THE FOLLIS

Repaint and Refurbish a vintage French Racing bike.

The Follis is a vintage French road racing bike that my Father purchased in the early 1980s. 

The components, all original Campagnolo Nouvo Record, still work extremely well. The frame was beginning to get extremely rusty thanks to a combination of the Houston area's climate and the years it spent in New York winters. I wanted to freshen the paint up, preserve some of the original patina, and give it a touch of contemporary styling.

So I started playing around in Photoshop and designed a paint and graphics scheme that kept the head tube it's original color and patina and wrapped the rest of the bike in Charcoal grey and white graphics. Then came the fun part, stripping components and sanding the frame.

The frame received three coats of sand-able auto primer, followed by three coats of charcoal metallic flake, and two layers of clear coat.

The final step was applying the graphics. I picked up some scrap white vinyl from a local sign shop and printed out 'Follis' (mirrored) on the paper backer. I picked Rockwell as the font, a nice slab serif that creates a contemporary feel while maintaining vintage roots, and hand cut the vinyl.