I am considering re-painting a frame with this and wanted to hear if anyone had experience with its durability over time. I realize "rattle can" paint has its limitations, but a professional paint job is a bit pricey (at least for this project), and the frame has chrome socks front and back so powder coating isn't an option.

Also curious if any particular color is easier to touch up, or has better durability.

Thanks!

Not great. Even with careful prep and applying the paint "by the book", the durability just isn't there. Probably true of any rat can.

Wish they could figure out how to do powder coat thinner.

I have painted a few bicycles with Rustoleum, but don't recall using the Professional product. This old Peugeot is an example of what one can do with a can of Rustoleum and a paint brush...



As for durability, it falls short of what a professional paint job in that department, and...

You must wait a long time for the paint to dry or find a way to bake the paint. If I paint today, I will assemble a year from today, after that painted frame has had plenty of time to dry in a warm dry environment.

I believe I used the Rustoleum Professional "High Performance" enamel when I painted a few frames earlier this year. It went on the smoothest of all the rattlecans that I've worked with, but I can confirm what RandyJawa said about curing time. I waited at least 4 weeks before building the frames, and the paint was still way too soft.

You can powder coat such a frame. I have had 2 done with good results. The coater just masked the chrome prats so the powder didn't get on them. Roger

I've used it and it dried at least as hard as vintage enamel. We do have 90+ for weeks on end here during the summer though. I waited like 6 weeks. If it is still soft, it isn't dry, and/or your coats were too thick. It might respond to baking, I dunno. That's what the bike factories did.

FWIW I don't really like the "pro" clear coat, and prefer the regular rustoleum clear. Probably best results if you use a modern auto clear.

BTW, the rattle can is irrelevant. Can be good finish or garbage inside. Rattle can paint is usually junk, but it isn't because of the can. So there's an association but it's a false equivalence. There are good finishes available in cans, and some stores will put finish in a can for you.

To get a pro finish out of a can you will have to learn to rub it out though. Not gonna happen "off the gun." Plenty of tutorials on the web.

Six coats of Rustoleum applied with a roller, and a whole lot of sanding can get you a finish like this:



Painting cars for $50 with cans of Rustoleum is a fairly common thing, really. I knew a few guys back in the day with roller-painted cars (notably a few VWs.)

But as others have said-- with the cure time, it needs to be something you're not planning on using for a good long while.

So true. I have been painting my '77 VW Westfalia the last couple days. I use a 3/4" art brush for detail and a soft 2" brush for the rest. Thin the paint to a varnish like consistency and lay it on in thin coats.

I would stay away from Rustoleum for painting a bike. I'm not an expert, but I've done quite a bit of industrial painting, probably spraying 50+ gallons of Rustoleum over the years. Rustoleum is what's called an Alkyd Enamel -- it doesn't "cure" or polymerize the way a good 2 part automotive urethane will. Basically, most quality automotive paints will harden through both evaporation of the solvents, along with actually chemically bonding together to form a plastic film. Rustoleum simply hardens through evaporation of the solvents. This means it will stay soft a lot longer, as many of these solvents take years to fully outgass. Then, once it's fully hard, it will be more brittle than a urethane paint. The only real positives for alkyd enamels are that they're cheap, and they're safer to work with. (No isocyanate hardeners. <-- real nasty stuff, needs full supplied air + bunny suit to do it right)

90%+ of the cost / hassle of painting a bike is the prep work. That is the same for crappy paint, or good paint. At a minimum, I would go with a single stage urethane auto paint. They're designed to go on as a final coat, no clear needed. You can buy qt. quantities from several sources in the $60-$100 range.

Short of that, any rattle can paint job, no matter how meticulously applied just won't hold up anything like a factory or quality aftermarket finish. You could get away with it for a wall hanger, but most any real world riding will leave it looking pretty crappy sooner than you would care for. Some folks recommend an automotive clear over rattle can finishes. This is a real gamble -- it will add quite a bit of durability, but there is a really good chance the solvents in the clear will lift or wrinkle the rattlecan paint, unless it has been drying for a long while. (Months, if not years.)

Here is a thread detailing the respray I did on my 1976 Centurion Semi-Pro: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...storation.html

It probably took 20 hours, and maybe $200 in paint. (Buying minimum quantities. Probably only $50 in actual paint consumed.) Explains why pro paint jobs start at $600+, and why pro painters don't get rich.

Yep. I'd really only consider using it for an older bike that used alkyd enamel as the original finish: a PX10 for example.

This brings up the interesting subject of vintage finishes. I don't know if there's ever been a thread on it. Certainly baked on alkyd enamel was common in early finishes, and is possibly still in use in the UK. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is what is on my Mercian. I know it was "stoved". IIRC there was something on the Bob Jackson site (they use the same colors) about them trying modern finishes and then going back to good old "stoved" paint, whatever that is. I probably don't have the details exactly right, but it was something like that.

Otherwise, I've always suspected bike finishes more or less tracked car finishes. For example, I wonder if many of the 60s and early 70's metallics could be acrylic lacquer? In the US, Imron (a one part urethane) became the finish of choice sometime in the 70s, but I don't think it's use was widespread beyond the highest end custom bikes. Were others still using acrylic lacquers or baked alkyd? At some point the 2 part acrylics must have come into use, possibly at about the same time steel frames began to fall out of favor.

I'm going to be using this stuff in the nearish future, most likely, on a Raleigh Super Course money pit. It's supposed to be comparable to a thin powdercoat, from what I hear. I want to try a base coast and a flake. It's a little pricey, but not that much more than several cans of decent enamel.
https://us.spray.bike/

That stuff looks interesting as an alternative to typical rattle can paints or fussing with automotive paints. I will be painting a Super Course soon myself. Please give us a report of your experience if you can!

Yes, please post a review, that looks interesting but I haven't seen much comment on the durability of the finish. If it is better than rattle can, but not quite regular powder coat, I'd certainly be interested!

I've repainted numerous frames, including a couple using this product. With excellent prep you can get an excellent looking frame painted with rattle can, Rustoleum being one of those options. Just don't expect it to have the durability of auto paint or powder. It simply never hardens or cures the way you'll want it to. Try tightening a down tube shifter even months later and you can literally watch the painted surface give. So, it wouldn't be my recommendation.

But let me correct a misperception about powder - a good powder coater can mask lugs and socks and do some pretty awesome things. I use Groody Brothers myself, and have had excellent results. I know there are others out there as well doing great work. As evidence, I offer my 1971 Raleigh International:

I'm pretty sure I got this advice off Randy's site: LET EACH COAT COMPLETELY DRY. I had time when I did my PX-10 and let each of three primer coats dry a week before sanding and putting on the next coat. 3 coats of primer and 3 coats of color. Then the tubes cured while I did two coats on the lugs and then the lug lining. I'm very happy with durability. It is my 150 mile per week commuter. I used no clear and it is pretty shiny. The biggest kick is 13 dollars for 2 half pints of paint and there is plenty left over.

I am using Rustoleum Professional on a bike (applied with brush) for the first time after painting two bikes with Rustoleum spray can. The brushed on Professional enamel seems to be far tougher than the spray can finish. I can't say for sure about long term durability though. Good luck!

This does sound interesting. I do hope we can learn more about it. In fact, why not start a thread about the product and hope that some of us has tried it out.