How to choose and apply stickers on your bike?

Despite the fact that modern bicycle models are made of durable materials with an enamel coating, today there are frequent cases of scratches, roughness and chips on bicycle parts. Professional athletes suggest using special stickers that will not only keep the bike presentable for a long time, but also make it more original. In this article, you will learn how to choose and apply stickers to your bike wisely.

If earlier bicycle stickers could perform only a decorative function, today their scope of application has expanded significantly. Below you can see the benefits of decals for cyclists and internet users.

Professional cyclists, as well as lovers of long and hard travel on bicycles, often face a deterioration in the appearance of their vehicle. The affected areas are usually the most important elements of the bike that are always in sight: frame components, handlebars, seat or feathers. These can be both minor scratches on the bike's body, and serious roughness and bare spots without paint that have formed after prolonged use or careless handling.

Here, stickers perform a purely disguising function - they can simply cover up the problem areas of your two-wheeled friend. And here in front of you is no longer a shabby old bicycle, but originally decorated vehicle.

Fortunately, bicycle components are handled in the same way as modern cars.

When buying a certain model of a bicycle, experienced owners immediately understand where exactly scratches, abrasions or roughness are most likely to appear. Here the stickers perform a preventive function and at the very first stages prevent the formation of these scratches on the factory enamel of the bicycle.

Most often, for such purposes, stickers are glued at the points of contact between bicycle elements. These may include the following details:

• brake cables, which over time severely scratch the frame;
• the lower frame tube, which is spoiled by the chain and road stones;
• feathers that are severely damaged when in contact with the chain when shifting gears.

Some of the types of modern stickers are equipped with special reflective stripes that allow you to move around as safely as possible at night. Unfortunately, these types of protective stickers are very rare and, as a rule, are not used for safety purposes, but for the sake of giving the bike a cool and special appearance. Despite this, such stickers have not harmed anyone yet - experienced cyclists advise to glue them, at least for preventive purposes.

Despite other potential opportunities, the main function of stickers is still to decorate the bike. Today, an entire art industry is devoted to the theme of decorative bicycle stickers. Bike accessories companies hire professional designers to create branded and original decals.

Today, there are several types of bicycle stickers, depending on several factors.

Today's bike enthusiasts use all parts of their bicycles to place their favorite stickers. Most often they are placed on the rim or disc of a bicycle, on the side of a wheel, handlebar, bicycle frame and even on the stays.

If we consider the types of stickers with respect to the most common shades, then there are either black and white stickers or colored ones. The plus of black and white stickers is their versatility - they can equally well mask scratches on a bike and decorate it at the same time.

As already mentioned, today there is a whole art industry for the production of a wide variety of bicycle stickers, and therefore they are not limited in shape and size. Despite this, most often on bicycles there are namely, miniature stickers up to 5 cm in length, as well as black and white type stickers no more than 10 cm in length.

There are such options regarding this point:

• branded, that is, specially made for sale;
• amateur (handcrafted) or name stickers.

The latter type is usually used by professional athletes in high-speed competitions. Nominal variants are used solely to indicate the ownership of a bike for a specific athlete.

Stickers of this type include protective versions of the stickers, which were already discussed above.These are usually reflective strips or strips that are attached to the wheels or rim of the bicycle for movement in the dark. In order for such stickers to perform their function well, their colors should be chosen correctly. If security stickers are placed on the back, then they should be scarlet or red.

If the sticker is placed on the front wheel, then it is worth choosing light and white shades of reflectors that will simulate the headlights oncoming light.

Almost all types of stickers, including decorative and reflective ones, can be made from several materials. On sale most often you can find stickers it is made of vinyl (or polyvinyl chloride)... They are known for their strength and high resistance to adverse weather conditions. Another material for making stickers is acrylic mirror film.

If you nevertheless decide to buy a bicycle sticker, you should competently approach its choice. Here are the factors to look out for when purchasing such accessories.

• Target... Decide why you need a sticker. If you just want to decorate your bike and make it different from the rest, turn to bright and extraordinary sticker options. If you need a sticker to disguise a scratch, and you do not want to make your bike stand out, you should choose monosyllabic stickers such as “lettering”.
• Quality. There is a big difference in where you got the sticker from. The special vinyl sticker will decorate your bike longer than branded stickers and definitely longer than hand-made stickers.
• Colour. Remember to balance the look of your bike and the message, the color of the decal you choose. Agree, it will be at least strange to glue stickers in the form of colored animals and comic notes on a professional road bike.

In any case, remember that this is your vehicle, and you can decorate it as you see fit. Old stickers can always be removed or masked with new ones.

If you want to visually see how this or that sticker will look live, just contact the nearest bicycle accessories salon - there you will find more than one catalog of colorful and original stickers.

If you bought a sticker from a company store, you shouldn't have any problems with sticking it. Simply select a suitable spot on your bike frame, handlebar or wheel, peel the sticker off of the protective film, and stick it on the desired location. For the sticker to stick well, it should be carefully smoothed out and made sure that no air bubbles form under the surface.

There is also an easy way to make your own bike sticker. To do this, you will need a printer, an A4 sheet of paper, and an adhesive tape.

• First, find your favorite picture on the Internet. Black stickers work best for this.
• Print the picture, then cut it out from the sheet.
• Gently attach the image onto the prepared piece of tape.
• Place this piece of tape under a stream of hot water and begin to gently remove the paper layer. With the help of water, the paper should peel off quickly and peel off easily.
• As soon as you remove all the white pieces of paper, you will have a transparent piece of duct tape with the sticker of your choice.
• Simply attach the resulting sticker to the desired location, remove any bubbles from the tape and wipe dry with a cloth. Homemade sticker. Keep in mind that such a sticker will most likely not last long.

For information on how to make stickers with your own hands, see the next video.