up, make sure we have everything right, and I'm applying this to the top tube here, and it'll be on the side, but you can definitely apply decals anywhere. I've seen them on the fork. If you want to add a little design on the head tube here, the lower tube. I'm doing it on the side, but you could even do it, I've seen things on the top of the tube and on the fenders, this bike doesn't have fenders. And my decal is custom that I made on cricut, and we're going to show you how to do that yourself in our next video, but you can always also just buy decals online that you like and add them.

So the painter's tape is here to guide you so you can figure out where exactly you want your decal before you apply it. So I'm just going to take one end and I'm going to match it up to the end of my decal here. Line it up on the tube. I want it closer to the seat, so like right there looks pretty good. And if you can see the edge of the painter's tape goes right up to where the decal starts, so I know exactly where it needs to go. And the same on this end. If you want to be really particular, you can even line up the top and the bottom. The good thing about this decal is it has these lines kind of as a guide that you can use when you place it on, so you can make sure that it's in the right alignment.

So now I think that looks good. So leave the tape on, take the decal off, and so that's my guide. Now to apply the decal. So here's the decal, you can probably see it a little more clearly now. Alanna's Teal Mobile. I went with a retro font that I just found online, and I'm just going to place it on. How does that look? Good? I think so. Okay, before you press it down, you can check it out, make sure it looks good, and then you can go ahead and smooth it out. I liked this font because all of the letters are connected, so it's going to be easier to apply as opposed to individual letters. And then you peel it off, and there it is.

So there it is. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I just went with Alanna's Teal Mobile because that was the first thing I could think of, but you could do your bike's name, your name, your last name, logos, designs, anything really, and you can find a lot of decals online too if you don't have a cricut, or if you don't want to design your own, you could find flowers, peace signs, flames, whatever you want, and really add them anywhere.

So yeah, hopefully, this was a useful video for you. Let me know if you try out any designs and we're actually going to give away a custom decal set, so we are going to let you design a decal set, we'll make it, send it to you, and plus we'll send you some extra stickers and a Cruzee, so you can design up to three decals for the bike, including for the Cruzee if you want. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment saying what kind of decal you would get, subscribe to our page, and that's it. We'll pick the winner Sunday and announce the winner on Monday. So good luck. Thanks for watching. It's your journey, your experience. Enjoy the ride.