[Closed] Invisiframe- Has anyone done it at home?

yep.

Warm frame and tape.

Clean frame really well. I used the recommended glass cleaner and did each section before I applied the tape. Use a lint free cloth.

Lots of soapy water sprayed on frame and sticky bit of tape.

Use the squuegy they supply and get *all* the bubbles out.

Take your time.

Yes.

Follow the instructions. Clean bike. Dismantle if necessary (cable runs).

I've only done it once and got it 99.9%. Only a couple of very small bubbles visible. I reckon that doing it under better lighting would have made it 100%

Sorry, yes - I was doing brand new frames but I'd seriously consider stripping a built bike back to the frame so you can access everything and rotate it in the work stand to the angle that gives best access to the bit of frame you're working on easily.

Yes, done it, not difficult but tedious and takes ages. 4+ hours. All advice you need is above, especially making sure you have plenty of light.

Did on a new bike, cleaned each area with Isopropyl alcohol before soapy water. I wouldn't bother stripping the frame but you will need to release cables from clamps etc as you go along. Worth doing the fork as well. A good bike stand so you can work at shoulder height is very helpful.

(I'd seriously consider paying someone the €100 to get it done next time 😮 )

I've done 4.

I did not need to strip the bikes at all. I also didn't feel the need to. Depends a bit on the bike perhaps.

Takes a few hours though, so if your not patient and careful don't bother trying.

Clean it with Isopropyl alcohol. Use a proper spray bottle with clean fresh water and the right amount of shampoo - this is important as it determines the amount of time you get to move it about till it sticks. Spray the bike, your fingers and the invisi film.

Squeeze like hell and be prepared for it to take ages. Be logical and systematic otherwise you will end up with a mess.

Some bits will refuse to stick down, come back to them later and they will. Do it in a warm environment that's dust free. Not your cold garage.

I did mine in the house on a clean wooden floor.

Start off with a bit that's not so obvious, not the bit on the top of the frame which you will be looking at for the rest of your life.

Take time and be prepared for it to take ages.

Just finished my second bike. couple of things I have learned.
1) Do it somewhere with loads of space i commandeered the dining room make sure the heating is on!
2) take your time
3) Use loads of water with a splash of baby shampoo
4) make sure you degrease and clean everything with a lint free rag
5) if it starts becoming a pain STOP and come back
6) Dont rush to build the bike up when its done. i left mine for a few days and kept working the "water blisters" out. I kept it in the dining room and eventually it all sorted itself out i would say its an 8/10 job almost as good as a factory fitted job.

Another tip i wouldn't bother doing it to a bike that's already been ridden, i got excited with my last bike (before my new one) and rode it on a dry summers day before my invisframe kit turned up. You will never get the bike clean enough to stop crap getting underneath the tape

It's fine - just follow the instructions and take your time.

Cleaning is key and using lint free clothes.

It takes a while but 4+ hours is a bit excessive - I did my Ti Stanton in less time than that which included cutting / altering a kit to fit (they don't so a specific one).

does anyone pay to have it done and not do it home...?

All of the above. I had a frame repainted so it came back clean and grease free, even then I was careful to use soapy water and to take my time. I did mine on a warm day, it went pretty well all things considered although I did get a couple of bubbles that had to be sorted with a pin.

If you're using a bike stand, it should go without saying that you need to clamp the frame by the seatpost first.

The potential £75 cost of getting my LBS to do it wasn't worth it IMHO.

I don't have the patience for it. Did one bike using 3M helitape thin stuff bought off Ebay and it looks ok, with more patience you could do a better job and I imagine with the pre cut invisiframe stuff it would look better. For my new bike I got Bird to send the frame straight to Invisiframe and got them to do it and it is so much better, hardly even notice its there. I did my own forks using the pre-cut invisiframe stuff and while its fine its not as good as the professionally applied stuff.
If you have the patience to do it properly then go for it otherwise worth sending it off IMHO.

done 2 now, piece of cake, just work through the very clear instructions and it'll be fine if you have an common sense. I can see how people get it wrong, but it is also very easy to do right, just takes time, as others have said.

Brilliant replies STWers.

I'll give it a go 🙂

Thanks

Yes, take time and care and it's fine. STF also, there are several threads offering advice and experience

does anyone pay to have it done and not do it home...?

Yes my LBS charged £100 to supply and fit and commented that it took 6hrs!!!

It would be £72 for me to buy the kit. I value my time at more than £4.66 an hour plus they do a decent cup of coffee hour so it was a no brainer.

Definitely doable. As above, plenty of time, and definitely in a heated room. I’d agree that a bare frame is way easier although I have done a built bike too. I’ve done a bike that I rode twice first, scrupulously clean and with a good rubdown with iso it’s fine.

Definitely wouldn’t do one that had any damage to the finish already though.

The comment regarding cost of own time is fair enough, but this also applies to most home bike maintenance. If you’re not the sort of rider that only takes Work to shops when special tools are needed then paying £30 to have it done is probably worthwhile...

I did mine and it's too not difficult, or [i]that[/i] time consuming (bike shop taking 6 hrs!). Some good advice in this thread, not much I can add to it. I would have paid £30 to have mine done, but local shops quoting at least twice that, so I did it myself. 2-3hrs of my time one evening when kids in bed and missus at work, not time I could have been earning or riding the bike, so not time I count as any great cost to me. Others time/cost balance will obviously differ.

I did it at home - looked ok but up close I had managed to get hairs, dust etc under it that I didn't really notice when I put it on.

It was fine to love with - its a bike after all! But when some of the corners started to lift and got mud under them I ripped the whole kit off lol.

Then I just rode the bike, scratched it up - cried at first scratch, then got over it and added some more!!

I have not done it to my new bike. I tend to keep bikes long enough for any damage not to make a difference to the sale price.

I wouldn't advise getting a shop to do it.

Having done 4 I know it takes ages, any shop charging on a decent labour rate will make the cost of fitting it very high.

If they charge a low amount then they will expect the poor underpaid mechanic to do it in his half hour lunch break. This will mean you get a really bad job.

I have not done it to my new bike. I tend to keep bikes long enough for any damage not to make a difference to the sale price.

I sell all my frames [s]in mint condition[/s] [i]wiped with oil to hide all the scratches[/i] 😆

(bike shop taking 6 hrs!)

It's a Mondraker Dune so lots of small fiddly pieces. I'm guessing it would be nowhere near that for a hardtail.

If they charge a low amount then they will expect the poor underpaid mechanic to do it in his half hour lunch break. This will mean you get a really bad job.

Mines perfect. Just because I'd have to pay £72 for a kit doesn't mean they have to.

Voltz Bikes if anyone's near North Nottinghamshire and needs it doing. Highly recommended.

a handy tip for getting the edges to stick down is use a clean tea towel to soak get the final part of the edges down rather than a squeagy. it soaks the water up and the edges go down and stay down... just make sure you work towards the edges. never had an edge lift in a year of ownership and bike looks like new still.

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New Soul frame, in my kitchen. Took maybe hour and a half?

Was going to do my Bfe. I have already ridden it Andy reading this thread makes me think it isn’t now best left alone.

New Soul frame, in my kitchen. Took maybe hour and a half?

I did my new frame, it had already been built up and then stripped once or more for photoshoots by the manufacturer or dealers, and ridden a bit. Polished out a couple of scuffs on the frame, wiped it down with bug remover and it actually looks shinier with the kit fitted.

I bought a blank sheet of invisiframe as it looked like the pre-cut kits were not wide enough to get the coverage in a couple of areas. After needing to adjust a couple of pieces of film, I reckon it would be easier to cut your own kit than trim the edges of a generic one, scissors tend to veer off and with a knife, you need to start on your cut line and go towards the pre-cut edge...if you just want to take a slither off a long edge it could be fiddly.

I used paper templates to get the sizes right, you need a properly sharp stanley knife and I learnt to cut from the finished side and not try to cut right through from the back as it creates a lightly ragged edge and you can see its not a clean cut once squeegied onto the frame. Make sure the templates sit fairly flat on the frame, if the paper puckers up on the hydroformed areas the film will too.

I didn't worry about all the silly tiny bits the kits come with, I just wrapped seat and chain stays, top tube where I sit on it underside of downtube and the head tube for cable rub, plus a few bits where bikepacking bags are strapped to the frame. Can hardly tell its there. Took a couple of short evenings but almost all of that was the templates, if it was precut it would have been one evening in the kitchen with the kettle on the go.

I’ve done two, first for my Enduro, second for Mrs M’s ebike which required some adaptation of the non ebike version.

My recommendations are clean the bike, leave in a warm conservatory for a few hours with the kit. Use plenty of mildly soapy water and some latex gloves to avoid finger prints.

Take your time.

I thought your conservatory only had two temperatures...baltic, and 'Mrs M found the firewood' 😉

P.S Spray fingers with the soapy solution also helps avoid finger prints

I dropped my new bike off at MrInvisiframe's house.
By the time I'd driven the 40 minutes home he'd rung me to say it was ready to collect.
Drove back and picked it up and he only charged me about a tenner more than the kit would have cost. 😀
So on that basis I'd not even bother trying to fit it myself. 😆

I’ve fitted an invisiframe kit on three frames, one was brand new, the other two were used frames. Just follow the advice above, but make sure you clean the frame properly first (even a brand new frame). Some frames are also easier to do than others due to awkward shapes etc. I’d definitely use invisiframe again.