Does the paint on the bike add to total weight?

ohlala!

Hi folks,

I've just purchased an unpainted Graham Weigh frame. i must have put about 10 thin coats on it plus wet sanding. Does this mean that I now have the weight of 3 spray cans, which is about 1200gr.

As the white gets dirty easily, now I'm taking all of the paint of and mirror polish it and then put my own stencils on the road bike. My next question is: other than online, where can I buy polishing compounds such as tripoli in London?

redddraggon

Unless the paint has no mass, it's obviously going to add weight.

volvine

i've heard it all now lol

Uzbek

Does this mean that I now have the weight of 3 spray cans, which is about 1200gr.

Good one.

Don't forget to include the weight of the empty cannisters too-I'm assuming you have them strapped to the frame.

dandrew

make sure you don't get any drips when you spray it as drips will add to the weight!

Infamous

Clear laquer doesn't weigh anything, use as much as you like.

pottssteve

I'm looking for some polka-dot paint so I can give my bike a "King of the Mountains" look. I can only find it in white with blue spots; does anyone know where I can get white with red?
Cheers

tmg

don't paint it, just wrap it in cling film, much lighter

roger_merriman

Mercedes raced cars in the 30's with no paint as they where just over the weight limit painted.

keef66

weight of paint is a significant factor for commercial planes. More than one operator has used shiny aluminium to save weight.

I imagine most of the weight of a spray can is the can itself and the solvents / propellant. When dry the paint will weigh next to bugger all. Although Van Nicholas' current ad claims that painting their Ti frames only makes them heavier.

I think I'll pop over to weight weenies and start a rumour about a new paint technology which incorporates nano-bubbles of helium which when dry will actually reduce the weight of a frame.

Sea_Green_Incorruptible

keef66 wrote:

I think I'll pop over to weight weenies and start a rumour about a new paint technology which incorporates nano-bubbles of helium which when dry will actually reduce the weight of a frame.

Do it do it do it do it do it!

cougie

I know one of the pros worked out the weight of his custom sprayed designs and so his climbing bike didnt have the fancy paint job.

GavH

Both American Airlines and at one point Japanese Airlines used 'shiny', unpainted planes and saved several tonnes of fuel per journey becuase the aircraft was lighter. FACT.

An unpainted frame will weigh less than a painted one. FACT.

Will you notice the added weight of, possibly, but I bet you'd be more conscious of the fact your are riding a sh1t looking, unpainted frame more than you'll be conscious of the extra few hundred grammes of weight on it.

Quite why some people have felt the need to ridicule the OP, anybodys guess. :roll:

Pokerface

cougie wrote:

I know one of the pros worked out the weight of his custom sprayed designs and so his climbing bike didnt have the fancy paint job.

Seeing as there is a minimum weight limit which any modern race bike can easily hit, I'd be surprised if this was really the case.

dennisn

Sea_Green_Incorruptible wrote:

keef66 wrote:

I think I'll pop over to weight weenies and start a rumour about a new paint technology which incorporates nano-bubbles of helium which when dry will actually reduce the weight of a frame.

Do it do it do it do it do it!

And don't forget the triathletes.

geoff_ss

I build and fly radio control model aircraft and weight is an important factor in flying quality. The lighter a 'plane the slower it will fly before stalling. The weight of a finish is a constant feature in model aircraft fora.

Provided you don't go overboard then paint is generally a light finish (as opposed to some plastic/fabric covering materials). A large number of coats doesn't need to be heavy either. Provided each coat is rubbed down properly all you get is a better, longer lasting and fuel proof airframe. The same will apply to bike frames. In any case the frame itself is likely to be a much bigger proportion of the total weight of the bike than the paint, which will weigh very little.

Did you weigh the bare frame? It would be interesting to know what the increase is.

Geoff

Anonymous

http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/2345.aspx

ohlala!

weight of paint is a significant factor for commercial planes. More than one operator has used shiny aluminium to save weight.

I imagine most of the weight of a spray can is the can itself and the solvents / propellant. When dry the paint will weigh next to bugger all. Although Van Nicholas' current ad claims that painting their Ti frames only makes them heavier.

I think I'll pop over to weight weenies and start a rumour about a new paint technology which incorporates nano-bubbles of helium which when dry will actually reduce the weight of a frame.

400 ml is the content of each spray can, 400ml = 400gr. 400gr x 3 spray cans = 1200 gr so logically, spraying 1200gr of content means transfering that 1200 gr onto the frame. but is this true? The unpainted frame feels a little heavier after it was painted.

most of the assembly line videos I saw, frames where only given one coat of what ever colour and then 1 coat of clear lacquer.

Pokerface

NapoleonD wrote:

http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/2345.aspx

Wow - what a great way to ruin a bike! Saved weight, yes, but think it looks pretty ghey.

redddraggon

ohlala! wrote:

400 ml is the content of each spray can, 400ml = 400gr. 400gr x 3 spray cans = 1200 gr so logically, spraying 1200gr of content means transfering that 1200 gr onto the frame. but is this true? The unpainted frame feels a little heavier after it was painted.

I bet that there's more mass in the solvent than there is in the paint particles - I bet if you sprayed a can and let it dry it'll be no where near 400g as most of the mass will be the liquid the paint is suspended in.

BTW for 400ml = 400gr, you are assuming it's the same as water, which I doubt anyway.

RedJohn

Also a lot of the paint will miss the frame and land on the floor / masking tape etc - at least half I should think.

My road bike is painted. It's also available without paint but with a cosmetic carbon finish instead. The quoted extra weight of my painted bike is 80g, but the cosmetic carbon won't be weightless.

Mikelyons

GavH wrote:

Both American Airlines and at one point Japanese Airlines used 'shiny', unpainted planes and saved several tonnes of fuel per journey becuase the aircraft was lighter. FACT.

Hi Gav,

not painting the planes does save weight & fuel, but not several tonnes per journey. At current fuel prices of $500 -$600/tonne that would be worth thousands of dollars & you'd then see all airlines not painting their planes.

They probably still have to polish or lacquer the raw metal surfaces to prevent oxidation & reduce drag and that will offset some of the saving from not painting.

Mike

Finbar Saunders

Cube quotes a difference in weight for an LTD MTB of 100g between the black anodized and one of their other colours e.g. candy blue. I don't know what difference they quote for road bikes.

eh

Anodizing isn't the same as painting. In anodizing you deliberatly form a thick oxide on the surface to provide more protection than the naturally forming one. However, an anodized surface also happens to be porous so you can add colour to it with a dye.

Aluminium and Steel frames should be painted to protect them from corrosion. WIth Ti frames any painting is purely aesthetic.

Infamous

ohlala! wrote:

weight of paint is a significant factor for commercial planes. More than one operator has used shiny aluminium to save weight.

I imagine most of the weight of a spray can is the can itself and the solvents / propellant. When dry the paint will weigh next to bugger all. Although Van Nicholas' current ad claims that painting their Ti frames only makes them heavier.

I think I'll pop over to weight weenies and start a rumour about a new paint technology which incorporates nano-bubbles of helium which when dry will actually reduce the weight of a frame.

400 ml is the content of each spray can, 400ml = 400gr. 400gr x 3 spray cans = 1200 gr so logically, spraying 1200gr of content means transfering that 1200 gr onto the frame. but is this true? The unpainted frame feels a little heavier after it was painted.

most of the assembly line videos I saw, frames where only given one coat of what ever colour and then 1 coat of clear lacquer.

haha 1200g ??? some carbon frames weigh less than 1kg....

chaffordred

The paint weight on a road bike will be negligible.

If you paint a carbon bike, the frame would have to be keyed up or wet flatted which would actually remove weight from the frame.

Most paint jobs I have seen on road bikes are virtually transparent. On some frames you can actually see the carbon weave underneath, which indicates the amount of basecoat (paint colour) on the frame is minimal. At a guess < 16th of a litre of base will be used to paint an average road frame. Most of this will be "lost" into the atmosphere or through the filtration system in the spray booth. Another chunk of weight will be lost through the solvent (thinners) evaporation.

Aerosols are full of solvents and the amount of paint leaving the tin and hitting the frame is very low.

k-dog

cougie wrote:

I know one of the pros worked out the weight of his custom sprayed designs and so his climbing bike didnt have the fancy paint job.

Probably Rasmussen - he was nuts about weight hence his "haircut" and prison camp physique. He didn't have his Colnago climbing bike painted - it was just raw carbon and didn't look like other Rabobank bikes. Rumour has it he wouldn't get on a bike unless he'd personally seen the scales read 6.8kg.

pabloweaver

if i dust my bike before i go out i go round quicker ..............







until it rains ....



then its heavy again

volvine

Probably Rasmussen - he was nuts about weight hence his "haircut" and prison camp physique. He didn't have his Colnago climbing bike painted - it was just raw carbon and didn't look like other Rabobank bikes. Rumour has it he wouldn't get on a bike unless he'd personally seen the scales read 6.8kg.

i can understand this one of the best climbers in the world at the very top of his chosen sport(or was).
for the remainding 99.99% of people are you having a laugh as if it matters to the like's of people on here what next trying to find the lightest energy drink powder to save weight get a grip and realise where you are at or you will all be riding naked next to save weight lol.

volvine

and whilst i am at it look which forum this is (road beginners) so probably like me you could make the biggest weight saving by loosing probably 10 times that ammount from round your midriff.

keef66

Quite a weight saving there in your minimal use of punctuation!