I’ve never attempted anything like this before but I’ve decided to paint strip the horrible day-glo orange from my commencal supreme and go ‘raw’.

Any advice on the best way to strip the paint and how to treat the alloy once stripped?

Professionally? That’ll be powder coat not enamel and i’ m not convinced you wont be risking harm to the frame by abrasives or chemicals.

elbow grease + niroumours or caustic soda. Then PU lacquer or just elbow grease again. Now as why someone want to remove the paint from one of the sexiest colour on a bike, this is a different matter.

Commercially available chemical strippers are highly unlikely to harm the frame. Using something like Nitromors you’ll need to dismantle the frame completely and give yourself half a day to remove the paint. The bulk will/should come off easily; paint around welds will need extra applications of stripper. Aluminium does most of its oxidising withing minutes of being exposed, so a bare/polished frame finish will be easier to maintain than one with a clearcoat finish.

For what it’s worth, I’ve done three frames: one HT and two FS.

I’ve just had my paramotor sandblasted and re-powdercoated for £150.

He was cursing a bit as old powdercoat doesn’t just blast off – it melts off, which is really slow.

Looks ace though.

nitromors..

then polish the frame…

both take ages… and ages and ages – you could do a brushed finish which is quicker…

you will wish you had never started if you do this.. felt like this with my Cannondale m2000…

Before….

After….

£25 done at a powder coaters HERE…

Quick buff up with a kitchen scouring pad after….walk in the park innit.

^ looked better in white 😉

Now as why someone want to remove the paint from one of the sexiest colour on a bike, this is a different matter.

Nitromors and elbow grease it is then.

It’s not so much the colour I dislike it’s the fact the paint jobs on Commies are generally quite poor and the chips and flaking is already really bad – looks very tatty after only a dozen or so rides. I only have to look at my Supreme and it starts to flake. I’m hoping that technique may help when stripping it but you know that as soon as I start the paint won’t budge.

Did my Ventana, but the paint came off very easily. Some can be a real task. Plenty of Nitrimors, some plastic scrapers. Tried polishing mine but gave up. If the frame has been lightly blasted before the original finish your looking at hours & hours of wet & dry flatting to get it anywhere near enough to polish. When polished it comes up a treat, but by christ is there some work in it. The kit I bought had 3 different mops & soaps. had it re-powder coated in the end.

Kayak23’s looks nice, wish I’d have thought of that. 😉

Try using a scalpel blade to take off most of the paint before using Nitromors.

make sure you get the right nitromors.

did my turner RFX with nitromors a scraper and wire wool to finish up the tubes. took about 8 hours to do the front. no paint or laquer needed afterwards. no problems at all, Turner even sell them like this from new.