Originally Posted by cyclotoine
If the original builder still paints bikes like Chris Kvale or you have a bike painted by Joe Bell (sachs) I think it is cool to get them to paint it. (I am not sure i would get a Marinoni painted by Marinoni; however, unless they would agree to use period reproduction decals; they usually update)
Dr. Deltron does excellent work and offers a competitive price. That Chris Kvale job seems like a really good price and I wonder if you only get that for his bikes.
I would also try and go with someone in your area to avoid shipping. Southwest frameworks does nice work (check out Cuda2k's serotta and Lotek's Pogliaghi pista). Cycle art is expensive, but can do almost anything including chrome and has a huge library of decals so probably has a quicker turn around if you have something obscure that needs hard to get reproductions.
I made the decision to go with Dr. Deltron because he does great work and the price was right, plus he was willing to do the painful decal repos which local painters were not willing to do.
While Cycle Art does killer work, I question the accuracy of some of their work. I have seen two LeJeunes done by them with markings like no other. I will grant you I have not seen every LeJeune marking, but even the owner of one of the frames (who has more experience than I) said he had never seen those markings either. So I would say if you deal with them, be sure to specify what your markings are to be. Do not asssume they will get it right. But that will hold true for any painter.
That said, Franklin Frame in Ohio is an excellent place to have your frame refinished.