In a previous post I covered why I converted my 2013 Scott Scale 920 from an XC hardtail into a drop-bar gravel bike. This is the companion: the respray itself, told mostly in pictures.
The plan: strip the factory black to bare carbon, prep the frame mods, lay down primer, then three colours in zones (metallic aubergine as the base, cherry red on the upper body, Montana Black at the bottom bracket and chain-stays), finished with a chrome stencil decal layer and a single coat of 2K Spraymax clear over the lot. Sanded with 1000–1500 grit between every step.
Frame surgery first
Before any paint, the frame needed cleaning up. The original brake hose ran externally along the down-tube, with mounting grooves moulded into the carbon. Those got cut off and sanded flush. The original front-derailleur cable port was enlarged so it could carry the rear brake hose and the rear derailleur cable; the old rear-derailleur exit was drilled through to take the dropper-post housing.
Net effect: zero external cable mounts on the down-tube. Everything exits at the bottom bracket.
Primer
A test piece, before committing
I didn't want to spray straight onto the frame without trying the colours together first. An old hockey stick got promoted to test rig.
Aubergine base coat
The whole frame got one full layer of metallic aubergine. Wet, deep, almost black off-axis but stunningly metallic in direct sunlight!
Then cherry red went on the head tube, the top of the down-tube, and along the top tube, the surfaces you see most when the bike is upright. Montana Black went at the bottom bracket and along the chain-stays, the dirty end, where mud and chain slap will live anyway.
Stencil and chrome decals
This was the most novel part of the build for me: using a stencil and a chrome spray for the logos rather than a stick-on decal. A custom stencil from an auto-parts decal shop gets taped to the frame, the rest of the bike gets masked with cardboard and paper, and chrome metallic goes through the cut-out. The reveal happens when you peel the stencil.
Down-tube: SCOTT
Head tube: the Scott "S"
Same idea, smaller stencil, finer work. Tweezers needed to lift the stencil away cleanly without dragging the chrome.
Decals down, before clear coat
The chrome at this stage is dull and unprotected, fingerprint-vulnerable. The clear coat is what locks it in.
2K Spraymax clear coat
One layer of 2K. The decals go under the clear, not on top, so paint and chrome seal into a single surface, which is a big part of why a sprayed decal beats a stuck-on sticker for durability.
The clear gives the aubergine its depth. That off-axis shift from purple to almost-black only really shows up under a coat. Closeups:
Build it back up
The full bike, drivetrain, cockpit, dropper, the whole drop-bar hardtail conversion, is the subject of this post.
Previous projects
The Scott wasn't my first carbon respray. A year earlier I stripped a full-suspension Orbea down to bare frame and took it from factory celeste green to a black-and-white scheme. Same workflow — strip, prime, base coats, clear — and a useful rehearsal for this build.
