Have not read any of the previous postings but i'll tell you what are you doing wrong...
1 - dont ever use rustoleum paint. That thing wont hold in a bike, it will chip really quick as in your pictures. Big NO NO to rattlecan paint unless is something else like car polyurethane paint in a rattle can.
2 - rustoleum clear coat sucks, that simple. Besides being way to soft to paint a bicycle the thing turns yellow after 6 months to a year because doesnt have UV protection. This is when i say again... polyurethane car clear coat. Big difference between a 3 bucks a can versus clear coat for cars that is like 30 bucks the quart plus the hardener (50 bucks total for a quart), the results are way different as well. The rttle can will take like 6 months to cure versus a clear that can be sanded and polished after 12 hours.
3 - Curing time, dry time and curing time are 2 different things, rustoleum will take like 6 months to cure and get hard because it dries using plain air... car paint dries chemically so the paint gets harder to touch maybe after 4 hours, after 24 you can put the bike together and the paint will be intact. Sure after 48 hours that rattlecan work is not even dry yet and you havea lot of finger prints here and there... right?
This is what you have to do but it will cost you...
1 - sand the frame to bare metal and use sand 400 sand paper over the frame to etch it.
2 - Get something called U-POL #5 High Build Primer, this is a comercial car repair shop primer in rattle can, get 2 cans and follow the instructions. Comes in 3 colors, your choice but light grey is the most common. After the 1st coat you will notice that this is a serious product not that cr@p of rustoleum. Sand imperfections if you like... apply like 3 coats. That primer will be ready for paint in 15 minutes. This product is sold in car paint supplies shops.
3 - In the same place you got the u-pol ask for the cheapest car paint they have, and ask for a pint, a pint is all you need ok? If the guy wants to sell you dupont or any other fancy paint just look somewhere else ok? There are some places that sell omni that is good an non expensive paint. Get generic reducer and in the smallest bottle they had... maybe 2 quarts. U will need this. Ask the guy the ratio of paint:reducer the paint uses. Usually is like 2:1
4 - sure you dont have a spray gun or a compressor so... go to home depot or in the same store you got the paint they should have something called Preval sprayer, get 3 of those with the bottle. You will paint with this.
5 - The clear coat part now... the cheapest clear with UV protection is the U-pol #1 clear, this thing will shine and will be ready for sanding and polishing in hours... 3 to 4 light coats... 2 cans to play safe. You will love this one.
6 - extra materials, wet sand paper... 400 ... 600 .. 1000 and 2000 grit, this is to take off the imperfections in the paint and clear. If you dont care and you got a few runs, just dont buy it. If you sand the clear coat you will need to polish the paint, ask for the cheaper paint polisher, that will do the job. If you sand the paint it will get dull (matte), dont worry once the clear is in it will get shiny again. Car paint w/o clear coat goes from shiny to matte as it dries, thats why u need the clear.
Pretty much that's what you have to do and what you need.
This is what you get after a lot of sanding and polishing....
