Just stripped my 07 Stumpjumper FSR down to the frame pieces to replace the shot bearings, the frame itself is looking pretty worn so thinking about getting it repainted. Not overly keen on spending a fortune as it’s a 6 year old frame that’s pretty out of date and it’s already costing £40 for a new set of bearings plus new bb, heaset bearings etc.

Can you get a half decent durable finish on a home rattle can job or is it one best left to the pros to powder coat? I’m assuming it’s powder from the factory. Any recommended paints/techniques/finishes etc?

It’s also got some fairly heavy cable rub under the bb and around the horst link on the stays, talking probably 2mm deep under the bb. Am I trying to resurrect pointlessly.. is it time for this frame to take a trip to the scrap man in the sky? If not, what to fill it with? Pic below of underside of bb shell.

I don’t think you’ll get a tough enough finish from aerosols. Maybe if you can find someone still selling twopack cans but they have the minor drawback of the deadly poison 😉 Hammerite or plastikote can give a good looking finish but it’s not durable, I hammerited my commuter and it’s doing OK a couple of years on but it wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes on an mtb.

It’s also a lot of work- once you factor in your time, and other raw materials like wet and dry etc, it’s not much cheaper than a pro job.

As for the scars, I wouldn’t worry about it, nice fat tube there and lots of it.

cheap local powder coater? Regular threads on here about people getting frames coated and non-niche-cycling-specific places seem to charge about £30?

Yeah powder coat is the pro option, more wondering how good I can do it myself.
I kinda like doing it all myself, buliding the bikes is as much fun as riding them and going to the lbs is admitting defeat* 😉

*Even though 9/10 times it gets the job done quicker and cheaper with less blood, sweat and tears…

… there are also threads bemoaning what a non specialist has done to a frame using too heavy a guage to blast with pre powder…

YMMV and while i’d quite possibly end up using a local cheap powder coater, I’d certainly want to talk to/see results of a few others who’d been happy with their bikes before committing.

that is a hell of a lot of cable rub! Make sure you protect it next time.

You won’t get 2k paint in rattle cans. It has to be supplied as 2 parts and mixed before spraying with a proper gun. If you go the paint route make sure it’s etch primed onto the bare metal, then a decent paint used that is baked if needed.

Can you get a half decent durable finish on a home rattle can

Half decent – yes.
Durable – no.

DIY for a bit of man/bike bonding. Pro for an easy, decent, semi-durable job.

… there are also threads bemoaning what a non specialist has done to a frame using too heavy a guage to blast with pre powder…

have you seen the state of the OP’s BB shell 😯 , unless the non specialist is using artillery shells I can’t see this being a problem 😀

I was thinking local as the cheap option rather than the likes of Argos as the “pro” option- once youve bought the materials for a rattle can job you could have paid for a ‘back street’ powder coat.

Alternative is to strip it and go raw, and do this yourself? Loads of threads on it.

andyl – Member

You won’t get 2k paint in rattle cans. It has to be supplied as 2 parts and mixed before spraying with a proper gun.

Nope, Monofil among others do 2k aerosols. Quite clever, the hardener is in a wee capsule in the can, you activate it and it mixes before spraying.

Even so, I wouldn’t recommend it!

Raw would be very cool. Tbh it’s an old frame, it owes me nothing I paid £200 for it and I’ve had plenty of use out of it, it was destined to be replaced but other financial commitments mean I can’t really justify the new frame I want so I’m bringing this one back to life. I might try and strip a tube and weld area with chemicals and see how easy it is to strip to raw and then lacquer. I think given if I paint it its going to look worse than it does now after a weekend in Wales that’s probably not worth thinking about.

Given how much of a faff the bearings are going to be it might not even get that far!

Nope, Monofil among others do 2k aerosols. Quite clever, the hardener is in a wee capsule in the can, you activate it and it mixes before spraying.

Even so, I wouldn’t recommend it!

That’s quite cool. Wonder why it hasn’t taken off though.