Cerakote: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger?

@cerakote_up_north Not bike related (car) however how is the colour match between plastic and aluminium parts (coated in the same colour)? Do they come out indistinguishable? Is there any texture to the finish (or can there be)?

Isn’t it lighter than powdercoat and wet paint too? I know that’s why some pro-road frame makers have been looking into it.

Cerakote does look good and I’ve wondered just how durable it really is, certainly I was surprised to see 76Projects offering it on their enduro Garmin mounts. That will be a test. I’m almost tempted to buy one as a relatively cheap way to see how it fares in what must be one of the worst places on a bike aside from crank arms

Enduro Computer Mount

Unite have been offering it on pedals, stems and other parts too. Be very interesting to see how the pedals stand up (from rubbing rather than impacts)

so whats the crack… i send you my frame with everything removed and you paint it?

Does it go over the existing paint? or strip back to bare then painted?

If there is any damage to the frame, chips, scuffs etc are you able to fill/fix those?

And is there a pallet of colours to browse?

The frame should be stripped down completely, we will then drop it off at a chemical stripping company local to us. This removes all the grime and old paint.

We then prepare the frame by bead blasting it with 100 grit aluminium oxide media, this is a very fine media and is only used to give a key to the metal, it does not remove any material.

Then the frame is sprayed with the 1 or 2 coats of Cerakote, left for a while for the solvents to evaporate and then baked in an oven for a set amount of time to cure. This is H series, E series, V series (this process takes 1-2 hours cure)

For C series Cerakote this is an air dry cure that it moveable in 24 hours but takes 5 days to fully harden.

Chips and scratches cannot really be touched up, paint touch up pens rely on sticking to the edges of the paint that is still there but Cerakote is ceramic and once cured paint wont stick to it, even Cerakote wont stick to Cerakote.

Ceramic coatings are tougher than paint but far thinner this is the beauty of Cerakote, it gives a vibrant UV stable hard coating that protects the material underneath from pretty much anything it will come into contact with.

For a scratch or chip to be repaired on a painted surface you need to rub down the area around the damage to give the paint something to stick to so you end up doing alot more work than the size of the chip/scratch (to do a proper job)

Cerakote as mentioned above might chip or scratch but wont allow water ingress so the area will not continue to chip further as the surrounding coating will not haze or fracture under the surface.

It is why the Military use Cerakote on almost all there weapons, gear and vehicles as its designed for harsh enviroments.

Isn’t it lighter than powdercoat and wet paint too? I know that’s why some pro-road frame makers have been looking into it.

Yes as it is 1 coating usually of 25-40 microns, NO PRIMER, NO LACQUER

Powder coat is at least twice as thick and upto 4 times depending who applies it.

So the weight of the coating is marginal, when you can coat a nut and a bolt and they still screw together but the Cerakote stays on then you know the coating is ultra thin but strong!

Unite have been offering it on pedals, stems and other parts too. Be very interesting to see how the pedals stand up (from rubbing rather than impacts)

Rubbing and abrasion are where Cerakote excel, Impacts like anything could compromise any coating, although Cerakote flexes rather than cracks in heavy impacts.

What the video link above, they shoot an oil drum coated in MC5100 cerakote with a shotgun slug and it bends but does not crack the coating. Lots of videos on youtube showing Cerakote outperforming different finishes for impact, corrosion and abrasion.

A link to lots of testing:
https://www.cerakote.com/resources/testing

The frame should be stripped down completely, we will then drop it off at a chemical stripping company local to us. This removes all the grime and old paint.

We then prepare the frame by bead blasting it with 100 grit aluminium oxide media, this is a very fine media and is only used to give a key to the metal, it does not remove any material.

Then the frame is sprayed with the 1 or 2 coats of Cerakote, left for a while for the solvents to evaporate and then baked in an oven for a set amount of time to cure. This is H series, E series, V series (this process takes 1-2 hours cure)

For C series Cerakote this is an air dry cure that it moveable in 24 hours but takes 5 days to fully harden.

Chips and scratches cannot really be touched up, paint touch up pens rely on sticking to the edges of the paint that is still there but Cerakote is ceramic and once cured paint wont stick to it, even Cerakote wont stick to Cerakote.

Ceramic coatings are tougher than paint but far thinner this is the beauty of Cerakote, it gives a vibrant UV stable hard coating that protects the material underneath from pretty much anything it will come into contact with.

For a scratch or chip to be repaired on a painted surface you need to rub down the area around the damage to give the paint something to stick to so you end up doing alot more work than the size of the chip/scratch (to do a proper job)

Cerakote as mentioned above might chip or scratch but wont allow water ingress so the area will not continue to chip further as the surrounding coating will not haze or fracture under the surface.

It is why the Military use Cerakote on almost all there weapons, gear and vehicles as its designed for harsh enviroments.

cool, thanks for the info.

In regards to chips etc, i was meaning on my existing frame. I have had a few rock strikes which have disturbed the top layer of carbon. Do you have the ability to fill/fix/smooth this over before the cerkote? or is this something i would need to get done before sending it to you?

And is this a good place to look at range of colours….. https://www.cerakote.com/shop/cerakote-coating

Can you repaint carbon frames?

Nickc – Yes we can Cerakote carbon fibre, plastics and polymers

@nixie

@cerakote_up_north Not bike related (car) however how is the colour match between plastic and aluminium parts (coated in the same colour)? Do they come out indistinguishable? Is there any texture to the finish (or can there be)?

We would be able to test the parts you need doing to match, Cerakote requires a lightly bead blasted surface to adhere to so this is the texture you end up with, its a very tactile, premium surface feel.

I had my polished “Jones” modded XTR 960 cranks cerakoted @ 12 month ago as they didn’t take long to look bad after a clean. The axle was also done and this has not affected the fit through the BB bearings, finish is as it was 12 months on.
Also had my new frame cerakoted, certainly a lot lighter than paint or powder coating. Time will tell if it will stand up to wear and tear, although its a road/gravel build, so I wouldn’t expect the same level of abuse as a mountain bike.

Sharkattack – watch this;

OK I’m convinced!

Also, that Airdrop is exactly what I’m talking about but sadly the wheels are too small. If I can ever afford another Geometron then clear Cerakote will be top of my list for a finishing touch.

cool, thanks for the info.

In regards to chips etc, i was meaning on my existing frame. I have had a few rock strikes which have disturbed the top layer of carbon. Do you have the ability to fill/fix/smooth this over before the cerkote? or is this something i would need to get done before sending it to you?

And is this a good place to look at range of colours….. https://www.cerakote.com/shop/cerakote-coating

@v7fmp

I would like to see this and hopefully we would be able to find the answer, carbonfibre is basically material or strand either pre-preg with resin or as a wet layup. I am sure an MTB frame will be pre-preg so i cant see why we couldnt add a small amount of resin to fill the chips and then a light sand over before Cerakote. The frame could be masked anywhere you dont want the cerakote to cover.

If i was doing this for you I would be asking Cerakote in UK and USA for their opinion too so that we did the best job possible for you.

@inbred853

I had my polished “Jones” modded XTR 960 cranks cerakoted @ 12 month ago as they didn’t take long to look bad after a clean. The axle was also done and this has not affected the fit through the BB bearings, finish is as it was 12 months on.
Also had my new frame cerakoted, certainly a lot lighter than paint or powder coating. Time will tell if it will stand up to wear and tear, although its a road/gravel build, so I wouldn’t expect the same level of abuse as a mountain bike.

Interesting, and it is definately lighter than paint or powder. People need to see it, its not indestructible (nothing is) but its light, hard, takes impact and abrasion, looks awesome and has a prestige premium feel to it. Plus its better than 2K paint and not half as expensive!

@v7fmp

I think a carbon frame would only require the bead blast process to give it a key. I would be asking questions though to make sure we did the best job

@cerakote_up_north – ok good stuff. Sounds promising. I will have a think and be in touch if i need any more info.

@cerakote_up_north & v7fmp

I also had my carbon forks done, they were prepped with a very light abrasive grade paper to give a key for the cerakote. They were only lacquer coated, no paint.

@inbred853

Im thinking like polymers and plastics we would light bead blast carbon at around 20-30psi (alloy steel 80psi) and from a distance of about 8″ away to literally add a light key. But I am on another forum at the moment for Cerkote certified companies and I have asked the question already. Lots of experience on the cerakote forum from US guys who have been doing this for years.

@chipps

Yes alot lighter as its ultra thin, with no primers or laquers. Plus we can cerakote the logos as well

Is there a financial benefit to Singletrack from either or both of free advertising/marketing and resulting new business for Cerakote?

i think National Racing Alliance 😉 there are some oddly named colours that’s for sure!

Meh, considering the original target market (see what I did there?) it’s not surprising.

Would also be interested in the results on polished steel, I know a few folk have gone for coloured coats on air rifles but never seen a clear coat.

Cerakote is cheaper than most paint jobs ….

Unite have switched to cerakote and increased prices about 40% over the same item when they had them anodised

Unite have switched to cerakote and increased prices about 40% over the same item when they had them anodised

To be fair, anodizing is probably the easier process to do with huge batches of small parts.

Is there a financial benefit to Singletrack from either or both of free advertising/marketing and resulting new business for Cerakote?

Dunno but it was Singletrack that posted up the article complete with link to this supplier and it’s an article that has received a far greater response than most Singletrack articles. A bit of Q&A with the supplier is, I think, a good thing…..can’t wait for something Superstar to be featured 😀

…..can’t wait for something Superstar to be featured 😀

If Ceracoat starts to come off, can it be reinstalled trailside with a rock without invalidating the warranty?

@frankconway

No mate, I haven’t advertised with singletrack and I haven’t paid them to do the write up. It’s purely in the interests of mountain biking. We are not Cerakote USA or Cerakote U.K. we are our own small business Cerakote UP North

We thought as Singletrack did that explaining the process might be interesting.

@rubber_buccaneer

We approached singletrack about cerakote from our little company in Lancashire, asked if they thought it might be interesting to do a little post on and clearly it is interesting. Money does not need to change hands when a subject is interesting to readers.

It’s a good thing this!

Would you recommend invisiframing after this paint job, or is it tough enough so you wouldn’t need to add any extra protection?

This is interesting.
Thanks for the article. And thanks to the responses. If I cared enough about my bike color much I’d be tempted to strip down my black canyon and battleship/audi gray orange and get them both done in some spectacular red color. The pictures of the finish look really neat!

Edit. Looking at the linked gallery, some of those pistols have some neat finishes.

Actually having input from someone at a company offering a service that could benefit us has worked well here.

we are our own small business Cerakote UP North

Should it not be Cerakote OOP North though?

@a11y

Grrrrr! ‘Oop norf – that would of been epic 😂

All the info has been very useful – thanks.

And just for balance there are other companies that do Cerakote – eg Fastline in Preston, 30 miles less up North 🙂

@prettygreenparrot thanks for the reply if you do need anything cerakoting in future then let us know. Cheers Matt

@mick_r

Well 12miles exactly and George at Fastline does cerakote, I manufactured some parts for his bike project, we just spent a little time trying to get the word out about it to Singletrack thinking people would be interested which clearly they are and you have mentioned another company which is fine but I spent time writing this, answering everybodies questions and I think even though other companies do exist as a start up I wanted to put a bit more effort in and tell people about us and cerakote. You could start your own post all about Fastline, I feel it’s a little post hijacking but that’s ok!

We are also cerakote trained and certified applicators, listed in Cerakote.com website and have full factory backing. 👍🏻😎

Singletrack should probably have flagged it up as advertorial rather than passing it off as their own work but I’ve found it interesting. Good thing you aren’t Cerakote down South or it could have cost me money

There doesn’t seem to be any downsides compared to traditional paints and powder coating. So why aren’t cars and biks and pretty much anything else already coated in this stuff?

“Keracote” or “Seracote”? Bumping my Invisiframe question again too 👍⬆️

@didnthurt

It’s applied with small LPH-80 spray guns so isn’t really designed for large panels on cars. I have seen full motorcycles done in it though. Wheels are popular to do. It’s more about smaller items and premium quality. It’s not cheap to buy the cerakote paint and the parts are prepped in bead blast cabinets, our cabinet a Vixen VM55 that cost 15k is quite large at 1.5m x 800mm x 800mm capacity.

@cerakote_up_north.
Could you tell me how much it would cost to clearcote a steel hardtail frame please?
It’s currently got a powder clearcote on which isn’t very good.