Road Cycling - Lighter weight paint.

I wonder if "they" will ever invent ultra light weight paint for frames. Every gram counts!

Yeah its called lacquer and they use it to coat carbon frames

How does powder coating compare to paint? I'm not a racer and not really concerned about weight, but I recently noticed a big chip in the paint on a frame I had painted a couple of years ago. It didn't chip all the way to the metal, but what I noticed was that the paint looks really thick. It was professionally done and does have numerous layers, but I was still surprised at how thick it seems to be. I have a couple of other frames I am considering having powder coated for durability. From what I understand, powder coat can be scratched, but it won't chip.

I wonder if "they" will ever invent ultra light weight paint for frames. Every gram counts!

How about ball burnished titanium? Adds no weight at all. You can also have the graphics engraved into the frame tubes to save the weight of decals. Like you said, every MILLIGRAM counts.

i'm getting cleats surgically attached to the balls of my feet so i can cycle completely naked and save over 1kg.

fssb
sparky

Use to think that way about weight but i dont think i would notice another pound of non-rotational weight now. Of course i dont want it either.

Any Idea on what a coat of paint weigs? just curious? seems negligable to me?

i reckon about 300g

[about half a liter maybe?]

is there a framebuilder in the house?

fssb
sparky

If they do invent light weight paint, you can be guaranteed that some pretend to be Lance, carbon fibre crank buying, need to save 100 grams but my gut hanging over my shorts is no worry, I ride a $2500 bike but don't really need it, person with too much money on their hands will pay big bucks for it. :D

:D :p :D :p

You mean the men and women we all want to see at the races...encouraging their kids to ride...supporting the sport so we get all the cool choices to pick from? That couldn't be the ones we admire for attending and supporting their European riders so much. And how much money is too much...perhaps we should set a limit...can you say...Socialist/Communist

Didn't really mean to Laggard...but dang...what the hay???

:p

I'm a pinko with a gut who used to ride a really nice road bike. Until Castro took it away.

Go with bare Al or Ti. Heck, I have one of each.

Trimming excess nails and cuticle: -2g
Replacing natural teeth with carbon: -10g
Shaving all body hair: -50g
Riding topless: -100g
Unpainted frame: -200g
....
Bathroom before riding: -1000g

In all seriousness, might as well go unpainted, especially with metals that form their own corrosion resistant layer like aluminum and titanium.
The space shuttle fuel tank's orange for a reason...

Any Idea on what a coat of paint weigs? just curious? seems negligable to me?

Once it is dry, very light. Less than 25 grams for sure. If it was more, the pros woudd race bare frames, eh?

I'll start worrying about paint weight when I qualify for Le Tour :D

How does powder coating compare to paint? I'm not a racer and not really concerned about weight, but I recently noticed a big chip in the paint on a frame I had painted a couple of years ago. It didn't chip all the way to the metal, but what I noticed was that the paint looks really thick. It was professionally done and does have numerous layers, but I was still surprised at how thick it seems to be. I have a couple of other frames I am considering having powder coated for durability. From what I understand, powder coat can be scratched, but it won't chip.


I'd be interested to know, as well, as I am considering having a frame powdercoated.

:D I'm glad most of you caught my sarcasm!!!

Don't know about bike frames, but paint adds roughly 40kg to a car - thats why there's so many polished Caterhams around with no paint on...........

I'd be interested to know, as well, as I am considering having a frame powdercoated.

When I was restoring an older Italian bicycle, I had it powder coated. It was stripped of the old finish using high pressure water (I didn't know they used water for stripping paint). Then the frame is chemically cleaned. For the powder coat, the frame is electrically grounded and the powder (at a positive electrical potential) is applied to the frame. It really is a powder. At this point if the electrical charges were removed, the powder would fall off the frame. The coated frame is then passed through an oven where the powder is melted. According to sources I've talked with, the powder coat material is heavily dosed with plastic resins. It is generally considered to be more durable than paint and I've been told it won't chip. The downside of powder coating is that it's very difficult to achieve a mirror like finish. There is always at least a very slight "orange peel" present. I was very happy with the finish on the frame I had done. It has a very slight "orange peel", but so do an awful lot of new cars. Also, coating a steel frame is easiest, and it's a bit harder to do aluminum, but they do it. I don't know what issues there might be with titanium.

I wonder if "they" will ever invent ultra light weight paint for frames. Every gram counts!
Don't know about Ultra light paint but just to be safe, I repainted my bike. It used to be dark green, now it's light green. Boy is it ever faster!

Don't know about Ultra light paint but just to be safe, I repainted my bike. It used to be dark green, now it's light green. Boy is it ever faster!

:roflmao:

When I was restoring an older Italian bicycle, I had it powder coated. It was stripped of the old finish using high pressure water (I didn't know they used water for stripping paint). Then the frame is chemically cleaned. For the powder coat, the frame is electrically grounded and the powder (at a positive electrical potential) is applied to the frame. It really is a powder. At this point if the electrical charges were removed, the powder would fall off the frame. The coated frame is then passed through an oven where the powder is melted. According to sources I've talked with, the powder coat material is heavily dosed with plastic resins. It is generally considered to be more durable than paint and I've been told it won't chip. The downside of powder coating is that it's very difficult to achieve a mirror like finish. There is always at least a very slight "orange peel" present. I was very happy with the finish on the frame I had done. It has a very slight "orange peel", but so do an awful lot of new cars. Also, coating a steel frame is easiest, and it's a bit harder to do aluminum, but they do it. I don't know what issues there might be with titanium.

Aluminum is so hard, because of the heat required to actually "open" the pores of the metal...The expense of painting aluminum is more than any other metal. Aluminum actually has to be treated with two forms of acid to create a bondable surface. Other metals (steel, ti, magnesium, iron) only require primer...although Al still requires primer, too.

Powdercoating can be chipped/scratched/damaged because it is just paint...it's just stuck real well...it can be sanded and buffed, albeit it takes a HELLUVA lotta work...(seen it done on some motorcycles)...

As far as what it weighs...all depends on the painter/powdercoater...

If you really want to get light but still have some color, get it anodized...thin materials, may not hold up to same amount of abuse...but there's less material involved and it looks cool...

In all seriousness, might as well go unpainted, especially with metals that form their own corrosion resistant layer like aluminum and titanium.
The space shuttle fuel tank's orange for a reason...

Right... why bother with expensive weight-claiming paint that would have to withstand extreme temps on a part (a large part at that) which gets chucked into a funeral pyre within a couple of minutes of first use?

Right... why bother with expensive weight-claiming paint that would have to withstand extreme temps on a part (a large part at that) which gets chucked into a funeral pyre within a couple of minutes of first use?

Actually, the offical line is it was to save weight. Yet I'm sure it cost plenty to paint.


http://www.space.com/news/spaceshuttles/interactive_sts_externaltank.html

To the poster above who has the Aegis Aro--what do you think about it? What do they cost--and what specs do they have?