Originally Posted by
TimothyH
Cool. Thanks. Thinking of having the Fuji frame done in a royal blue and getting some decals from Velocals. Really appreciate the info.
Two pieces of advice for you sir, if I may.
1. Make it a priority to find a shop that does bikes and motorcycles as a regular part of their work flow. They "Get it". And that's important. Some shops just do Patio furniture, washers, dryers, fencing, etc by the hundreds, even thousands. Generally speaking, avoid those places. You'll be less likely to experience an honest mistake, which is still a burden to resolve. An example of an honest mistake would be BB masking. Any shop will (should) know to mask the threads. But that's not good enough. The face of the shell needs to be protected as well so things seat properly. Same with head tubes, so the cups seat parallel to one another. It's attention to those details that will prevent you from spending time and effort with a razor blade/file to clean the areas, or from taking it to an LBS to have the areas faced. Fork crown race seat areas are important too.
2. Pay the extra money for the clear coat. No matter what the gloss rating is on the color you choose, the clear is SHINIER.

WAY! Plus, the modern clear powders have UV protection that helps prevent fade in the base color. All the other obvious benefits apply, extra durability, blah, blah, blah.