Ok, I have an old frame that is too far gone, I considered spray painting it but I like the idea of durability that comes with powder coating. I have a few concerns, I have read that powder can look too thick, especially around lugs. I have also read that it is not as beautiful as paint, which is vary vague. Can anyone describe what makes it less beautiful than paint, is it not as smooth/glossy? Pictures are the best, so if you want an excuse to show off your powder coated bike, be my guest. I am curious what some of you have done with more than 1 color, see if you can inspire me to do more than 1 color!

Thanks,
Matt

I too have considered a powdercoating job. What you have to take into consideration is how much the frame is worth to you to begin with. Is it really worth it to you to spend the money repainting, or would you rather save that money for a frame that already has a nicer paint job? Granted, powdercoating can be done for relatively cheap (there is a place near me who will sandblast and coat a frame for under $100). The durability of powdercoating is indeed nice, and is probably one of the best reasons to get it done. As for thickness, powder coating is noticeably thicker than a nice automotive paint job or stock paint job. However, from a few feet away, honestly who is going to notice? Powder coating is becoming available in more and more colors. Check your local powdercoater for options.

The frame is full Reynolds 531 tubing and that is the big reason I don't want to spay paint it. It seems nice enough that I should let a professional handle it. While reading about powder coating I just noticed people saying that it wasn't as attractive as paint.

Well, if I would of had the money back then I would of opted for a "real" paint respray. This is powdercoated and it looks really good. It is true that powdercoating can be thicker around the lugs but it all depends on who sprays it. I would say that mine was done fairly good. As for the "wet" look I think you are trying to achieve; powdercoating can look wet. Mine does, but not as wet sa a real paint job can look. In all, if you are going to ride this bike and want some good protection on it and you don't want to spene + $450, powdercoating is the way to go. Here is a pic of my Colnago that I got powdercoated.

I own two 1973 Schwinn World Voyagers. Both have been powder coated. The orange one was done 10+ years ago and the yellow on 2 months ago. Both basically look like they were done yesterday. The yellow was in better original condition so I kept the chromed head lugs. Double click on the pictures if you want to enlarge them. Roger

In my experience the thickness of powdercoating is problematic only when you have pantographing or lug cut-outs on your frame, as they tend to get filled in more than is ideal. If you have plain lugs and no pantographing, a powdercoat is, in my opinion, a better option in most cases.

I called a powder coater today who typically does bikes. He quoted me $85.00 to bead blast and powder coat the frame and fork. That has been the only promising call, everyone else was saying $200.00. Those bikes look great and 10 years says something about durability. The chrome lugs on your schwinn look great, the lugs on my frame came painted, can you polish the steel, or do they have to be chrome? The powder coater also gave me a good tip, he said check out bikes at stores as most of them are powder coated. When I asked about a second color he suggested paint over the powder would be easiest, I have also read that here I think. GR23292, your Calnago looks fantastic, did you have to clear coat your decals? Thanks for the pics.

Matt

I had a frame powdercoated recently & the finish is very durable. Plus it looks great. So much so that I'm taking my my Reynolds 653 lugged frame to get done on Thursday. I'll post pics when I get it back.

I've had several frames powdercoated by Long Beach Custom Fabricating, a one-man shop in Plymouth, MA. Scott now charges $85 for bead blast and single color coat. I've been very pleased with the result though lug shorelines are definitely not as crisp as with conventional painting. Some examples:

Gloss black St. Etienne:


Orange Univega Competizione:


My wife's Raleigh Marathon Mixte:


A Miyata 610 in red:


My Norman Fay English tourer in copper:


A candy blue Schwinn Super Sport:


1983 Trek 412:


Neal

Powder finish from a place like Spectrum, go.

No lugs, you can make a case.

With lugs, you get what you pay for, I have stripped 4 different powdercoat jobs, one to go.. all have had concealed corrosion. Starts at lug edges and braze ons when visible, but every frame had surface problems under the plain tubing zones.

The heat and duration of heat will cause the powder when it becomes a liquid to pull away from any sharp edge, lug line as an example. The film will be thinnest there, you cannot avoid physics, the powder CAN be built up there, then you lugged bike will start to look lugless.

Rustoleum Professional Enamel + Primer... Turned out great, not very durable. I say if it's a bike you plan to ride rough, powder coat it.

Nope, though they would last longer if I were to clear coat them.

The original paint 89 Trek 660 was looking a little rough so I had it powdercoated. It's not beautiful, but it's nice enough and very, very durable.

Before:




After:

Thanks Neal, the Univega is an example as I was mentioning, that finish will probably be durable enough, But,to get a decent film thickness at the lugs, it has to be overloaded at the lug edges, a noe man shop will allow you to talk to the guy holding the gun, otherwise be very careful.

Here is my 1983 Claud Butler Dalesman.

Fwiw, that orange Uni was one of the first that Scott did for me, and he's improved his technique a great deal since then--the lugs are much crisper but not nearly as sharp as with conventional paint.

On the rust issue, I was told by someone who's into auto restoration that he's had trouble with rust bubbling up from powdercoated parts because there's no layer of primer. I can imagine that's true, but I've also seen (and have) plenty of conventionally painted frames that were seas of bubbling rust (including the Imron painted Trek 412).

Neal

When you take a bike to get powdercoated, is it best to chemically strip the old paint first and let them clean it up with the bead blaster, or is that an unnecessary step?

If the frame only has paint and not chromed underneath you can just take it to them as is and they'll strip it. I would first make sure that who ever is going to do it has done bicycles before just to make sure they don't damage the frame.

make sure to degrease the frame before you take it to the powdercoater.

[QUOTE=Noah Scape;7706140]Here is my 1983 Claud Butler Dalesman.



This is the same way I want to paint mine, with the white head tube. Did you paint the white over the powder yourself? Also I have read threads where Dr. D (who seems to be the accepted pro) reccomends clear coating the powder to prevent rust, has anyone tried this. I use acrylic automotive wax usually, can you use this on powder and would it help the rust issue. I have other bikes that are not as nice, this one will probably be a fair weather bike.

Great lug pictures, that really helps. Has anyone tried pinstripping the lug edges like they did on some of them from the factory?

I was thinking of pinstriping my lugs & filling in the windows. Here's me frame I got done on Thursday. Told him "not too thick" for the lugs' sake. 1 stage Monteni orange pearl which these pics do no justice.

Here is my hubby's bike that we had PC'd. He let me pick out the color schemes, and I did the pin striping by hand. It is obvious I did not practice, but hubby says since it was free hand, it ads character. He commutes on this bike in all weather.



Brenda

That's nice, bigbris1! Who did that for you? Local in NYC? And what sort of frame is that, with the extended seat tube? Does it say "Reynolds" on the fork crown?

And Neal Lerner, did you pay extra for the candy blue?

Motochick -

Do you have the color info on that blue!? That's what I was going for with this Ciocc I had done, but as you can see I didn't quite hit it.

GR's Gazelle in the 'show off your Dutch bike' thread is the ideal. You've really nailed it!