repechage

But send him a color sample to match to, seen too many that were beautiful but the wrong color.

Bjenkins

Sorry, those are the photos from Ebay. Here's the site: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124969443469. I only bought a single set of two. I was able to talk the seller into a $139. price for the two. I just started to polish them with some Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish and they are coming up beautifully. I'll post some shots when I'm done. It will give me an incentive to lose some weight so I can use them. Also, I'm looking at TUFO tires: https://www.tufo.com/en/.

Bjenkins

Actually Southwest Frameworks here in Dallas does some incredible work also. It's just a matter of whether I can afford them and how long the wait is. Also, it kills me to give up control of the painting/decal work to someone else. I'd really like to take a shot at it myself. If I screw it up I could always strip it again and take it to a pro.

Southwest Frameworks

BMC_Kid 

Speaking on direct experience, a professional powder coater can equal any excellent wet paint job. Spectrum Powder Coat in Boulder, Colorado is one such place. Their powder coat of my '91 Zullo (as well as my '89 Tesch S-22) came out amazing, was way cheaper than Cycl Art in California who was a PIA to deal with. Actually, Jim was alright, it was his wife Susan who was a basket case and nightmare to deal with. In the end, the lugwork of Tiziano on the Zullo is still very distinct and the paint is more durable, which to me is just the icing on the cake.

repechage

Yes, but no. The nature of the powdercoat chemistry and process, will always make a plastic coated frame more vulnerable if subjected to daily and variable weather use. The physics of the process cannot be overcome, even with multilayer efforts, but those do extend the life. The crux of the issue is this, the square or near square corner, lug edge, braze on cable guide, or similar form, will have the coating when baked in its near liquid state, pull thin in the film thickness from those sharp edges. Wet paint does this too, but the duration is much shorter and a painter can build up thickness and monitor before putting away the paintgun.
As powdercoat essentially encapsulates the metal and has limited bonding to it, as compared to an etching primer, once rust gets under the film it will propagate faster. I have chemically stripped a large enough quantity of powdercoated frames to be very confirmed of this.
These frames DID NOT all exhibit visible rust lines or "tunnels" before the film was removed.

I have had two frames powdercoated, fast, economical and cheap.

Cyclart was fortunate to find an exit, their reputation was piling up. Very unfortunate for the employees who did not have the capital to regroup and continue under a new name.

Bjenkins

My front hub came in today from California, along with my Sedicolor chain from Germany. Also, I polished one of the Super Champion Médaille d Or' rims that came in last week. Eye candy!








Also, spot the 1977 Motobecane Mirage rider:

BMC_Kid 

You are just flat out making stuff up. What a pile of... "The nature of the powdercoat chemistry and process, will always make a plastic coated frame more vulnerable if subjected to daily and variable weather use." Wrong, not even close. Powder coating when done right is much more durable, that is a proven fact. Some of the severest duty equipment is powder coated for a very durable coating. I have not had one chip on either of my frames which were left uncovered until last year when I covered the most vulnerable areas with some leftover paint protectant wrap from doing my vehicles.

"As powdercoat essentially encapsulates the metal and has limited bonding to it, as compared to an etching primer, once rust gets under the film it will propagate faster." Wrong. Powder coating electrically and chemically BONDS to the metal.

When I was deciding to go the route of powder coating my two frames, I got the plethora of "experts" coming out of the woodwork on another forum, explaining to me how they were inferior finishes to wet paint. Of course, their own experience was in some local powder coater who is not an expert in bicycle frames and so they extrapolated from that that all finishes were not as good. As I said above, go to a professional and I mean someone who specializes in bicycles and you will get a finish that will rival some of the best in the business. You yourself have said you went the cheap route... "I have had two frames powdercoated, fast, economical and cheap." You should have sought out someone like Spectrum and you'd probably not be so quick to dismiss powder coating. As an example, I went into their shop with the concern that powder coating was not up to the quality of wet paint due to the "experts". The owner, said wait a minute, went back into his office and brought out two frames, one they did and one painted by Joe Bell. He asked me to tell him which was which. I looked at all of the concern areas, such as lug edges, braze-ons, and edges between chrome and paint, and they were indistinguishable from one another. I finally picked the one that had the tiniest of edges from the decals. That, I assumed was powder coated. Wrong. Turns out, the frame with no perceptible decal edges was the powder-coated frame. On it, and on my frames, the 'decals" are not actual decals but hand-painted with precision utilizing masks. I was astonished and sold right there. Then he told me the price and wait times for each, and I got both of my frames painted by Spectrum for about the cost of a basic paint job from Joe Bell, and turn around was 3 weeks for both. Not at all cheap but you get what you pay for. I don't know what the turnaround time was for Joe Bell back then but probably more like 3 months. I know Jim and Susan Cunningham at Cycl Art had my frame for going on 3 months and it wasn't even in the queue yet before I pulled it out of there and took it over to Spectrum. I am in the process of rebuilding both bikes right now, one from Superbe Pro 8 and the other from DA 7700 to Campy 11, and I will take detailed photos of all areas and post them for all to see, instead of listening to "experts". The team at Spectrum are artists and can reproduce anything you can think of and then execute to the highest quality. They are very skilled, on the level of some of the best-wet painters out there.

If you use a local, powder coater with limited experience in painting bicycle frames, i.e., "cheap", you will come to the inaccurate conclusion that powder coats are inferior to wet paint finishes. Not understanding the powder coating process will lead you to give misinformation on durability.

repechage

Spectrum as noted overcomes the problems of Powdercoat by multiple layers most often.
As I wrote, this helps.
plastic does not bond to metal.
I made no mention of chipping or scratching
powdercoat is “tough”. I made no attack about that.
One determinate about the success of the end result is the time between a clean raw surface and the application of coating. Most often to achieve the best possible connection to the metal for powdercoat, the surface needs to be quite rough, I appreciate the fine detail on my bikes.
Spectrum prices are not multiples cheaper than a good wet paint job.
There is no getting around that an equally durable powdercoat job to a wet paint job will have a thicker film thickness.
I think the process is best for a fillet brazed frame with radiused braze-ons or no braze-ons.

You are exaggerating you position and were not being thoughtful of what I wrote and did not write. May your powdercoat job be durable and last a lifetime. If you did some research of what the top tier auto restoration or vintage race car restorers do to coat suspension and frame parts, brackets, they shy away from powdercoat for the experiences I have cited.
There is some interest in ceramic coating as a way to keep heat from radiating into the engine compartment. Most will admit at this point it is an experiment at present.