I'm looking at picking up an old steel frame beater for a townie bike. Cost about $250, plus I'll put a little more into it when I change the seat, stem and bars, and get some different brake levers and shifter (it's a 1x9). But the paint is beat and an ugly color to boot.

What's the typical cost for a basic paint job from a frame painter? Doesn't have to be anything special, just so I'm not ashamed to be seen on the bike.

I'm in northern Colorado, and I'm pretty sure there are a number of painters in the vicinity.

Powder coating is the current cost effective fix. Most guys cite costs in the $100 - $150 range including stripping off the old paint. If it was my bike, I'd look for somebody who had coated bike frames before.

Powder-coating is the way to go. Cheaper than paint and it lasts forever.

Two bottles of Testors and a 1/2" brush. A couple evenings labor. About $10.

Do you want paint or "PAINT". I myself have been using powder coat as a better value. The last one was $75 one color and I had the bike disassembled and blasted already.

Pricing

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Well here is the present paint, but as you can see the bike is disassembled and has been at the painters for three weeks. I will be picking it up this Friday 1/22/16 and I gave the painter a budget of $ 1700 max.

Consider a rattle can paint job ? Rustoleum red primer works and lasts better for this use. Wire brush and steel wool the frame until it is smooth, spray it - let the frame cure for a couple of days, then build it back. This is not as nice as powder coating, perhaps a little plain and pragmatic.

Powder coating has come a long way from even a few years ago, today the only problem you have is if the coating gets chipped or scratched you can't go just powder coat the area, instead you have to find a matching color regular paint and touch it up that way. So I would find a paint color that you find at a hobby store with Testers or some other top brand modeling paint, buy the color you like, then have the person that will be doing the powder coating match that paint so this way you would always have touch up paint available.

The powder coating business does offer a repair kit called Liquid 2-Component paint, but it takes a professional to know how to use it which means a simple chip or scratch would be pretty expensive to fix when simple Testors paint is lot cheaper and easier to use.

Powder coats are not scratch, chip, or peel proof, they are more resistant to those things then regular paint but it can still be damaged. If left untouched a scratch or chip down to the metal will of course let the metal rust but unlike paint the rust will actually travel under the coating that is there around it and cause a larger problem. I have painted bikes and if I find a scratch or chip I'm immediately touching it up because I don't want rust to get foothold, and with powder coats it's even more critical that you touch it up ASAP.

Also keep a powder coated bike away from solvents, or commercial cleaning solutions, or petroleum based cleaners, for these will accelerate all sorts of damage including staining, fading, and eventually if exposed too long failure of the coating by as much as half the paints life. So just use mild soap and very warm water, not dishwasher soap, and a soft cloth; it also not recommended to use hard water, and with things like bikes where it will get exposed to dirt frequently you need to clean the bike once a week. It's highly recommended that you wax a powder coated surface but do not use any abrasive type of waxes, or waxes that clean, or take swirl marks out etc as they wax because those use abrasives as do compound waxes. Also make sure you remove all residue wax because if any wax is left behind the sun could cause that wax to melt and permanently stain the paint.

It's a pretty easy to care for finish but it does require upkeep and common sense as does even regular paint.

This is great info. Thank you.

I just had a frame blasted and powder coated. It cost under $150 including tax, and it looks great.

Got my Panasonic Frame and fork powder coated and fork chrome polished for $240. Turn around time was two weeks.

Is this a bike you will leave locked up on a bike rack where it might be stolen? If so,maybe you'd be better off leaving it as it is and simply touch it up to protect the metal.

A friend does powder coating .. most expensive thing is the Electric Power to heat the Oven to melt the powder.

so you lower costs by having more things done at the same time.. in the Same Color..

recently, I had my Falcon powder coated. $340 in Canadian dollars or aboat $240 USD. They stripped off the many coats of amateur done paint jobs. Turned out quite spectacular. The powder coat shop actually had a powder blue that matched the old Falcon's light sky blue factory paint.

Or better yet just mix up a cake and have it bake at the same time, then you'll have something to eat afterwards while you enjoy the paint job.

I always have to jump into these threads to suggest Duracote/Cerakote, which are 2-part epoxy type firearm finishes. Best applied with a small HVLP, but can be had in nifty spray cans (that have a button on the bottom that releases the catalyst into the paint, then when mixed has like a 6-hour pot life.) All inclusive, painting my frame and fork ran me around $80, including stripper for the factory finish, solvents and abrasives for prep, primer, and the two colors of Duracote... and I have enough materials left over to probably paint another whole bike. Comes in a ridiculous amount of colors, is extremely durable, and the bike can be re-assembled within 3-4 hours of painting. Touch up can be done by mixing a tiny amount and spraying with an airbrush.

Powdercoating seemed like too much of a commitment. If I even want to change the color, I just need to scuff sand, wipe it down, and repaint it.

Duracoat (DURACOAT FIREARM FINISHES DIRECT) looks cool, and it comes in a ton of colors. My question is, how many ounces to paint a frame? Their $35 starter kit looks great but I'd hate to run out three-quarters done.

A lot of Pizzas could go in the space of one Harley Frame or a set of custom (CAR) wheels ..

but the grease and oils will ruin the powder coat finish..

not if the pizza sits on the bottom rack.

I bought an 8oz bottle of WWII OD green to do my 61cm alloy cross frame, and used just under half the bottle, so 4oz should do pretty much any frame. I used right at 2oz on the fork, because I just kept coating it and coating it and coating it, knowing how much road abuse the fork takes. So if you're going one color, an 8oz bottle will do a frame + fork with some left over (if you should want to color match anything like stem, seatpost, bar, what have you.)

I got a chuckle out of this one. Who worries about "committing" to the color of a freaking bike?

Thanks, I am going to try this stuff.

So when you go out and buy a car/bike/hat/refrigerator, if anyone asks, "Hey, what color would you like that in?" you're just like, "Eh, whatever. I'm not particular."

My bike came in one color option from the factory: red. The precise color I didn't want. So yes, repainting it was a commitment.

It's not a big deal, just found it funny. I can certainly understand repainting a bike whose color you don't like. I can't (even remotely) imagine choosing a method that lets me easily change the color because I might feel like it.

Nonetheless, DuraCoat looks like an interesting alternative. I appreciate the suggestion.