Here are all of the tools you'll be needing for taking apart your bike:
Using the tools above remove everything carefully and save everything. It might also be a good idea to put nuts and bolts from different parts of the bike into labeled bags. Like I mentioned earlier, this is because we'll be reusing a lot of these old parts, so be careful not to lose anything.
Here's my frame after I've removed everything:
Now that you've removed everything from your bike take a minute and asses the quality of your frame before moving onto the next step. As you can see the paint on this frame is a little bit worn and frankly I'm not too fond of the color. Because of this I have no problem with repainting it. However, if you're converting a newer bike into a road bike you might find that the paint on your frame is hardly worn at all. In that case, unless you absolutely despise the color I would recommend against repainting the frame. Painting a bike is a long and hard process, and unless you have it done professionally the paint you apply will not be as durable as the paint that is already on your frame. This is because professionally painted bikes are painted using a process called powder coating which practically fuses the paint with the metal of the frame. If you do decide to repaint your bike move on to part three of this guide, if not go ahead and skip to part four.
