Hi people!
Who can advise how to paint the frame. I want to upgrade my bike. Can I use usual spray paint or is it better to take special paint for bikes (if it exists)?
Any suggestions?
Firstly you need to strip the frame of all parts. That's the easy bit.
Then you can either paint yourself, which involves keying the existing surface, spending lots of money on spray cans (such as Plasticote) and painting it. It can look good but there's a knack to it that only comes with practice.
OR If you have a good local powdercoaters they can do it for you. If you live anywhere near Castleford I can recommend a good one. You have to make sure they are good with bikes as they will make a mess of it if they don't mask it properly and protect threads etc. The finish of powder can vary from just as good as normal paint (as the place I take mine to can do) or horrible thick blobby finish which feels like the frame had been dipped in rubber.
OR send it to a place like Argos Cycles or Bob Jackson or Chromacoat and spend a LOT of money on a proper stove enamelled finish, which can look AMAZING but is very costly.
Aye, DIY only really makes sense if you want the project, or if you want a quick and dirty job- it'll cost roughly as much to do well as it does to get a pro to do it, and it's quite a lot of work (and powdercoat will be more durable). The main problem is just paint toughnes-, most rattle cans won't cut it, bikes have a hard life and will soon scratch up and chip no matter how good a job you do.
I like painting stuff, and I was pleased with the results I got for my commuter (ancient steel frame- took it right back to metal and used a lot of coats of yellow hammerite with a dustcoat top to give it a nice tactile finish). But it wouldn't have lasted offroad.
Any decent lacquer/clearcoat that would make it more robust?
❓upgrade
Welcome aboard BTW
None that I know of, even professional finishes aren't tough enough imo, 2 pack clears will still scrape and chip when you hit them with a rock. I've used an aerosol acrylic from Canbrush recently which is probably better than most though- it's fairly soft so while it scratches easily, it doesn't crush and chip like cellulose usually does. But I still wouldn't use it on a mountain bike personally.
(I resprayed a motorbike panel with Halfords cellulose car clearcoat, in a pinch- it has impact marks from [i]insects[/i] never mind rocks. Fair enough, 100mph bees have some momentum but still)
Another option, for alu frames, is anodising- I got Steve the Anodiser to do my Hemlock, it was IIRC £100 inc posting so not that much more than powder, and a bit different. And lighter 😉
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