Bicycle Mechanics - Painting titanium

Wonder why noone paints titanium frames. Any ideas?

Mine's painted. Guess I'm just a nobody.

I think the reason a lot of Ti frames are unpainted is because it doesn't need to be painted. No paint to chip off the frame. That's why the paint scheme I have leaves the paint off the BB, chainstays, and seatstays. So the areas some susceptible to chipping are paint-free.

Some companies will let you order painted titanium frames. Personally I think brushed titanium looks better that any economical paint job and is far more functional. In another year half the paint on my AL mountain bike will be gone. I do a lot better keeping paint on my road bike, but it still gets messed up a bit. Bare TI will never chip and scratches arent as noticable either.

Litespeed switched to mostly painted frames 1-2 yrs ago charging about $200 more
for a painted frame versus brushed finish frame. Haven't seen a polished new
Litespeed in some time. Nice thing about paint is it makes the frame look just like
any other aluminum frame bike, blends into the peloton. Seven Ti frames have a
somewhat tacky decal scheme over brushed finish. Steve

I even went so far as to remove most of the decals on my Airborne, for all of the reasons listed above. I also have a steel Bianchi. I am constantly afraid of chips and nicks on the Bianchi. No such worries with the Airborne.

For those who don't want painted Ti but like decals, Serotta has an option for an unpainted Legend Ti with "Serotta" etched onto the frame. That way the decals will never come off.

Most people don't realize it, but when you order a Colnago, you can also get a custom paint job from the factory. When I ordered my Ovalmaster, I wanted a bare Ti frame with black Colnago decals. They told me they couldn't do that because they stopped polishing the Ti frames. So I got a Navigator team color scheme.

So painted Ti frames save some time in the finish process, which of course is taken up in the painting process. ;)

Paint does weigh something to the tune of a few ounces so a bare ti frame will be lighter than an identical frame painted.

:roflmao: Say it with true love, say it with Krylon.

:roflmao: Say it with true love, say it with Krylon.You been up on the water tower again Bubba? :p

Wonder why noone paints titanium frames. Any ideas?

Why spoil the beauty?

Wonder why noone paints titanium frames. Any ideas?
Naked titanium is just too beautiful! Why hide the beauty under a coat of paint? :)

You been up on the water tower again Bubba? :p

No, the Skyway. ;)

A few ounces saved: for no money spent. Its not often you get such a bargain on high-end bike equipment.

A few ounces saved: for no money spent. Its not often you get such a bargain on high-end bike equipment.

Here is a what a dude at LBS told me:
- it is not good to paint Ti frames because paint chips more easily since Ti is not very porous. Paint does not stick to it well.
- (less convincing) Ti tubes bend more so than other materials and so the paint cracks and chips.

Is this really true, or bunch of BS?

I'm with the "why paint it?" group. Natural or Polished Ti looks so beautiful as it is, why cover it up with paint?

L8R

Why paint a material that dosen't rust? They just look too good bare anyway.

I have two bikes. No paint. Ti Litespeed, Al GT.