lopomon

very ironic, considering the circumstances.

anyhow, spray painting can look very similar to a traditional paint job if you know how to do all of the prep work/clear coat/etc.

fubar5

can "look" very similar being the key here.

lopomon

to put things into perspective for you:

https://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...offpainted.jpg
https://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...ra1/rearta.jpg

yes, automotive quality paint jobs, with spray paint. those pics aren't even that good.

Dannihilator

I'm going to reiterate what I said.

Why bother painting the whole thing, it's going to be cheaper to buy a couple bottles of glossy black touch up paint from an automotive store and patch up where there are paint chips, scratches and where there is bare metal showing. The original paint on that bike is in too good of shape to warrant a complete repainting.

aballas

you're missing the entire point though.....It's getting repainted no matter what you say....there's no way around that.

I don't care about your opinions about why I shouldn't paint...that ship has already sailed...

I want opinions on the scheme I chose to PAINT IT...or ideas for other paint schemes....NOT WHY I SHOULD TOUCH-UP the bike....FFS...


I've seen people take entirely brand new frames...completely strip them and repaint before ever even building it up...noone ridculed them for their decisions....why should my decision get this much scrutiny?

aballas

yeah I've seen some good jobs with spray paint as well...I'm thinking of going the rustoleum route.....that paint is tough as nails..again...just have to see what come up with when I go to get my materials...

As I've said before this isn't my first painting project....it will be my first bike...but I have done some things before....so I am aware of the options...going to Lowe's tomorrow probably..

Dannihilator

I'm not missing the point at all, it's not my bike, do what you want, but tell me. Do you know how to take the frame apart, for a fully to get a full repaint, you have to take the rear assembly off of the front triangle, take the bushings/bearings out of it, take the headset/ brakes off. The when it comes to assembly, you will have to reface the seattube, headtube, rechase the threads in the bottom bracket yolk. Take the paint out of where the bushings/bearings go, and when you take the frame apart you have to put new bushing/bearings in the frame then you have to reassemble the frame, and hopefully you know the torque settings, oh and also you will also have to remove the paint from inside the holes in the disk brake tabs. If you get a shop to do that work, when combined with a repaint, you're looking at about $600 job including labor. If you don't know how to, you're just going to have a pile of parts laying around with new paint on them.

aballas

considering that I did a complete disassembly when i received the frame to inspect everything...yeah....

I'm not a complete n00b....i started off in road bikes...and this is admittedly my first mountain bike....but I can definitely tell my ass from a hole in the ground...

I've built every bike I've ridden from the frame up....I know what i'm doing in that respect...did you honestly think I was going to paint the frame without doing a complete disassembly?

...I know how to do this properly...I'm doing the paint job myself...(not paying someone to do it) and i'm capable of taking the precautions I need to avoid more work than is necessary...

Dannihilator

Ok, then just do something other than black, black way over used, I would go with a matte grey with black decals.

LowCel 

How about battleship grey? I don't know what it is about that color but I think it looks awesome on bikes.

aballas

that's a good idea...when I get back from class i'll throw together a mock-up and see what it looks like

are you talking grey w/ a clear gloss coat? or matte? I feel like that would end up looking like primer....could be wrong though


do you have any examples?

aballas

YAY!!!! useful feedback!

matte grey is an idea....I'm thinking a dark charcoal though...closer to black...but won't look like primer...

LowCel 

I was thinking of a matte color, but my chameleon was clear coated and it looked awesome.

aballas

that looks good....I was hoping to go a bit darker though....maybe like this? excuse the horrible-quality of my MS-paint job...

aballas

my feeling is the darker I make the base coat the easier it will be to avoid a whole bunch of over-spray when i do the lettering

home-made stencils FTL....

Dannihilator

I like it in that color.

aballas

me too...I'll have to see what my options are when I go to buy paint though...Might be a little darker than that...

The color is somewhere between gunmetal and tungsten..

MillCreek

I like the dark gray color. As an aside, I have now seen that exact frame on Motobecane, Fezzari, KHS and one other brand whose name I can't recall right now. Clearly, the frame factory in Taiwan must be working overtime.

The more I think about it, I like a nice matte gray.

aballas

if all else fails I can always go this route....I believe this shade is called "carnation"

LowCel 

Are you fast enough to pull off the "carnation"?

aballas

abosulutely not...

LowCel 

Then I would stick with grey or black.

fubar5

I am not a paint expert, but I'll go out on a limb and say there is no way spray paint can be as high quality as a professional paint job, where the product undergoes chemical processes and oven curing (baking the paint on).

Yeah it may look as good, but it won't be as good.

LowCel, I really like your Chameleon.

lowndragon

I don't know if you painted it yet but I like both ideas. The matte black with gloss black lettering and the matte grey with black lettering. I think that it would look sharp either way.

Flak

I think you should totally repaint a black frame black again.