DH Bike Refresh (1 Viewer)

[Dork]

Bored at work today so I thought I'd share a recent project that pulled me away from the truck.

The scuffed, scratched and beaten look of the used Demo 8 I got last year wasn't doing it for me, so I did something about it.

Paint stripper, clean and rough up, primed, sanded, painted, painted again, wet sanded, clear coated and topped with some 3M paint protection in a few critical spots. New Tacoma cement grey with hot rod satin black. 2K matte clear coat. Looks killer up close, but I'm worried about the longevity of it. While it was apart i repacked the bearings, cleaned everything as much as possible. New rims, pedals and chain ring, but everything else reused.

Going to throw it down a mountain at Fernie this weekend, so I guess I'll find out how well it holds up.

From this:

To:

 

[semlin]

nicely done. just needs the rest of the decal kit and it might pass for stock.

 

[Dork]

nicely done. just needs the rest of the decal kit and it might pass for stock.

I'm a no stickers kinda guy most of the time. My vehicles have usually gotten debadged in the past too. I will likely leave it as is, potentially repainting next year if it turns out my prep work was garbage.

 

[gilamonster]

Came out great!

 

[Bustaphoto]

Specialized should have made the bike in these colors lol, I support your no stickers!

 

[LINUS]

Demo 8 —— old real ‘made in USA’ -era Santa Cruz?

Or am I thinking Driver 8?

Looks great, whoever made it!

 

[Dork]

Demo 8 —— old real ‘made in USA’ -era Santa Cruz?

Or am I thinking Driver 8?

Looks great, whoever made it!

It was made by Specialized, probably in Taiwan like 90% of bikes are, in 2014. In bike terms it's now totally outdated, thanks to ever evolving standards ridiculousness.

 

[Skniper]

@Dork Just found this thread....it's been a year, hows the paint job holding up??

 

[Dork]

@Dork Just found this thread....it's been a year, hows the paint job holding up??

Better than I expected, actually. It's been crashed 7 or 8 times, dropped, shuttled, chair lifted, wedged into a gondola, hit with rocks and ridden in rain, light snow and mud over that year. There's a few nicks in the paint, most notably on the seat/chain stays.

Here's some photos from a couple weekends ago. It's dirty, but zoom in and you can kinda see how it's held up. My lazy ass hasn't washed it yet, but when I do I'll snap an updated picture.

 

[Skniper]

Cool, looks good with dirt on it too.

So this thread caught my eye because the original red/white color reminded me that the DH bike I rented in Crested Butte several years ago was a Spec. Demo. I'm from flatland and never experienced a DH bike before...HOLY HELL!! that was the most fun I've ever had on a roller coaster!

I couldn't do a lot of the technical stuff or had to take it slow bc I would have killed myself, but man I cut that thing loose for max speed on everything else. So freekin fast with ease, amazing what those rigs will handle and the confidence they induce.

 

[Indestructible 47]

Nice bike, I've ridden these and love them. I might have to pinch the paint idea, thanks for posting it

 

[Dork]

Yeah, the bike's been fun and seems to be indestructible. Seriously, it's been tossed down the mountain without me a good handful of times and just keeps going.

Finally gave it a rinse, so here's some photos of how it's held up. The bars had the least prep work done on them and it shows, flaking off in a few spots. Couple of rock chips at the back, little bit of paint scuffed off the seat stay where my heels rub, but overall I'm really happy with it.