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Got a tripster AT frame and was thinking about giving it a bit of invisiframe treatment.
Got some clear vinyl from ebay but now have cold feet, is it worth it, will I **** it up and it will look naff?
I did my Nukeproof Scout with a roll of heli-tape back end of last year.
Just take your time, make sure you round the corners and cut it all to shape beforehand.
Get the frame really clean - I used turtle Wax bug & tar remover.
Water spray with a couple of drops of washing up liquid so you can get the tape where you want it and use an old credit card to smooth/squeeze water out.
Use a hair dryer to get it to go into all the odd shapes and corners.
I did it over a couple of days.
Link to my previous post [U][URL= https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/heli-tape-any-application-tips/ ]HERE[/URL][/U]
soapy water and a squeegy works wonders on proper invisiframe stuff, they have the proper squeegy too
Are you patient and moderately dexterous? If so then you should be fine but be prepared to try and scrap and try again on larger pieces until you get it right. I've done a full invisiframe kit and a diy job on a gravel frame that was quite neat, if I say so myself... Just takes time.
For a gravel bike is not worth doing the whole frame though. Top tube, under the down tube, back of seat tube and anywhere that cables or straps will rub. Chainstays if you tend to clip them with your heels maybe.
I did my Tripster AT. I used paper templates to get everything perfect, and then cut the invisiframe. Do a test cut as the stanley knife cut much cleaner from one side that the other.
Actually looked glossier afterwards 🙂 I did it mainly as I knew I was going to strap lots of bike luggage to it, and ride it more like an MTB than a gravel bike.
Also, I used the kosher Invisiframe stuff as I couldn't work out if any of the ebay options were the same quality/product.
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The tyres are so much narrower than the MTB and generally of a much different tread pattern that they do not flick up stones in my experience. I haven't bothered on my Slate and I have no marks in a year and over 2000 miles of use (80% commuting admittedly)