Is it that easy? Spray paint?

Do you have to strip the existing paint?

You really should strip, prime, and paint; I just striped and primed an older road frame this weekend. My advice: take it to an body shop. They can do a faster and better job than someone with little/no experience.

If you are painting a new frame that was just painted from the factory and want to change it, there is no need to strip it down all the way to the bare metal. Using the existing paint is a good base for new paint as long as you roughen the surface evenly with a 400 grit paper so it can adhere to the paint better. Stripping down an older frame makes more sense because usually there are lots of scratches or even rust that you'd want to get off. IF you want to take the time, I would sand the surface of the existing new paint, prime with a few coats, do a light sanding with a 600 grit and then spray your top coat followed by clear coats. If done right, a spray bomb can look really good. Depending on where you live, you can buy high quality paints from auto parts stores, but places like Home Depot or Ace Hardware usually stocks krylon or rustoleum paints.

FWIW, you can get a good powder coat done for about 75-100 bucks and some places will include chemically stripping the paint and you can choose the color you want. Then you have a really durable finish for riding on the street.

I don't have the OG picture anymore... but here's my Iro Angus I got 2 years ago.


edit: found the pic

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1161/...fc1d4f6f_o.png

yup, use your head.