3T arx ltd Carbon Stem Custom finish

I stripped off the garish decals on this with a plan to custom paint it to match a frame but Ive since went in another direction.

Its been stripped down to the carbon and then clear coated in a very shiny high gloss finish that shows of the marble effect UD carbon weave underneath. It also has aftermarket rainbow Ti bolts.

Given the time I put into stripping, clear coating and the cost of the Ti bolts I don't think £80 is unreasonable. Let me know if you think that price is off though.

I've tried to show in the photos the shine from the clear coat but its hard to capture.

110mm 6 degree

Sold

Photos

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photos of how it was before stripping

Nice. Used to have one of these on my old Parlee.

Have you got any recommendations for rattle-can brands of carbon primer, paint and lacquer? Got a few small bits on an old Foil frame I'm hoping to remove and get to plain black (those old Gen I Foil Kamm-Tail garish green/ yellow accents)

I’d been looking for one of these and planned to strip and lacquer for my Parlee but I’d get a huge slap if I buy anything else this year...

I think you could argue that my, er, master craftsmanship is very clearly a work of art rather than an over priced bike part... Easily avoid that slap with my fool proof art argument.

@Amir_Atbak I'll get a photo of the stuff I used. It actually took a few attempts to get it the way I wanted. I've since realised that ambient air temperature and humidity likely play a part on how it turns out. First time around I set up a wee mini spray booth in the garage using thread and cardboard. Garage is single brick uninsulated and it was cold and raining, the clear coat dried in with a sort of matt bumpy texture. Sanded it all off again and same thing happened again. Fast-forward to last night when I fired up the new space heater for the garage, warmed the place up for a bit then sprayed it again and it turned out proper smooth and shiny this time.
Obviously I'm using v ghetto techniques here, maybe other brands of clear coat could be better, but be prepared not to get the finish you want first, second or even third time around.

@Amir_Atbak this is the clear coat I used. It's the 'bodyshop' version as opposed to the standard version.

No recommendations for carbon primers or paints I'm afraid. But it's something I'm looking into. I have a compressor in the garage and could potentially get a mini spray gun for it and do some ghetto spray painting.
I'll need to research it a whole lot more. Will make a thread for it when it comes to fruition.

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Nice one, cheers.

Yeah, never really dabbled in the spray side of things. I did experiment with removing lacquer and paint on the back of the Foil seatpost which was relatively easy using the razor blade method (and finishing with wet n' dry). It stands currently bare.

I've red about temperature being critical also as you point-out. I think I read not to bother unless it was at least 20 deg C. Might have to wait 'til the warmer months for me.

Saw this stuff, but no idea if it's any good or not.

https://www.bricklanebikes.co.uk/bike-paint

Yeah, in the summer months my garage is uncomfortably hot but then cold and damp at any other time. I'll probably wait until after winter before I try paint anything.
I've also heard about those spray.bike cans. Someone on here had a thread about using spray.bike and it turned out quite well. https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/346770/ Excellent use of a tent as a spray booth!

Theres obviously a million painting videos on youtube, but this guy in particular is quite funny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsD3E0b6mko
and shows that, with high end rattle cans, you can get a pretty good finish

Is price optimistic?

Dropped to £75

£70 before ebay

:( I’m broke...

I’d have bought it for my exploro but I’m a snob and like my stems 120mm only

Don't you realise the limitless possibilities that 110mm opens up?

I've seen that exploro on insta and tbh thought that it was the 120mm stem that was holding you back...

Oh I thought it was the seatpost that refuses to stay at the right height. Silly me

it definilty won't suit an exploro.
whats the weight ?

I'm absolutely convinced a shorter stem could fix that issue.

pm sent

Pm replied

And to anyone else wondering the stem is of course genuine. I originally bought it from @swedeee who I'm sure can confirm its provenance

yes it is the real deal. looks cooler now though!

last price drop to £60 before ebay

someone *needs*this

Do you still have the original bolts laying around for this?

Just found the bolts online
Have pm'd 👍