Schwinn Decals For Lightweights, Removal, Installation And Reproductions

[momo608]

Think we all agree that good looking decals are a major plus for any preservation or restoration of these bikes. In my experience it is also one of the most frustrating aspects of completing a restoration. I have tried all the decals available out there including making my own with the exception of VeloCals. The big three for decals are Bicyclebones, VeloCals and Memory Lane. If you know of another source let us know. The Schwinn Store appears to sell the same decals as Memory Lane except at three times the price. These dealers in some cases do not cover the same Schwinn models, so you are left with no choice where to buy them.

Bicyclebones seems to have the best quality waterslides but we agree that there are unfortunate problems with some of the artwork not perfectly duplicating original Schwinn decals. His decals stick well and do not fall apart putting them on, at least if you know what you are doing. It took me a while to know what I was doing. It also should be noted that Bicyclebones is the only authorized seller of reproduction Schwinn decals. All the other decals out there for Schwinn are illegal non authorized bootlegs.

Memory Lane decals are hit and miss. I had some go on very well, where others fell apart putting them on because of thin spots easily torn. On some, the adhesive was a problem and would immediately lift or silver after some dry time. But they do carry some decals that Bicyclebones does not.

VeloCals offers a completely different kind of decal from above. These are not traditional waterslide. They mostly sell varying thicknesses of vinyl self adhesive decals. They offer a waterslide on SOME of their offerings but it must be clear coated. I suspect these are of the lazerjet variety but I'm not sure. I am planning on buying some of their Schwinn Superior decals because no one else offers them. According to their website these are not available in waterslide unlike for example the Super Sports which are, which incidentally cost $55 for the set and again they must be clear coated. I emailed VeloCals a couple of times asking if the Superiors were available in waterslide and got no response. That's not a good sign dealing with anyone and it certainly makes me look for alternatives.

If anyone has had any installation experience with the VeloCals I would like to hear about it. Or anything else for that matter that can enlighten.

VeloCals

 

[momo608]

No one used VeloCals?

8/26/16

I have used them now and can tell you at least from the ones I used, out of a set of six for my Superior project, five of them were way off on either size, color or design. There is no contact phone number on their website and they are very poor at responding to ANY questions or problems. This is a last resort source for decals as far as I'm concerned.

 

[schwinnbikebobb]

Hey Monte

I have used Velocals before but honestly if the decal is available other places I use them. Mostly because of the vinyl thing. I got a bad set one time that wouldn't peel off the backing but they replaced them very quickly. But they do have a lot of things that only they have so I appreciate that. I had no problems installing them at all other than the backing problem ones. I do it just the way those instructions recommend.

 

[momo608]

Thought I would include my tested method of old waterslide decal removal before I lose the info. Have seen no better way of doing it without jeopardizing original paint. No paint loss, no scratches and no dulling of paint.

 

[Sigh1961]

Thought I would include my tested method of old waterslide decal removal before I lose the info. Have seen no better way of doing it without jeopardizing original paint. No paint loss, no scratches and no dulling of paint.

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Doesn't the wife get pissed when you bring bikes into the kitchen? My wife just about flipped her mind just because I used an old rusty baking pan to soak a chain in. So what if it was Grandma's? You haven't used it once in ten years.

 

[momo608]

 

[schwinnman67]

Doesn't the wife get pissed when you bring bikes into the kitchen? My wife just about flipped her mind just because I used an old rusty baking pan to soak a chain in. So what if it was Grandma's? You haven't used it once in ten years.

I used to rebuild bikes in the kitchen years ago....wife gave up yelling at me about it.

 

[detroitbike]

I've used Velocals a few times in the last year. Decal quality was excellent as well as artwork.
They took a while to arrive but we were very happy. Used on a Raleigh Competition .
Waterslide....

 

[momo608]

Put these late 70's decals up because of the original instructions and one of the manufacturers of Schwinn decals at that time.

 

[momo608]

Used these from Cyclomondo, a big Ebay seller of decals out of Australia. They are vinyls like Velocals and I applied them over a 2000 grit wet sanded surface for final clear coating over the decals yet to be done. Excellent customer service with this guy and ALL the decals were accurate in size and colors for this application so I highly recommend him should you be satisfied with vinyls. He claims these are durable enough to be used on the surface with no clear coating but I just do not trust the sharp edges of vinyls holding up over time. For one thing on the Professional top tube decal, that tiny dot on the i is floating out there not connected to the larger part of the decal and the letters themselves are not surrounded by much of a clear decal area as well. Extremely fragile if you ask me but this is a somewhat unusual type of decal. The others are pretty basic a naturally less fragile. It was very intense getting the backing paper off the Pro decal without tearing the decal, he should rethink this but it did work and both sides go on at the same time which was kind of interesting. BTW, that's the spray bottle I used to wet the frame and decals with my water soap solution. These vinyls are grabby and I would even think of trying to install them dry