General: Painting or powder coating a frame

a professional spray is always the best

but it depends on what you are painting:

if it's just some beater bike, a rattle can spray paint job should work for 5 bucks

if it's just some average bike a industrial powder coating is fine

if you are trying to make a high end bike look classy take it to a professional bike painter who knows how to handle a bike frame

i have done all 3, rattle can, powder coating, and proffesional, choose the one that is right for the bike

around $300

Joe Bell in San Diego is one of the best

that paint job sounds interesting, i'm not sure if it would cost more

Rivendell in Walnut Creek sends their frames to Joe Bell in San Diego to get painted

however i'm sure you can find a top notch painter in the bay area if you don't want to ship it

a top notch painter in demand is going to take some time either way

america's finest discount spraypaint in highlighter yellow. awesome. so awesome.

Poster paint and stickers.

dont paint, get it powdercoated. Paint chips , powdercoating is much more durable, and wont ever come off.

I took my basically irreplacable njs track bike to the powdercoaters, where they plugged every hole,and bead blasted the old paint off that was chipped up, and put an amazing powdercoat on my frame. Im the other way around.. If it was a cheap frame, I would take it to a painter, like earl sheib and get the cheapest coat sprayed on, or you could do a real decent job yourself with rattle cans. A good powdercoat will look great, and will be indestructable . I paid almost 200 for my powdercoat job.

I wouldn't do powdercoat. Paint is the best for a loved frame. I had a frame blasted & powdercoated. The powdercoating came out orange pealy in some areas. The bike was flat black so it didn't really show but had it been gloss it would have riuned the bike. Paint is the way to go. That is why all new retail bikes are painted.

Posted By: deermattRetail bikes are painted because its much cheaper and quicker to paint than powdercoat.

that is actually incorrect most retail bikes after 1995 or so are powder coated with cheap industrial; powder coat.

but to get back on topic. I reside in the bay area and I do professional powdercoating, enamel and urethane-lacquer paintjobs with custom decaling options. My prices are competitive if you want to see some of my work check out my profile.

sharpie and magic markers.

deermatt is a retard he thinks he knows everything.

chrome plating is very expensive to do professionally (i've heard painters quote $200-$300 just for one chromed lug)
the process is also considered to be bad for the environment if you care about things like that

alexisfaster do you have any examples in using the chrome plating kit, i would be interested

While it's not as good as powdercoat, you can use 1-Shot sign painters paint for a really good durable finish costing around $30. You just sand the frame and brush this stuff on. It's thick so it flows really well with no brush marks left over. I recommend hanging the frame in the air so you can paint the whole frame at once, it dries quickly and gets sticky. I painted this bike with 1-Shot.

Chrome fx DIY http://www.alsacorp.com/products/chromefx/chromefx_prodinfo.htm expensive though

As a powdercoater myself and a life long biker i have to agree with deermatt powder coating is the best way to go
a quality coater should be able to give you a finish that is beautiful and durable

Keep your frame looking crappy helps keep away bike thieves. (as long as they dont recognize sweet components)

I have a Bridgestone 400 I took to a powder coating shop that does mostly motorcycle frames and hot rod car parts but they also do a lot of bike frames and they did a wonderful job. Not one person I have showed the bike to can tell its been powder coated the lugs look clean and sharp. Its awesome and I wouldn't do it any other way. I accidentally hit the frame real hard with a piece of metal and it didn't chip I was very impressed. Do what you want but for my money PC is the only way to go. I paid $130 for frame and fork.

I went with powdercoat on my 84' Ciocc because I ride it. It holds up to wear and scratches better than paint, and scratches buff out easier with PC.

it all boils down to what you're going to do with it.

dust collector or show piece? paint.

if you actually plan on riding it and enjoying it for what it is made for, powdercoat for sure.

I've got a sketchy powdercoat on one of my frames. Its too thick around the lugs which makes the good lug work look not so good. This frame has also been leaned against and knocked with countless things without chipping. Paint isnt an option for me. It will only look better than powdercoat until you scratch it. Finding a good powdercoater seems like the best compromise for bikes that get ridden.

i just got an old steel schwinn back from the powdercoater this past weekend. after reading some of the posts here i began to get nervous. however, i am absolutely pleased. the finish is as glossy as you might want, and there is even a clear coat on top of it. looks wet, like a car, if that's ur thing.

it is completely smooth, not an orange peel in sight and the coater was even trying to point things out to me. he made sure that i knew that it might happen. he was even pleased that he couldn't find anything.

i think this is consistent with others above. it is COMPLETELY dependent on your coater on how well a PC job comes out. my guy was the most experienced guy in the shop and had previous bike experience. (they did batches for a local framebuilder).

the coating is uniform aroudn the lugs and there is no gunky build up visible to mine eye. only thing is i forgot to have the serial number masked from color and only clear coated, but that might have looked funny any way.

frame and fork w/stock powder = 65
frame and fork w/opt clearcoat = 30
total w/tax ....................... 103

so, even though the powder shop might have finished powdering your mom's patio furniture, if you get a person who knows what they are doing you can get a beautiful bike too!