Bicycle Mechanics - Painting Frames

Does anyone have any suggestions on what the best way to get a fame painted? Can it be done by myself or is there any place where I can have it painted proffesionally? Thanks.

Try a local car bodyworks or something, they may have some leftover paint from a vehicle respray and could do it cheap in a pearl colour or something. I'd get it done professionally for peace of mind, and of course, professionalism.

These are just a few. Many custom frame makers will do repairs and paint. Body shops are worth a try. One in my area does a pretty good job and even had a couple a frames hanging in one of the bike shops to advertise his work.

WARNING: It ain't cheap.


http://www.joesbicyclepainting.com/

http://www.koolbikes.com/

http://www.airglowpainting.com/

http://www.cyclart.com/

http://www.angelfire.com/biz6/FullSpectrumPainters/

You can also do it yourself. Get a book on auto painting and then do what it says to your bike.

an auto shop is a good idea..

But I think LBShops do it too..

If you really want the sweet custom paint jobs.. Go to those shops that do Hotrods.. They're a bit more expensive, but the job is unsurpassed..

autobody paint would work well. also a good powder coating. check out places in your area that do powder coating... which is a way of electrically bonding the pigmant to the metal, a little mroe durable

Powerdercoating is alway a option but if you are going for a more traditional custom job you simply will not be able to get the detail work done. If you want one singular color powdercoating is your best bet though, or if you intend to do your graffics with stickers.

Just remeber that you will need to strip the frame carefully if you have a alum. Some have used aircraft stripper to great sucess. Steel you can bead blast I have been told but I would strip just to be safe.

Carbon fiber, pain to strip but it can be done best left to a proffessional.

Right now I am cutting the masking for a custom flame/flag job onto my softride, with a hint of the new ppg color changing paint in the outlining.

Thanks for all the help.

I'm going to call some of the local auto-body shops and drop by the local bike shops and look at prices and stuff this week. I've got to find a place that does hot rods, I think. This bike is going to be pimped-out. I'm thinking flames or sparkles or something like that. What do you guys think in terms of design?

By the way, it is an old steel hybrid bike that I am in the middle of rebuilding as a commuter. It is already stripped and I thought I might as well take the opportunity to give it a sexy paint job now that its stripped. I'll post pictures after the paint job is done.

If this bike is to be a commuter, you may not want to make it look too attractive. When I was a UCLA undergrad, the Earth Action Council's standard advice was to try to "park next to a better-looking bike with an inferior lock."

I went for a full-custom repaint at CyclArt (see vintage & classics forum); it looks great, but my 1959 Capo is no longer a beater or transportation bike! In years past, it was kind of fun to ride a full-Reynolds frame with a shabby paintjob. Since I used my first Capo strictly for transportation (probably not fully realizing its potential value!), I spray-painted it myself. It didn't look bad from a moderate distance, but it was nothing like a professional baked-on, clear-coated job.

If you want flames, brace yourself. My wife does some custom painting and it will be $$. If you can wait a bit you might be able to get a metallic pretty cheap. Find a good custom shop, tell them what color you want and that you do not mind waiting until they do a car in that color(Better to chose a couple of colors you will be happy with, shortens the wait)