Paintwork Repairs ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE!

LeicesterLad

Somebody at work (unknown, another cyclist) has scraped the shit out of my Front Left Fork paintwork. Bike is near enough new, obviously very upset. How much would it costs to get a shop to spray it up properly?

LeicesterLad

Oh and surpirse surprise, no CCTV.

rafletcher

About £50 is the max you'll pay (That's the price Argos Cyles in Bristol charge, and they're amongst the best / most expensive). You can courier stuff to them if you want to (I had my LBS do it for me when I had a frame resprayed)

LeicesterLad

Do most LBS offer a Paint Repair service? out of curiosity.

Hierotochan

You can get a whole bike resprayed down here in Hackney for £60.
http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk/
That's powder-coated too, not just kid with a spraycan!

LeicesterLad

Hierotochan wrote:

You can get a whole bike resprayed down here in Hackney for £60.
http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk/
That's powder-coated too, not just kid with a spraycan!

Thats encouraging, hoepfully its not going to break the bank then!

amaferanga

If its a carbon frame and/or fork you can't get it powder coated.

LeicesterLad

amaferanga wrote:

If its a carbon frame and/or fork you can't get it powder coated.

Its alluminium, Probably not worth a full respray, its about 3 splodges the size of a Penny on one fork, to much for a car touch up kit, to little for a respray. How annoying.

LeicesterLad

Anybody tried nail varnish?

rafletcher

Humbrol Enamel paints then

Oh and powder coat is just that NOT a respray The respray from Argos is a first class job, powder coating is for hack bikes.

Gazzaputt

rafletcher wrote:

Humbrol Enamel paints then

Oh and powder coat is just that NOT a respray The respray from Argos is a first class job, powder coating is for hack bikes.

Wouldn't say my Canyon Ultimate AL with it's powder coat finish is a 'hack' bike

pilot_pete

Don't you find that powder coat scratches even easier than paint? I have rebuilt cars in the past and powder-coated suspension etc, but found that it was durable, but fine surface scratches seemed all too easy to inflict....

I always thought stove enamelling was the be all and end all of metal bike frames.....

PP

rafletcher

Gazzaputt wrote:

rafletcher wrote:

Humbrol Enamel paints then

Oh and powder coat is just that NOT a respray The respray from Argos is a first class job, powder coating is for hack bikes.

Wouldn't say my Canyon Ultimate AL with it's powder coat finish is a 'hack' bike

Ok, £50 powdercoats from Hackney

Skabillyrebel

Powder coating originates from the USA and is applied as a factory finish by many established and respected marques. Long gone are the days of basic primary or muddy industrial livery-pretty much every colour in the rainbow (including chrome effect) is available now.

The quality of finish is dependant upon sprayer skill, powder used and therefore reflected in the price. An industrial “job lot” firm may charge £25 for frame and forks but in my experience, fail to mask threads, apply a layer of chromate and/or lacquer topcoat. Moreover, it is likely to be rushed through with office furniture. Sometimes you get lucky but I’ve known cases of internal cable guides melting uselessly inside the curing oven, braze-ons damaged by over zealous blasting etc.

Vastly superior are project finishers who will explain the process at each stage and the options available. Aluminium frames should only be aqua blasted to avoid extensive pitting, although minor dent/repairs are addressed before painting. This latter group commonly specialise in wet-spray techniques such as two-pac, which can be applied atop powder for some really exotic effects. Maldon Shot blasting & Powder Coating have refinished several of my framesets to a very high standard at very reasonable cost and while powder is well suited to winter/hacks Klein, Rossin and similar frequently arrive for makeover.