Frame painting

gbb

Whats best, what worked for you ?
I can get it powder coated via a friend in the trade, but a motorcycler at work told me his components went dull once he applied lacquer. Wrong base perhaps...(cellulose etc ?)
Is heat an issue for bike frames...i dont know the temps involved yet, but could it cause a problem?.
Or do i go for more traditional spraying...or even do it myself [:o)].

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Chill out, fer Christsakes....

Uncle Phil

I've had both done (different bikes).

Powder coat is as tough as old boots, but not everyone who does it will do fancy colours, metallic shades etc. It's cheap. It seems to make a thicker coating than paint, which might be an issue if you are coating a recumbent with a sliding boom (it was for me). It's not usually as shiny as enamel.

I don't think the heat used to cure it will be an issue for any bike frame. Plenty of alloy-framed bikes are powder coated.

Sprayed enamel gives you more options for fancyness, but won't be as tough and will cost more. A professional enamel job will be cooked in an oven to dry it hard anyway, so the same heat issue applies, or rather doesn't apply.

Spraying yourself is possible, but to get a finish comparable to a professional job is very difficult.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot
Nothing is going to get better. It's not"
- Dr Seuss

Give Baby Elephants Room!

pawlfreehub

I've had some powder coated with excellent results and cheap at œ20.00 each, need to be bead blasted or similar to bare metal though, and you need a someone who cares doing it. Why was he laquering over a presumably solid shiney powdercoated finish?
I've also sprayed a couple using two pack epoxies which is tough stuff - but you need all the gear including an air fed mask because it's nasty stuff (the quotes I had to sray a carbon frame were so astronomical I got on with it myself)

Unknown

Depends in part on how much you want to spend - and how *valuable* (generally or just to you!) the frame.

d.j.
"Not much to see,
Not much left to lose"

monty_dogcp

For a quality, durable finish, a baked finish is preferred - temperature is only critical for bonded composite frames but there are some 'low-bake' finishes available. Traditional sprayed finishes are OK but tend to be more brittle and less durable - it really depends on how much the bike is worth, what you want and how long you intend to keep it looking good.

gbb

I'm leaning toward powdercoat....mainly cos i may get it done cheap or for free [:I]
TBH, its not the be all and end all of frames, just a nice project. I'm going to swap most of the components off my heavyweight Chimera.

2 to 3 kilos for the frame...does that sound about right ?
It'll be interesting to see how heavy the Chimera frame is when its stripped...[:D] Good bike its been.....but time to go.

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Chill out, fer Christsakes....

Birillo

Quote from Kona:

"Without exception never powder coat one of our frames. The heat of the process affects the heat treatment and will cause the frame to fail."