crank_addict

Nothing to add here but compliments to Giacomo 1 and his Basso. Though the only little whiner would be of that top tube logo stuff. What happened there? Maybe instead have a small discrete decal and somewhere else.

cbutler

Has anyone had any experience with Assenmacher? I was thinking of sending a couple of frames to him for repair & respray.

2014 Assenmacher Frame - Assenmachers.com

Giacomo 1 

Thank you!

Just got back from a nice, fast ride.

I bought this bike after it was already painted, so obviously that decal was already on there when I got it. Guess American Beauty Cycle wanted the world to know who they were! I've been wanting to take it off, but it's under the clear coat and I don't want to mess with it. It's on their for the life of the paint I suppose.

Mlamp

Thanks all for the feedback and opinions. It looks like there are a lot of qualified options available for me to look in to.

I agree in being dissappointed with the top tube decal. Kind of arrogant in a way. Personally, I would consider sending it back if a shop added that especially without telling me. Looks great otherwise!

lostarchitect 

It is a constant source of amazement to me that you can be so consistently wrong about literally everything.

jonwvara 

I sent my Gitane TdF frame to Assenmacher about ten years ago for a repaint and a bunch of braze-ons (I should have left the bike alone, but that's another story.) They did quite a good job, but I sent them the frame in April and they didn't get it back to me until November. I know of someone else who just had them send a frame back unpainted after they'd held onto it for the better part of a year without getting anywhere.

That was a long time ago and things may be different now, but I'd make sure to get a very definite agreement on the time frame of a project before I'd have them do anything for me again.

TimmyT 

For much of his career, my father worked in sales. He liked to use the quote, "The customers I like get special pricing. The customers I don't like get *very* special pricing."

It sounds like you both had similar experiences.

SquidPuppet

CV-6 

A head's up on Franklin Frame. And this is not a complaint. Plan for at least 6 months. Sent my Masi in October, got it back in June. My Lejeune took a similar amount of time. Both required chrome work, so that may have added to the time. But I was in no hurry, either. One thing I really like about Jack at Franklin is he does not put his mark on his repaints. I was once told by Cyclart that they would put their mark on it no matter what I wanted. To me, word of mouth is the best advertising.

gaucho777 

I didn't realize yours was a Cycle Art repaint. Mine is also a repaint, but done by yours truly. I've looked at a lot of Look Bernard Hinault samples, and there are a couple things a little off with your frame. I don't mean this to be critical of your bike. I'm certain the overall quality of your paint is better, and, being my first repaint, I made some mistakes and compromises with mine. That said, there are a few inconsistencies with your frame that I would not have expected from an outfit such as Cycle Art:

1. The "LOOK" and "Bernard Hinault" type is flopped on the non-drive side. (LOOK should be on the right of BH on the non-drive side and on the left of BH on the drive-side.)

2. There should not be a black border on the head badge decal. (Btw, I didn't have access to an original decal set with the small B. Hinault type, so just painted a standard Look logo on my headbadge instead.)

3. The "LOOK" type on the fork should not be below the black stripes but rather facing forward in the middle of the yellow color block.

4. No "Equipe" decal on the top tube.

5. Should say "Made in France" in the red color block on the non-drive side chain stay.

6. LOOK logo decal (or is it paint?) on the non-drive side chain stay is wrong (type too large and again should not have thick black border).

As for cost, I'm sure it was very expensive. Let's count paint layers: White base, pearl topcoat, black, yellow, blue, red, gray (small amounts in Look logo)=7 plus clear coat. I once asked Ed Litton for a ballpark quote and he mentioned $900-$1,000. It takes a lot of time to do that many panels, so I didn't think it was terribly out of line. I'd guess Cycle Art charged at least that amount, especially if the previous owner wanted photo updates.

For reference, here's a photo album of a LOOK with original paint & decals (this sample now belongs to calamarichris, but photos supplied to me by previous owner): LOOK Bernard Hinault Original Sample

I hope this isn't taken the wrong way as criticism over your bike. None of these minor inconsistencies would prevent me from enjoying the bike, but it does speak to CA's lack of attention to details. I'm sure they charged top dollar and, paint quality aside, did not do a top notch restoration IMO.

lord_athlon

This. I bend over backwards to help people I like.
If I dont like them, little effort is spared.

bikingshearer 

One more shout-out for Ed Litton. Since the OP is local, absolutely do it face-to-face. Ed's a great guy with an amazing amount of knowledge, and his shop is a bike porn museum in need of a curator. He does good work (and I've used him three times with a fourth frame in with him now) at a fair cost - not the cheapest, but certainly not the most expensive.

Do take his time estimates with a grain or three of salt. If that will drive you nuts, go elsewhere. But if you can live with that, I would absolutely tell anyone in the Bay Area to use Ed. I have no experience with dealing with him remotely, so I can't speak to that.

embankmentlb

No Problems, I was aware of those issues & discrepancies. It was actually painted by Rainbow Cyclart, That may be a different company.
Anyway, I bought the bike from a local guy after it didn't sell on ebay. This was about 15 years ago. It was painted way before then. I kind of figured they did the best they could in an era when info on such things is hard to come by.



I presonally would have stressed over every detail if I was doing it myself.


I am Very happy I was able to find one.

embankmentlb

I did this artwork after Lemond won his first Tour in 86 and got him to sign it shortly after. I guess that makes the Look 753 my grail bike.

Grand Bois

Little effort is put forth would make more sense, wouldn't it?

lord_athlon

It would. That's what happens when you are trying to multi-task.

Mlamp

Thanks for the tip. Regardig the time estimates though, does that mean they could be more OR less? Or does he tend to under bid his time and charge more in the end? I assume the former given how a couple people have commented on how nice he is.

miamijim

B.S. If any builder/repair place/painter can not finish a project by the promised dead line they shouldn't take on the work. If they say 6 weeks then its 6 weeks. If they say 6 month then its 6 months.

I'll never understand my bike/frame needing to be somewhere for 6 months when the work only takes 2 days. Schedule my frame and tell me when to send it in.

Flog00

Franklin does not respond to emails to schedule a paint job.
I am in search of someone to paint a bike, I had hoped to use someone within driving distance of 44846.

CV-6 

Jack is not always quick to respond to emails. Give it a few days. Or call him. 740-763-3838

KonAaron Snake 

+1 - or call and explain the situation.

A guy who has been around as long as Jim @ cyclart should be able to make a fairly accurate estimate...and he should communicate when there are issues.

Grand Bois

My frame was supposed to take a month. It was 13 months by the time I got it back. He delivered my frame, I paid him and we shook hands. He called me and demanded more money a couple of days later. His tone was rather threatening, so I told him that was extortion and refused. It was a former member, so I won't identify him.

I have to say he did a beautiful job and he gave me a CD with pictures of the work in progress from beginning to end.

repechage

A custom paint job can take longer than two days.
Bare minimum as I see it would be: strip, seal, prime, color, graphics, clear, near a week.
That said, things get batched. Sometimes to the good, sometimes not.
Sublet work such as chrome plating is a wildcard, it can vary wildly.

I had a 12 week estimated single color job go to 26 weeks. Not very acceptable.
Issues I knew about:
Wanted to batch the work (I was fine with that)
A cold winter in an unheated shop.
The fork required repaint and repair as it was dropped while with the painter when almost done, (adding the color detail fill).

There were other issues too like shipping damage from a poor job of packing up the finished frame.
Color was off and had orange peel. (cold shop was my guess)
There was an offer to redo the work but at 26 weeks for the paid work, how long do you think it would take when doing the work for free?

I had another two tone custom job with the goal of OEM replication, 12 weeks. (might have been less but we arranged to meet at a group ride, no shipping)
He is retired now.


My suggestions:
Write the details wanted down, image examples are terrific. Dimensions even. (the 26 week job DID have the transfers in exactly the correct places)
Select a painter if possible who can take in and deliver the job face to face.
If it must be shipped, send it in a reusable crate. I used a reusable box with custom inserts, that got lost along the way, a crate would not I am pretty sure.

KonAaron Snake 

I think it's very different when it's a fellow hobbyist doing something as an amateur vs. a monetized professional, but even then...13 months? I'd be upset.

Grand Bois

He's a pro. He bid on a contract to paint 20 Landsharks while I waited for mine. As far as I know, he had no other regular source of income. He showed me a very thick portfolio of his work, including one magazine cover.