nexttimeiwill

I bought a brand new Specialized Roubaix Comp 2 weeks ago. Brand spankin' new. I was directed towards this bike by the staff there based on the information I gave them on where and how far I would be riding. This is my first bike purchase in eons. Like most things in life, you can't everything all in one; the Roubaix is very comfortable but the Allez came in the colors I really wanted. I like my bike, I really do...but I don't love the color. For the amount of money this bike costed me, I think I should love the color.

I contacted a local bike paint shop for a quote for a custom paint job. His price was reasonable. However, when I called several shops to get a quote to disassemble and reassemble the bike for painting, I was stunned at how expensive it would be. In fact, one place quoted me a price higher than the cost of the custom paint job. I brought my bike into a shop for another quote and the owner thought the color of my bike as great and unique..which I agree, it is. He said doing a custom paint on the bike might not be worth the cost..or the wait. Also, I would lose the bike serial number that's paint onto the frame.

Some might be wondering, why did I buy the bike in the first place if I didn't like the color? I thought it would grow on me and because of covid, inventory is running low everywhere and prices are going up so I jumped on it.

So, my question is, should I pay more money to custom paint the bike or should I sell the bike and try to find the one I really want (although the shop said the Allez Sprint is too aggressive for a beginner like myself)? Or, should I just leave it alone and be happy with what I have? ....and NO, I can not afford 2 bikes!

alcjphil

Repainting a new bike is always going to be expensive, not only the actual painting, but the cost of unbuilding and rebuilding which can take more time than the painting not to mention that you might void your warranty in the process. It might be less costly to simply sell your bike and buy one that you like the look of. I have 2 main road bikes. One has a colour scheme that I really like, the other not so much. However I would choose the one whose paint job I find less attractive if I had to choose. By a small margin it is a better bike

smashndash

You can probably disassemble/assemble most of the bike at home. Park tool has some great videos but I bet you can find entire build videos for roubaixs because they're so popular. I'd watch a couple of full build videos and see if it's something you can handle.

Life is too short to ride bikes you don't like the look of.

Something like this:

nexttimeiwill

Thank you. I understand this standpoint completely. I'm just trying to get over the mental hurdle of spending so much money on something and the color is "kinda-sorta" what I wanted and not exactly what I wanted.

Dean V

I would ride it as it is for 6 months.
Then make a decision.

surak

I was under the impression that a custom paint job invalidates the frame warranty for most bike manufacturers. Have you looked into getting a wrap instead? I don't know how that works but maybe it wouldn't require disassembly and reassembly.

Personally I have a bike with a sweet paint job that gets compliments everywhere, it's alloy like the Allez. I've got a Roubaix in boring matte black that nobody looks twice at. The Roubaix rides better and I ride it if I want to be comfortable, which means it's my choice for the most challenging routes. Getting a bike just for the color scheme when it's not the best bike for one's intended purposes, nah that's not for me.

nexttimeiwill

Thanks for this information. I will check out this video today.

nexttimeiwill

Will do. I can definitely live with it for 6 months.

nexttimeiwill

That's the exact same thing the staff at Specialized told me. I know they're right. Specialized also referred me to the paint shop where the frame would not lose it's warranty should I have it custom painted. I never considered a wrap before. Thank you for this idea!

scottfsmith

Also compare the paint job and (dis-)assembly cost vs the cost of ordering a new Roubaix in a frame color you like and then selling your current bike used when the new one comes. There is a very good market for lightly used bikes these days.

That said, I would just give it 6 months and the color will probably be fine. I have the exact same bike, I didn't particularly like the color (raw carbon black) but it has grown on me.

msu2001la

Can you post the costs that you were quoted? I have had a couple of different shops do full bike overhauls where they strip the bike down to the frame, clean everything, and then re-assemble everything back. They have charged between $200-$300 to do that. I have a hard time believing that a custom paint job on a carbon frame is in that price range, so I'm wondering if you need to just contact a few other shops about doing the tear-down, rebuild.

I had assumed custom paint on a carbon bike would be in the neighborhood of $1000.

Voiding the warranty is definitely a concern, and considering they'll be sanding off the stock paint I can understand why this is the case. Bit of a dice roll on that one, I guess.

DaveSSS 

You should now have learned to buy something you can tolerate. Learning how to build a bike will save a lot of money and time. I've never paid a dime to have someone work on a bike. I've built up about 20 of them over the years and 4 in just the last 2 years.

OldTryGuy

My wife bought me a 2018 Roubaix Expert in RED as a birthday present and I LOVE IT even though I was thinking of something different. Ride it and maybe the color might just grow on you.

ENJOY the ride.

10 Wheels

Red is Good

sean.hwy

I would not paint it because you will lose you warranty. I am in the same dilemma, I just purchased a Giant Revolt advance 2 that I find kind of boring.

Maybe you can get sticker or wrap it etc...

nexttimeiwill

Hi, I'm a newbie so I can only post/reply so many times within a 24hrs. time frame.

nexttimeiwill

Reading everyone's responses right now!

Symox

I would leave it and ride but I don’t have as much disposable income I guess

colnago62

My Project One frame recently cracked. Part of the replacement of the frame is a choice of new paint. The amount of choices is dizzying. Went with plain white with low vis stickers. Fancy makes the bike more enticing to steal in my opinion.

Ogsarg

I bought a leftover 2019 Roubaix comp on sale when the 2020 model had been out a while. Initially I was not crazy about the color but it met my criteria of anything but matte black.

After a year plus, I like it a lot more than I initially did and I get a surprising number of comments about it. I'd agree with the idea of just living with it for a while and seeing if it grows on you.

nexttimeiwill

I'm diggin' all of the positive feedback you all have been giving. The paint shop I went to was referred to me by the Specialized store. I will not void the warranty if I allow this particular shop to do the job. If I venture off to someone else, yes, the warranty is cancelled. The quote from the paint shop was $300 for a pearlescent paint job. The shops I called for prices for disassemble/reassemble ranged from $350 up to $550. Here are some photos my current ride..



It is unique. The top corner, folk and bottom corner are Ice Blue and center is Dove grey. From a distance, the entire frame looks white as you can see in some of the pictures. I also like that the brand name is not "in your face" bold. It's almost invisible in person. The problem is it's too much grey. It's a flat grey without any shine or sparkle. Very dull. Yesterday, I took a look at a 2022 Tarmac SL7 Comp wtih Sram Rival AXS in that Gloss White Silver paint. I loved it. however, I'm concerned about the comfort factor having been on a Roubaix for two weeks.The Tarmac is just a few hundred dollars more than what I paid for the Roubaix so no major price jump. So far I haven't rode any long distances or joined any groups but down the line, that may change. I mostly ride on local bike trails (10-20miles).

Here is the Gloss Metallic White Silver Tarmac I'm looking at

njkayaker

This.

It's reasonably probable that you won't care that much in a few months.

What color do you want?

Symox

I just discovered 3M paint protection film for doing gravel riding preventing rocks from dinging my CF frame. I believe they come in colors. Seems a cheaper and reversible way to try something different.

check Amazon

but $300 for a paint job that Won’t void the warranty sounds like a great deal.

I actually like the bike color.

nexttimeiwill

I just posted a video of the color I liked a bit more. It's Specialized Gloss Metallic White Silver.

The bike I have currently is Ice Blue/Dove Grey. If I were to get it painted or wrapped, I would have the entire bike painted Ice Blue.