So I have my first powdercoated frames, and starting to assemble. Uh, how durable is the coating especially in where things are clamped on? I have one bike right now that needs a clamp-on derailleur lever (singular), downtube cable guide and to tube housing clamps for the rear brakes. Oh, and a water bottle cage w/out brazed-on mounts, so there are straps. How will the coating hold up, will it readily resist damage?

I recall being very young and my older brother laboriously cutting bits of electrical tape as insulators affixed to the inside of clamps to protect the finish. However, he used super-brittle Kandy Apple paints (blue-over-silver for road, red-over-gold for track) so that might be his vantage point (did I mention this was the 1960's?). Anyway, I don't want to damage anything I do not need to. It occurred to me that I have a bottle of Liquid Electrical Tape in the workshop, and painting a thin layer on (do not want to adversely affect clamping diameters) might be the answer -- but less than a year old, the contents have coagulated and is useless. I might be over-thinking this?

I am having a frame powder coated right now and I will follow this thread for answers from those that have done this before. I think the powder coating is tougher than paint but like you this is my first frame I have done. My coaster says that he uses a special primer for a proper bond after media blast. I have seen powder painted frames and they look fantastic and I haven’t heard of any issues with it being brittle or prone to chipping. I had a frame painted by a pro in the late seventies and it was beautiful but chipped like crazy so it can be annoying.

Everything i've clamped to my 2 powdercoated frames has released without incident.
My old touring frame was powdercoated and in addition to what was bolted to the frame, many times I would zip tie things to it and all was well.

The more you twist cable guide bands and cable stop bands after they have been attached, the more the powdercoating will come off, but its really strong to begin with.
Abrasion just dulls the coating.

Well, this being my 1st powder coated frame too, mulled this over a bit... and chickened out. I must wait until Monday for a fresh bottle of Liquid Electrical Tape (and, this time, in red to match the frame, just in case any of it shows!) I'll need a fine artist's brush to coat, for instance, the inside of the top-tube housing clamps. Kinda funny, I presume that once I 'locate' where each clamp goes, I am unlikely to ever move them to another spot... but I've been surprised before.

Tiger,
I find it to be a reasonably durable finish. For example to clean up the braze on bits I need to use some sandpaper or emery cloth to clean the bits down for best fit. Of the ten or so I have has done none of them chipped or were damaged by the rough handling here in the shop. They have fallen on the concrete floor and gotten no scratches or scuffs. I would recommend a coat of Meguire's wax before assembling the bike. It brings out the shine of the finish a bit. I will be starting a build thread of my latest frame that went in for PC. maybe it will help a bit. Smiles, MH

The one problem I've had is cracking of clear coat around brazed on downtube shifter bosses. It seems it there's too much build up there, and maybe a little pocket of air, things can crank when you put on the shifters or (in my case) bolt on cable stop adapters.

Good to know; perhaps I was/am over-cautious but, anyway, the bottle of Liquid Electrical Tape will be here tomorrow so I'll stall. Yes, all five frames I am doing got a coat of Maguiar's Gold Class already, perhaps a second coat once assembled -- yeah, it really improves the shine. Funny you should mention the concrete floor; when I got them home from he coater, I had them rowed up in the basement and, inevitably, they all fell over like dominoes. Two had such tiny marks in the finish I probably could have ignored it, but I touched them up anyway.

Thanks for the warning, I'll watch for that. Of the five frames, two have brazed-on DT bosses, two are set up for clamp-on shifters -- and one is a track bike.

I would hesitate to put the liquid tape on the clamps. Just so you know, I have zero experience with this, but I would be cautious. I fear that there is a remote possibility that the liquid tape could bond with the powdercoat. As I understand it powdercoat is a cured plastic after baking. The liquid tape, I'm not so sure about - someone on the forum will have a more informed opinion.

Interesting. The option is risk scarring from contact to metal. Alternatively, I could buy some kid gloves and cut thin strips of the thin leather to make insulators.

I have to admit, I've always put a layer of tape underneath the stuff that gets clamped to the tubes. Hard to say if it helped or not... except for last summer when the rear derailleur failed and dumped the chain into the spokes, causing everything to jam and eventually the chain snagged the front derailleur cage and yanked the derailleur around. Ugh!
Here's what I saw at the time....




Amazingly, there wasn't any damage to the paint!
The electrical tape seems to have acted as a sacrificial shear layer.

As far as other damage to the paint.. I've seen frames where the paint was indented or nicked when things were clamped onto the tube. When I've had frames painted, I was told to wait a couple of weeks before building it up in order to allow the paint to fully cure. I'm guessing that this might not apply to powdercoat, but maybe still use this time to prep the frame and parts anyway?

Steve in Peoria

I just removed the rear brake on the frame in question, there is a tiny bit of marring at the contact point. OTOH, there will always be a brake there, so perhaps there is no problem?

that's pretty typical, imho. Not something to worry about.

I always worried more about clamp-on shifters and front derailleurs, since they might get moved and reveal any damage. Same for water bottle cages that clamped to the tube... I never did like that.

Steve in Peoria

The USPS shipment with the Liquid Electrical Tape failed to arrive last night, so I get another day or two to ponder the conundrum -- use it, or not?

The bike I am working on right now does not have bottle braze-ons, and while I was having other stuff done at the frame shop I considered have those added, but decided not period-correct. Possibly a mistake. So, yeah, strap-on bottle cage and that would mean L.E.T. on the straps AND the underside of the cage, all contact points.

The only powdered bike I have kept is a '93 Allez Pro in bright yellow powder with a clear coat of powder over that for extra pop. Built up as any other frame and while not ham fisted (have been at this a long time) took no particular precautions. Have not pulled the FD clamp but have the RD for checking for a bent hanger and saw nothing but shine on the finish. This afternoon I will look the frame over carefully and pull the FD clamp then post a photo.

I've used Plasti-Dip for various things, but never Liquid Electrical Tape. They are both made by the same company, aren't they? My experience with Plasti-Dip suggests that it might squeeze out if used as a cushion between clamp and tube. Has the LET been proven in this sort of use?

Powder coat paint should be pretty tough, regardless. My Tubus racks seem to tolerate a lot of abuse that would quickly destroy traditional bike paint.

Steve in Peoria

I do not know if both are made by the same company; it might be interesting to look that up. I plan a very thin "film" of LET as an insulator against scratches, not a "cushion" -- although, reading that, it sounds like fine distinction. And to my knowledge, I don't know of anyone else doing this, hence my starting the topic.

EDIT: Well, I got the stuff and added a light coat on the backing of each part. This stuff is NOT made for artistic application, but no one will ever see the streaky job I did. Parts bolted up, a few things like Campy top-tube housing clamps have shortish bolts anyway, meaning it's fun to get the screws started even without worrying about increased diameter due to adding a layer of "rubber", but everything went together. I guess I can report back in 5-10 years to note whether this process accused problems.