RT wheel wrap failure

[JP58]

Well I tried to put wheel wrap on RTS wheels. The wrap is to thin wanted to curl and stick. Got one on but looks awful. Bubbles and crease. I would think you would wet down the wrap like I've seen others do so you can slide in place. Then it dries and sticks. Here is a couple pics. I quit after this.

[trikermutha]

you just use water or water and a small drop of baby soap in your spray bottle?

[JP58]

Thee instructions do not say that.

[Chupaca]

You did a great job applying it dry. Not what you had in mind for sure. check and see if you can get a replacement for those...

[Kredab]

Well I tried to put wheel wrap on RTS wheels. The wrap is to thin wanted to curl and stick. Got one on but looks awful. Bubbles and crease. I would think you would wet down the wrap like I've seen others do so you can slide in place. Then it dries and sticks. Here is a couple pics. I quit after this.

Was the wheel and your hands clean ? I just wrapped my last week , did not use water. I just got mine positioned working from the center to the outside. If I didn't like it I just picked it up and started over . He sends a couple extra , bubbles will push out the crease will not .

I wish i could could help you further

[JP58]

Was the wheel and your hands clean ? I just wrapped my last week , did not use water. I just got mine positioned working from the center to the outside. If I didn't like it I just picked it up and started over . He sends a couple extra , bubbles will push out the crease will not .

I wish i could could help you further

Yes both clean. Where in Iowa do you live. I'm southern WI.

[Flamewinger]

Most bubbles will disappear. The large ones can be poked with a pin and then flattened.

[johnsimion]

The wrap stuff looks great when professionally applied. The problem is that application is not nearly as easy as it looks. Hey, I had successfully applied some tape stripe and I watched all the videos and it seemed so simple, how hard could it be? I bought a frunk decal and the wheel wrap. I thought I'd do the install myself and start on the frunk decal, which looked pretty simple. I waited until I had a nice warm day, plenty of time and all the materials shown in the video. Even watched the video two or three more times. On my first attempt, I managed to mis-align it, ruining the left half. I stopped until I got a new piece and aligned the decal well enough to go through with the install. Everything went great until I tried pushing it down into place, but nevertheless I was about to put it down. The alignment, however, was still off, "too high" on the Spyder, leading to wrinkles I couldn't avoid. There were also about a hundred bubbles, apparently because I didn't push hard enough even though (I thought) I was following instructions. Obviously I wasn't but I really didn't know what to do differently. "Push harder" is easy to say, harder to do because too hard would also be a problem. This is a SKILL and after making a second mess I realized I just did not have that skill. That was hard to admit because honestly it looks so easy in the videos. Anyway, I still liked the decal so I got an entirely new one and took it to a professional to apply it for me. The pro did a nice job and the decal looks great now. However, even with a pro doing it, there are still a couple of small bubbles and I'll need to take it back to see if they can work those out for me.

Meanwhile, I still had that wheel wrap sitting there, waiting to be installed. Seeing how much trouble I had with the frunk decal, I totally chickened out on the wheel wrap and decided just to have my wheels painted. FYI, if anybody wants to try to install the red reflective wheel wrap in perfect condition, PM me. $10 and I'll pay the postage (U.S. only) -- otherwise I'll just throw it away. Maybe you will be better at this than I, or maybe you can have a pro put it on for you. Painting the wheels cost a lot more than the wheel wrap, but didn't involve any headaches at all, and maybe was cheaper in the long run if I'd ruined several sets of wheel decals and ended up hiring a pro to install them. (the painted wheels look great, but the wheel wrap would have looked great, too).

I am sure I could learn to apply wrap with practice, but I can't afford enough ruined decals and damage to my sanity to learn to do this stuff properly. All total, I spent almost $250 on one $115 decal and even though it looks good, it's a pretty expensive decal and not even that big. However, do NOT take this as a complaint against Pete. The situation is entirely MY fault, not his. His products are well-made, shipped quickly and look good when properly applied -- and Pete was also extremely helpful in my hour of need and discounted my "repair" pieces substantially, which he didn't really have to do (but I appreciated). It's also my fault because Pete told me the red reflective might be hard to apply and I didn't listen. However, I have to say that unless you have the experience and skills to do this, buy Pete's wrap but leave the installation to the pros.

[Kredab]

Yes both clean. Where in Iowa do you live. I'm southern WI.

LaPorte city, 10 mile south of Waterloo

[Kredab]

The wrap stuff looks great when professionally applied. The problem is that application is not nearly as easy as it looks. Hey, I had successfully applied some tape stripe and I watched all the videos and it seemed so simple, how hard could it be? I bought a frunk decal and the wheel wrap. I thought I'd do the install myself and start on the frunk decal, which looked pretty simple. I waited until I had a nice warm day, plenty of time and all the materials shown in the video. Even watched the video two or three more times. On my first attempt, I managed to mis-align it, ruining the left half. I stopped until I got a new piece and aligned the decal well enough to go through with the install. Everything went great until I tried pushing it down into place, but nevertheless I was about to put it down. The alignment, however, was still off, "too high" on the Spyder, leading to wrinkles I couldn't avoid. There were also about a hundred bubbles, apparently because I didn't push hard enough even though (I thought) I was following instructions. Obviously I wasn't but I really didn't know what to do differently. "Push harder" is easy to say, harder to do because too hard would also be a problem. This is a SKILL and after making a second mess I realized I just did not have that skill. That was hard to admit because honestly it looks so easy in the videos. Anyway, I still liked the decal so I got an entirely new one and took it to a professional to apply it for me. The pro did a nice job and the decal looks great now. However, even with a pro doing it, there are still a couple of small bubbles and I'll need to take it back to see if they can work those out for me.

Meanwhile, I still had that wheel wrap sitting there, waiting to be installed. Seeing how much trouble I had with the frunk decal, I totally chickened out on the wheel wrap and decided just to have my wheels painted. FYI, if anybody wants to try to install the red reflective wheel wrap in perfect condition, PM me. $10 and I'll pay the postage (U.S. only) -- otherwise I'll just throw it away. Maybe you will be better at this than I, or maybe you can have a pro put it on for you. Painting the wheels cost a lot more than the wheel wrap, but didn't involve any headaches at all, and maybe was cheaper in the long run if I'd ruined several sets of wheel decals and ended up hiring a pro to install them. (the painted wheels look great, but the wheel wrap would have looked great, too).

I am sure I could learn to apply wrap with practice, but I can't afford enough ruined decals and damage to my sanity to learn to do this stuff properly. All total, I spent almost $250 on one $115 decal and even though it looks good, it's a pretty expensive decal and not even that big. However, do NOT take this as a complaint against Pete. The situation is entirely MY fault, not his. His products are well-made, shipped quickly and look good when properly applied -- and Pete was also extremely helpful in my hour of need and discounted my "repair" pieces substantially, which he didn't really have to do (but I appreciated). It's also my fault because Pete told me the red reflective might be hard to apply and I didn't listen. However, I have to say that unless you have the experience and skills to do this, buy Pete's wrap but leave the installation to the pros.

Sorry, you didn't have a good experience.
Well I didn't have any issues with the wheel wrap, I do have a little experience with wrap as I have built cornhole boards that have wrap on them. I once put a big wrap on a door at work and did screw it up, luckily I knew the lady that made it and she came and help me with the second one.

I was going to try and wrap the wheels on the Spyder, Pete said it would be nearly impossible, so I listened to him. I took my time , cleaned everything, and cleaned it again, position the wrap on the rim , when I was happy with it I took the hair dryer to it

It can be done

[gnorthern]

The wrap stuff looks great when professionally applied.

How do you find a professional that does that? Is that a body shop?

[bcer960]

How do you find a professional that does that? Is that a body shop?

I had one of Pete's wraps put on my frunk. I took it to a paint protection company (Protex) and paid them to do it. It is perfect.

[johnsimion]

How do you find a professional that does that? Is that a body shop?

Any place that does wraps should be able to do it. What Pete sells are, essentially, wraps. There are at least half a dozen wrap shops here in Las Vegas. I used Yelp to find one with good reviews, then called the owner to discuss it. I paid $75 for them to put on my frunk decal. Maybe expensive for an hour's work but cheaper than buying decal after decal and screwing them up.

[cyclekid58]

0422181026a_Burst01.jpgUltra Blue.jpg

These didn't come out too bad They are the Ultra Blue Metallic. I tried wet method first and wasted one of the extras as they would not stick at all, so I did the dry method doing the centerline and all as was suggested in the instructions. I also did my wifes cognac ones on her bike. The regular decal kits on the bike itself were a piece of cake, these not so much and I did take the wheels off as suggested.

[Deanna777]

you just use water or water and a small drop of baby soap in your spray bottle?

I installed mine last night. Here is a picture of mine:12 spoke wheel kit-Cognac.jpg.




The instructions say: thoroughly clean surface area with 70% Rubbing alcohol and paper towel,

Position design to your liking on the surface.

Peel backing from backing paper.

Squeegee in overlapping strokes from the center of the panel to the outsides.

Once applied, warm surface area with hair dryer or heat gun.
Allow 24hrs. for the film to cure.

I did not take the wheels off.
Deanna

[Deanna777]

0422181026a_Burst01.jpgUltra Blue.jpg

These didn't come out too bad They are the Ultra Blue Metallic. I tried wet method first and wasted one of the extras as they would not stick at all, so I did the dry method doing the centerline and all as was suggested in the instructions. I also did my wifes cognac ones on her bike. The regular decal kits on the bike itself were a piece of cake, these not so much and I did take the wheels off as suggested.

I did mine last night and did not take the wheels off. Deanna

[JP58]

Well a co worker helped me with the wrap. Not overly thrilled with the color. They recomended burgandy to match my helmet but my helmet is more candy apple color.

[cyclelover63]

How do you find a professional that does that? Is that a body shop?

Call A couple body shops and ask them who they use to install graphics for them. Most sublet that work out.