Dirt bag CF bikes- is there maaco or specialists to paint them
 

Too many of the new bikes are dirt bag ugly. They were either designed by marketing and think we all want to ride nascar bikes or by non-artists with no conception of color.

Is there a maaco, or similar type of speciality group that can paint CF bikes so they look super? I know Trek has the Project One where you can select color schemes for new CF bikes for $0 to $500 extra. Heck, for $500, someone should have the skillsets to change a dirt bag bike into a piece of art.

Any experiences?

I'd check out Joe Bell perhaps.

Wouldn't powder coating work?

Powdercoating won't work. You need a base material that can be electrically charged, and CF won't do that. The powder also has to be heated up in an oven ( 300 degrees F, I believe) which will probably damage the carbon/resin mix.

My suggestion is to go to an auto body shop that paints fiberglass cars (such as Chevy Corvettes) and see what they say. CF and fiberglass seem to be somewhat similar (base resins are different), so they might be able to do something.

There's plenty of specialist bike painters out there. Cyclart has been doing carbon bikes forever:
http://www.cyclart.com/

http://www.cyclart.com/newimg7.gif

http://www.cyclart.com/Bamboozled.jpg

http://www.cyclart.com/TubeB.jpg

http://www.cyclart.com/Neon%20Confetti.jpg

http://www.cyclart.com/SpotsforSally.jpg