Hi guys,
I'm posting this not as revenge, but so people dont go through what I did.
I took my intense 6.6 to the North Ayrshire bike shop as they advertise custom paintjobs on there website.
I dropped it off there on the 5th December 2010 having agreed the job, timescale and cost.
It was a simple job, paint the frame metallic orange (focus st) and do some simple, factory looking graphics in black.
The time agreed was 2 weeks.
I only just got the bike back on Monday, after being promised it back after many phone calls.
When I picked it up, the both parts of the frame were different colours, it is not metallic, and it had no graphics or lacquer.
[b]So, in short, the work was crap, they lied to me on more than one occasion, and never finished the job.[/b]
So, please do not take this post as a rant etc, I am posting it to warn other people who may be looking at having a fresh coat of paint on their bike.
Cheers
Pics?
is the 'stuart' guy not very tall but about as wide as a house?
Only your second post on STW.
No pictures, no mention of payment, excessive use of tags and finally, claiming it's not a rant when it clearly is.
i shall get some pictures later, i have to go to work in 5 mins.
@martymac Stuart is the tall guy, funny you know the name although I didnt name anybody!!!
btw, how do i put pics on here, or do I just link a photobucket pic?
Cheers
correct, second post it is.
only because I was spoken to like sh!t after my first post.
pinkbike is a far friendlier forum, seems as though people on here sometimes are not very friendly.
and i have tagged it because i want people to get my message.
There was no payment taken as they did not do the job i asked them to do, and I went and picked my bike up.
checked the site.
i used to work at irvine cycles in the early 90s, and one of the other mechanics was called stuart. he lived in saltcoats, so, naturally i wondered . . . .
however, he was only about 5'3", so cant be him.
excessive use of tags
I think this is a newbie thing. I've noticed a few other posters do the same thing, presumably because they see the tags option, presume that they should be used, and don't realise that tags are rarely used on other postings.
btw, how do i put pics on here, or do I just link a photobucket pic?
Host photos elsewhere (flickr or photobucket etc) and then link to them, or use the "IMG" tag above to insert an image URL.
iggysport, thanks for the warning! And pay no attention to the pedantic, self-infatuated arseholes who seem to be most vocal on this forum these days.
Where are you considering next? Out of interest, how much did they quote?
Don't lose heart Iggy, this is a good forum once you get into it.
cheers for the heads-up dude!
Did you pay?
two-tone is in this year*! get it laquered and some graphics online and i'll say you didn't do too badly out of it, especially as you didn't pay for it.
*maybe
There are some nice American folk on here though. Aren't there phil?!
incidentally is the quality of the paint job ok, just not colour accurate?
Take pics and post them here. Good luck!
i am not american, and thus:
[img] 
[/img]
LOL Iggy. I just checked your first post and it was a fairly mild 'slagging' - more an honest appraisal I would say with quite a few encouraging comments (mine included) I didn't make it up in October but it was better in December when i had my ski's with me 😉
Edit: When you complained at the time did they not offer to put it right, or were you so pissed off that you wanted to get out of there?
Well as an RAF weapons Tech if you can't own them with some bombers who can?
If they let you walk out the store with the bike and without paying then it sounds like they agreed with your point of view re: the quality of the work.
Sounds like someone there ****ed up and they knew it.
Wasn't Irvine Cycles owned or joint owned by Graeme Obree at one point?
OP seems a bit of a drama queen IMO
To be fair if that had happened to anyone on here's bike, never mind an Intense 6.6 that they were taking the effort to rebuild, they would be going mental. So give the guy a break. Second post so what?
You're only allowed to complain on this forum if you post 20 times a day and Chain Reaction are a day late with your order of spare inner tubes.
I had a paint job done a few months ago, but I took it to a well known and respected paint shop - Argos. They did a quality job.
That cut out the middle man, avoided any problems of the LBS not being able to pay the paint shop, or any communication issues between them and the paint shop etc etc.
Unless its something the LBS actually do Id not bother using them to be the middle man.
If you do want a quality paint job try Argos.
@slimmerbloke;
yeah, obree owned it before i worked there, he was still in and out regularly though, popped in to use the brazing gear sometimes.
he owned another shop in prestwick by then, but it went bust, proof if any were needed that being a great cyclist does not make you a shrewd businessman.
he was a nice guy tho, with a wicked sense of humour, as dry as 2 sticks.
as dry as 2 sticks.
Must...resist...joke
I'm currently uploading shots to photobucket. they may take a while, just taken a load of pics with different cam/flash settings, still quite hard to see the difference tbh.
Some more positive comments though cheers guys!
The paint itself on the front triangle is just one tone whereas the rear is orange, with red/orange highlights on the top. I think this is because the graphics I requested got messed up (something to do with the thinners i was told, the paint bubbled) so i think that he just repainted it in orange.
I was originally quoted £150 to £200.
I am talking to a local (reputable) bodyshop to do a Focus st orange basecoat, and a friend (who i recently found out can airbrush) to do the graphics.
When I went to the shop on monday, after being promised the job would be finished and delivered personally to me on Sunday, I spoke to another shop employee. The guy who was doing the job wasn't in. So, the guy in the shop agreed with me the guy was taking the p!ss and at the time was on the phone to his boss.
The choice was either they would have it finished on monday night (i didn't believe this) or take it away free of charge.
I took the second option, as I had taken the day off work (i work near inverness) and I didn't want any further hassle.
The quality isn't the best either, paint spits, lumps, runs, paint in the bearing housings as they weren't masked properly.
So, i am going to have the paint removed (chem dipped or blasted) and have the body shop start all over.
I just really miss riding atm! Cant wait to get it rebuilt.
@trimix, how much was it and how long did it take?
I've been scouting the tinters for painting places not finding much, always bloody motorbike customisers, skulls and stuff!!!
I can understand people slagging me, but I have been off the bike for over 2 months now and I need to get some riding done before I get posted somewhere down south, where the riding will not half compare to here........
@ boardinbob,
i think i know what you mean, i didnt mean that.
its an ORANGE bike , not made by Orange, ever heard of a shop called Halfords they sell DIY tins of spray paint, thats what i did with my Saracen .
I'm still wondering why if you wanted to have a decent re-spray that you would take it to the local bike shop ( unless you knew it had a very good paint shop reputation )
for a good paint job, you need good equipment ... something normally beyond what a local bike shop would have
why not go to a proper paint shop ?
That is truly awful, put a post up asking if anyone knows a decent powder coater/sprayer near you. I'm sure you'll get a better result. Good luck
That is beyond bad. I could do a far better job with my own spray equipment.
And to be fair its nothing like the st Orange shade!!!
The guy is well within his right to moan about this and warn people as well.
The old stale farts, are almost always, the worst farts of all!
Agreed, very bad. Also worth noting that they haven't masked off where the bearings go, you WILL spend hours cleaning all of that out just to get them back in.
@fisha, the following link has pictures of bikes they have done on there website, and its 10 minutes from my old mans house.
http://www.nacycles.co.uk/custom.php
If i had known that it was going to take so long/be a sh!te job, of course I would have taken it to a car painters. Problem is, car painters aren't often airbrushers, and I dont want to use Intense original stickers as they are poor quality too.
Orange peel effect on an orange frame - maybe that was the idea?!
People have had very good experiences with Argos on here, and I believe for a similar price to what that shop quoted you.
Never used them myself, I think this is the right place:
http://www.argoscycles.com/paintshop.htm
Looks like they will do all prep work, masking etc so you could probably send the frame 'as is'. Dunno if they do the colour you want, but work contacting them about it. Good luck, and stick some more photos up when you get it done 🙂
Worth checking with your local Trading Standards dept? Might be possible to get some financial compensation for damaging your goods. It would also teach them not to be so cavalier with customers. I think the government also do some kind of phone advice and/or a consumer web page as a friend got some very good advice when messed about with by a garage. All the help was free.
has a look of the 90's Klein frames to it -[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16607642 ]this sort of thing[/url]
i agree the finish is pretty bad and it looks nothing like focus ST orange!
I went to Argos to talk to them about a custom job.
What impressed me was the fact that they actualy make bike frames (road ones) so they know how to take them apart and put them back together again. They mask the threads etc properly and I saw a chap putting a headset back properly, not ****ting it in with a hammer.
They did a custom flake job for me - perfect, spotless, faultless and delivered on time - phoned to say it was ready and put my stickers on properly then lacquered on top.
I think I paid about £200 ish - it was worth every penny.
They can get stickers made up for you if you send the artwork - but I got a local sign writer do it in ten mins for a tenner.
For a standard colour it would cost way less, but be just as good quality. The colours look quite different in different light which is why I went there to talk it over. Its a bit far for you to do that, but if your not going for fancy flake the colours on the web are close.
@Kit, Cheers pal,
I did eventually find that website eariler, but i'm unsure if they do airbrushing and how much extra that would cost.
I will email them and ask, but I don't want to go back to the factory Intense stickers, I think they are a waste of £30. My thule prorides didn't take to kindly to them! Plus, i'm having it resprayed so thought I would be a bit different and get graphics done.
The guyI know who can airbrush competes in model aircraft comps and his work is very intricate and minute detail, so he's more than capable of doing my "Intense" and "6.6" logo's. Just a shame I didn't know he did it 2 months ago!
I am totally awestruck at how much of a pain in the t1t's it is to get a frame resprayed! Unbelievable, especially considering how many high-end bikes get done.
Lesson learned though. Hey ho.
Hopefully nobody else has to go through it though. I have been so disappointed and angry its unreal!
Painted, the colour i want, just waiting on my mate getting back from newcastle next weekend to do the graphics, then its back to the painters to be laquered.
http://s248.photobucket.com/albums/gg181/BigRed1490/New%20Intense/
graphics done and rebuilt.
Almost worth the wait,send pics to the gits who messed it up 1st time.