Showing posts with label Wheeltags. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wheeltags. Show all posts

Friday, April 17, 2009

DOPER! Alert! and How to Rid Carbon Wheels of Non-Sponsor Names

All right, Who's surprised? not me. but come on Tyler. Didn't you learn anything in your years of not racing? or do you not care? It appears it was all surrounding his battle with depression.

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Cycling News Flash, April 17, 2009Edited by Laura Weislo
Hamilton tests positive, retires
By Kirsten Robbins with additional reporting by Shane Stokes

(Click for larger image)



Tyler Hamilton's career in cycling has ended following a positive doping control, Cyclingnews learned Friday. He tested positive for the banned steroid Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) after an out-of-competition control in early February. Hamilton admitted to knowingly taking the substance which was an ingredient in a vitamin supplement he took in an attempt to alleviate depression. He has decided to retire. Tyler Hamilton has suffered from depression for years.

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I have some carbon wheels with non-team sponsor brand names on them. I have been searching for some ways to cover up the brand name. I thought about using a paint-pen like the ones they sell at craft stores and hobby stores. I tested it out, it's too 'gummy' and I think would slow down the aerodynamic features of the carbon wheels. I thought about buying some Wheeltags, but they don't have anything that matches my bike and I can't afford the custom order to design my own. I did even stop by a few local sign shops and such to see if they could make something close to the wheeltags.

Many said no, but I did find a few shops willing to give it a try. Issue is cost, they would charge me the same or more than the Wheeltags. Dumb to pay out that money for the cover-up. A trip to a few Auto-Parts stores and I scored a pretty large roll of Carbon Tape. This stuff is pretty sweet. After two weeks of trying to figure out how to put it on, lay it out and place it on my Carbon wheels, here is the before and after shots. Note from a short distance, you can't even tell I have the fake 'carbon' stickers over the Bontrager letters. I decided to keep some of the red and white on the wheels, because that part matches my bike. I may experiment with some of the extra material I have and try to dull out the finish on the sticker material to get it to more closely match the dull carbon finish of the actual wheels.