Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - de bernardi paint/finish issues?

had a look at a beautiful new-in-the-box db frame today, but here's the thing; at a couple of points at the welds there was some chipping, and underneath the paint was what appeared to be some kind of filler used to smooth the welds. the guy who is selling it kind of dug at it with his fingernail and it chipped away. looked like plaster. it was at the intersection of the top and head tubes and also at one point on the bb.

anyone else experience anything like this? bad batch maybe?

those bikes have notoriously awful paint jobs. they will chip if you look at it wrong. i personally would never buy one unless i wanted to have it repainted anyway.

you look at the paint on those bikes and it chips. A friend of mine had one and it shipped all over. They are good frames just bad paint.

the plaster/filler sounds strange though... but if it's brand new maybe it's fine.
is it that one that's been on NYcraigslist for the last 3-4 months?

I ordered mine custom pre-chipped so I wouldn't be disappointed. I have had mine for 3yrs now - good frame

Nice ride, nice tubing, crap paint. However, the ones that friend's have (and there are three) all have a nice sort of weathered/beater look to them now. Which is sort of nice if you're into that.

the plaster/filler sounds strange though... but if it's brand new maybe it's fine.
is it that one that's been on NYcraigslist for the last 3-4 months?

yes it is

I talked to a guy who had one that had a tube failure on his DB pista. When he called DeBerardi about it they gave him the run a round and finally offered a new frame at wholesale price. Which means they just get to sell another frame at thier full price. I doubt this is a consistant issue and the failure was not the fault of Debanardi but they clearly handled the situation poorly.

i don't mind a bike looking weathered but if digging your fingertip into the weld area reveals filler then that bothers me.

Then stay away. There's probably a reason why he hasn't sold it yet and you might have found it.

thanks all. oh well, back to the hunt for a small steel track frame…

yes it is
it seems weird that the guy hasn't been able to sell it for months...
especially in NY with so many people eager to buy track frames.

thanks all. oh well, back to the hunt for a small steel track frame…

trackstar has alot of small steel track frames. that pake is small/cheap and has the same geom as the rush.

Nice ride, nice tubing, crap paint. However, the ones that friend's have (and there are three) all have a nice sort of weathered/beater look to them now. Which is sort of nice if you're into that.


Soooo bad at painting, the family DeBernardi. And I'm tired of the weathered/beater thing. I wonder what Jasonsan is up to these days?

A lot of Italian bikes seem to have crappy paint jobs. My Basso chipped like hell until I repainted it.

A lot of Italian bikes seem to have crappy paint jobs. My Basso chipped like hell until I repainted it.

Must be the laid back lifestyle. Ehhhhhhhhh, no worry, hava natha grappa. . .

Paint a bike with no primer, put the paint on thin and it saves a couple of ounces in weight.

i'm getting the db track frame soon, along with 5 or 6 cans of clearcoat.

i cant speak for debernardi's as i've only seen a few, however,

on tigged frames, with unskilled welders, it's not uncommon to apply bondo or what they call "high strength polymer" to joints which have poor weld bead-spacing, or burn holes (scary, as you can literally burn a hole through a thin steel tube in .5 of an extra second with a tig welder. i've seen this practice on very few taiwan made bikes but on some italian and spanish made bikes. and no, it's not a bit of brass or silver fillet, it's bondo, when you ping it with an allen key it's a dull thud.

for horrendous tig-weld quality check out an orbea steel bike. they look like they were welded with a blindfold on.

de bernardis are lugged. would they be bondoed?

eddie - after all this talk, I checked the lugs (via picture - the frame is on vacation) on mine and see some bubbling near the BB shell. I will check it out and see what the hell it is.
Too bad the framebuilders around here are gone - they could have helped.

']Too bad the framebuilders around here are gone - they could have helped.

Indeed, they were run out of town like a group of lepers. Instead, we're left with informative posts about bikes and babes. :mad:

']eddie - after all this talk, I checked the lugs (via picture - the frame is on vacation) on mine and see some bubbling near the BB shell. I will check it out and see what the hell it is.
Too bad the framebuilders around here are gone - they could have helped.

ok, sounds familiar. down by the bb on this was there was something that looked like a flake, or perhaps an unsanded area of that filler material under the paint. this in addition to the "filled" area i spoke of

Sure would like to know if these frames are painted with lacquer or enamel. Anyone know?