lukeC

I have an old Second hand Road Bike bike that I"m working on
- I just did a rough SS Fixed Gear on it.

the old paint is quite rough, the decals are mostly degraded.
- I thought perhaps i could without too much trouble make it look a bit prettier?

Its a cheap bike so I'm not precious about it.

I was considering a rough Spraypaint job with some canned spraypaint or even a hand painted job?
I've heard of people hand painting bikes... haven't' I?

I have no fancy spraypaint gear and have no intension of buying any for this bike.

- do you need to "undercoat" a bike?
- how far back should i sand it?
- should i pull the bike apart completely before painting?

vpiuva

search Dr Deltron posts, resident pro painter extraordinaire

tellyho

Take it down to bare metal and paint. Whatever you do, it will not be very durable. So, if you're planning on doing it yourself, plan on doing it again soon. I have a rattlecan job on my fixed gear and it dings like crazy, despite many coats of both paint and clearcoat.

Pull it apart completely if you're going to paint. No sense in going halfass.

well biked

I disagree with both of these statements. I've got three bikes I've repainted, one I stripped completely of paint with a paint stripper, the other two I simply sanded, making sure I completely feathered any rough edges where the factory paint had chipped. On the one I stripped completely, it was in such bad shape as far as chips and dings it made more sense to strip the paint completely. In the end, no difference in durabilty or looks. In the spots where you have to sand an area more, to feather rough edges, yes, you'll usually get down to bare metal. I painted professionally for about ten years (mostly houses, buildings, etc), so I know about sound painting principals, although I'm no expert in auto painting (which bike painting is more akin to).

One of the most common problems you run into with rattlecan paint jobs on bike frames is poor adhesion. There are products called "liquid deglosser" or "liquid sander" (they're the same thing) that will help immensely with this. After the prepratory sanding is complete, clean off all the dust and then wipe the entire frame down with the deglosser (it's toxic, nasty stuff, read the directions carefully). The deglosser not only completely cleans and strips anything away that will keep the primer from sticking, it has additives that will bond with the primer and make it stick like you wouldn't believe, as long as you follow the directions on the can (it usually recommends priming within an hour or so after you apply the deglosser). So sand, use liquid deglosser, and then prime. At that point you're ready for a light sanding of the primer to knock it down, then you're ready for color.

No, rattlecan paints aren't as hard and durable as a factory finish, but if done right they're not bad at all. I treat the frames I've painted just like a factory paint job, I wash them occasionally, I've waxed them, they look great and are holding up very, very well.

Good drying conditions are very important (the hotter and drier the better), and you should allow the paint to cure completely (1-2 weeks usually) before putting the parts back on the frame.

Frame painting experts like Dr. Deltron have completely different methods, but he's doing a professional job and using true automotive paints. I've seen pics of his work, and it's awe inspiring. For the backyard rattlecan job, the methods I've described above have produced excellent results, not something I'd call a professional job, but a good looking, reasonably durable paint job-

lukeC

thanks for the tips : Well Biked.

thats what i was looking for, advice from those who have done a rough job before.

I didn't think of the weather. - its probably not a good time to do it in that case.
As its winter over here now.


but it might be worthwhile to do a rattle can job at a later date. when I have a bit more time.

bikejack

Consider this alternative to a rough spray can job.

Find a Powdercoater and get a quote for stripping and coating in a single gloss colour.

The finish will be superior in appearance and durability (tougher).

Around here the cost of having a frame done is the price of 2-3 cans of spray paint without the time, mess and hassle.

lukeC

what kind aof prices are you talking about to strip and powder coat? < $100?

hmm, I'd just assumed that it would be expensive. I can't imagine 2 -3 cans of Spraypaint would be more than $30.

bikejack

Blast and powder I've had done for around $40 - $50 and you are right that by the time you buy primer and a can or two of acrylic you won't have much change from $30.00 possibly won't have any change.

Not a big gap for a much better job.

It's always worth costing these things out and depending on your area and circumstance it may not be feasible but I was trying to show that sometimes the cheap alternative isn't that cheap.

operator

Not to mention, YOU have to do all the work with not so friendly chemical and a whackload of your time. And it'll be a MUCH inferior job to getting it professionally blasted and powdercoated. You may save a couple dollars in pure cost. But you make up for it by spending all that time actually preppinng and repainting.

TreeUnit

I agree with well biked. I painted one old frame of mine. Although i have yet to test it, the paint job turned out very well. I Stripped the decals off with paint thinner. Removing all the paint on the original frame would have taken forever, so I simply sanded and steel wooled the frame, without removing all the paint. I applied two coats of white primer, three coats of American Classics spraypaint, then three coats of clear layer. I steel wooled each coat before adding a new one.

After two weeks, the paint was on solidly. I Don't know how it will hold up in the long run.

well biked

Yeah, I was just giving my basic rundown of the backyard rattlecan method I've had success with. Powder coat is certainly an option, too, and it's usually very durable. But it's more expensive, on average probably something like $75-125 for powdercoat w/sandblasting vs. $20-40 for the materials needed to do a rattlecan job. Personally, I enjoy painting old frames myself, but to each their own-

Halloween

Here's what I used on my one year-old GF Cobia:



It comes in BLACK, RED, BLUE, YELLOW, CLEAR, and WHITE. (Click and drag over those last two to read.)


I used BLACK.

The cool thing about PLASTI DIP spray paint is you can really lay it on thick, and if you don't like it, you can just peel it all off again. Touch-ups are easy... just mask off behind the area you want to touch up, and spray. I left the headset, handlebars, bottom bracket, and disk brakes on when I painted... just masked off everything carefully, then used an X-acto knife to cut the PLASTI DIP at the masking lines before peeling off the masking.

No need to sand, strip, or prime. Just wipe down to de-grease, mask, and spray.


PS: If you have a new(ish) bike, and you want to protect the finish against gravel nicks, etc, CLEAR PLASTI DIP spray is the thing. You don't even have to 'undress' your bike to spray it.

Retro Grouch 

Me too. I've never seriously looked into having a bike frame powder coated mostly because I get satisfaction from doing it myself.

I'm also puzzled by all of the folks who claim that rattle can paint jobs chip easily. Mine don't.

Halloween

I forgot to mention...

As a commuter, I've had 3 collisions with petroleum-powered auto-mobiles. All three collisions were in broad daylight. The first bike was blue. The second bike was white. The third bike was metallic red.

So, since my favorite color is BLACK, I decided that all bikes are invisible to car drivers, regardless the color of the bike.

I'm still understandably paranoid, so, when I found this product, I felt like I'd found the commuters' holy grail. See here for the colors they offer. Remember, those are the daylight-visibility colors.

I used 680-85 (black) on my Cobia. In daylight, my frame is as black as a single-speed GF RIG, but at night, it's BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT WHITE in cars' headlights.

This film is flexible enough to fit over tube-size changes on your frame. It sticks reall good, but you can peel it off, too, if you want.

I've had this film on my front suspension fork tubes for over a year with no sign of loosening or peeling. It's tough stuff!

Here's 3M's spec sheet, if you're into that kind of stuff:

(Warning! It's a PDF file!)

https://tinyurl.com/3dckao

lukeC

strange sounding stuff. that 3M glow.

I personally doin't worry too much abotu the visibility of my Bike - even in a bright colour at night it won't be very visible. which is why i wear a bright yellow / lime jacket whenever i commute now.

Halloween

You'd be surprised. I've also coved the edges of my rims with 3M™ Scotchlite™ Flexible Reflective Graphic Film Series 680.
It's quite eye-catching when crossing headlights' paths. Every little bit helps.

I wear these self-curling/slap-wrap reflective bands on my ankles, legs, and arms, too.



From here. (Not an endorsement, just an example.)

Mine are white and high-visibility lime green. They are very bright under headlights.

Of course, all of that reflectivity is in addition to LEDS on my valve stems, handlebars, seatpost, pedals, helmet, and rear rack.
I try to be a rolling Xmas tree at night.

At least, when I get run over, the cage-driver won't be able to say I wasn't illuminated.