Same here.

Groove or no groove the main thing is the fact they discontinued the mud guards and that steams me up. I just prefer them and wouldn't want to go without them but they stopped making them because "if you are mountain biking you would just go with a Camelbak backpack" and I guess for dusty roads or just keeping it generally more clean you are SOL.

Just prefer one with a groove, that's all. It's not a big deal.

Some seem to have taken my choice as a personal insult on their intelligence or something. There are 9,374 better things to take insult at today. What I think about anything really isn't important.

Anyway, I'm just groovy...


--

Next question... How much does it cost to powder coat a bicycle frame?

$100-150 to powdercoat a frame... I only paid $40 for mine because it took forever and didnt end up the color I wanted after all.

That's doable.

Just wanted to see if it is worth picking up the phone or going down there to look at colors.

Thanks.

These guys have thousands of colors and will mail you free metal samples that have been sprayed, no strings attached. You can buy just one pound and give it to your powder guy if he doesn't want to order special colors for you. I've bought all mine there, great service, good prices.

https://www.powderbuythepound.com/

Thanks.

So you buy the color and let the local applicator do the labor?

Yes. The guy I use is happy to order stuff for me, but he just has a few paper catalogs. When I go to Powderbuythepound.com I can browse to my hearts content until I find a few colors that I think are close. Then I use the chat feature to ask Sarah for samples and she mails them that very day. Once I get the samples I can hold them up to things like saddles and tape, and in natural light, to make the final decision. It's kinda scary how different they the colors look in real life compared to your monitor.

My local guy is kind of an oddity though. He does huge contract stuff, including things for the US NAVY, yet he's happy to slip in a bike or even just a component for me. He rides motorcycles and his son races BMX, so he's kind of into it.

He charges me $65.00 for a frame and fork. Even if it's a two-stage color like a candy with with a metallic base. That includes all the prep work and a high gloss clear (which he provides) on top of the color(s) I give to him.

Thanks for the info. Really appreciate it.


-Tim-

So help me out here... 2 questions... Asking out of ignorance...

I'm sure a reputable shop knows what they are doing so this is more of a curiosity. How do they prevent the coating from getting into areas where it is not wanted such as inside the head tube where the headset cups seat, bottom bracket threads, cable bosses, etc.

Second question is more important. Can a carbon fork be coated? Will the baking process adversely affect the integrity of the fork? Is this asking for trouble?

TIA

Powder coating is electrostatic process and will not adhere to carbon or plastic.

Whether powder coating or wet paint, areas like the inside of a head tube or BB shell are simply masked off, often as simply as rolling up a piece of paper and putting in the tube. The same goes for cable or water bottle bosses, only smaller.

Thanks.

I read where non-conductive parts can be pre-heated. The powder then adheres as it contacts the hot part. It is more difficult to tell how thick the coating is and the finished product tends to be brittle. I also read that carbon parts won't hold up to the heat so coating the fork isn't an option.

Appreciate the reply.

What Scrod said. For the big areas they use a special tape which is neat stuff. They roll a piece into an ice cream cone shape and just shove it into the heat tube etc.

For all the little holes they have reusable silicone plugs. They come in a million sizes and are slightly tapered like a wine bottle cork. It makes things fast and easy and yields a tidy border for perfect results.

Cool. Thanks. Thinking of having the Fuji frame done in a royal blue and getting some decals from Velocals. Really appreciate the info.

Two pieces of advice for you sir, if I may.

1. Make it a priority to find a shop that does bikes and motorcycles as a regular part of their work flow. They "Get it". And that's important. Some shops just do Patio furniture, washers, dryers, fencing, etc by the hundreds, even thousands. Generally speaking, avoid those places. You'll be less likely to experience an honest mistake, which is still a burden to resolve. An example of an honest mistake would be BB masking. Any shop will (should) know to mask the threads. But that's not good enough. The face of the shell needs to be protected as well so things seat properly. Same with head tubes, so the cups seat parallel to one another. It's attention to those details that will prevent you from spending time and effort with a razor blade/file to clean the areas, or from taking it to an LBS to have the areas faced. Fork crown race seat areas are important too.

2. Pay the extra money for the clear coat. No matter what the gloss rating is on the color you choose, the clear is SHINIER. WAY! Plus, the modern clear powders have UV protection that helps prevent fade in the base color. All the other obvious benefits apply, extra durability, blah, blah, blah.

Thank you.

The shop I am considering does motorcycles, firearms, engine blocks, brake parts for custom cars, etc.

That's the kind of place I'm talking about. Hands on owner, I bet. Good shot.

whenever i go over a bump where my rear wheel drops down hard (like uneven sidewalk, or sometimes rough parts of the path like where lots of tree root bumps are) there is an awful sound - I think it might be my chain slapping again the top of the cog? Is that a thing? Is there a way to stop it or is it just part of riding SS? My chain doesn't come off.
I'm 99% sure its not the sound of my CO2 cartridge banging around in my bag - because I know what that sounds like.

What kind of sound?

Coming from the rear?

Yeah it comes from the rear - that's why I was specific when saying I hear it when my rear wheel drops (like when the sidewalk has buckled and there's a big drop). I don't know to describe the sound. It's kind of like a metallic clank?

As long as everything's mechanically sound, I wouldn't worry about it. Bikes make noise when they go over stuff.

But on a stand everything rolls free and smooth and no cracks anywhere?

I'm sure it's not, but could it be the co2 cartridge banging the seatpost or saddle rail when you hit a bump? I had that once and it took me a bit to figure out what was going on.

yeah no probs. and while rolling on level pavement its great.

Yeah it's definitely not. The cartridge sits at the bottom of my saddle bag under the tube.

Try something. Stand next to the bike, lift the rear and then slam it down and see if you can reproduce the sound. This might help you locate it.

Shopping for parts for a new budget-build & must admit that I do have weight-weenieish predilections (especially when it comes to wheels ) - what does the group think of Factory Five's 1880g, $189 wheelset?

https://wearefactoryfive.com/products/f5-pista-wheelset