Cycling UK Forum

I've never been particularly fond of the up-close colour of the 2015 Croix de Fer I built. I love the colour from a bit of a distance, but up close, it looks a bit, well crap - sort of speckled and cheap looking.

After managing to put a couple of noticeable scrapes on the non-drive side seat and chain stays, I thought it might be a good opportunity to deal with the two issues at the same time. The supplied touch up paint is a terrible match and is more pink than the orange colour of the frame. When I queried this with Genesis, I am assured it is the right match

It's not like I need to save money by doing it at home, but I'd like to undertake the project myself, just for the satisfaction of saying I've done it.

The question is: assuming I put in a lot of time on frame prep, then using only etch primer, rattle cans of paint and clear coat...how comparable will the job be to one done at a pro respray shop?

Obviously the pro shop would be better, but how much better? Like, massively better or for the price difference, only several percent better? Or am I wrong...given enough effort, you can do a comparable job at home?

My 2p - don't even think about it - you'll massively devalue what is a reasonable machine.

Professional enamel for bike frames is quite a lot of money (with a wide range of costs) but powder-coating is pretty reasonable for a consistent and tough finish (probably between £30 and £50)

Rob

Godlykepower wrote: The supplied touch up paint is a terrible match and is more pink than the orange colour of the frame. When I queried this with Genesis, I am assured it is the right match

Have you tried the paint? I ask this because we had a similar thing with our Fiat car - just wanted a touch-up paint for stone chips, and when we looked at it in the dealership it looked green (not the required blue). Dealer took the glass bottle outside and agreed it was nothing like, so ordered a new one. At the dealers again, and the new one was the same colour, so he phoned them - they said try it.
Dealer provided a spare steel washer, and we brushed it on, and within about 20 seconds it changed colour to blue and is a perfect match. Very peculiar......... so it may just be worth trying on something spare first! Good luck. If you are anything like me with spray paints don't try - I can get a much better finish with a brush (and the right enamel paint), but as previous poster said, probably best to keep it original. Personally I'd steer clear of powder coat - an good paint is IMHO far better (probably why it costs more?)

Yes, of course I've tried it. I gave it a good shake and applied it and was surprised at how unlike the actual colour it should be, but I left it on thinking it may dry a different colour. After leaving it overnight, it was still definitely pink, so I took it off and contacted Genesis.
They faffed around for a week of back and forth emails, which I had to take pictures of the touch up (which I had to redo for the pictures) and they ended up telling me that that was how it was meant to be.

It's such a bad match, that the bike actually looks better with a 1 inch long silver scrape on it.

maybe the paint is a bad match. But then again do remember that the coat thickness can affect the colour, the type of primer, and most importantly how much agitation the paint sees beforehand. Some paints need a solid ten minutes of agitation (after you first hear the rattler), and if there isn't a rattler in the container, you should add one. Use something like a stainless steel nut.

Even when you have done that, you shouldn't (esp with metallic or pearlescent finishes) expect to get the same finish when brushing as you would when the stuff is sprayed. So if you can borrow an airbrush, use that to apply the paint.

FInally, also remember that the colour won't be rendered accurately until the clear coat is applied, if indeed a clear coat is part of the paint system.

cheers

You can do it at home with excellent results. It's probably not as cheap as you expect but if you want the results you can't skimp on the work. I've now done three. They're all on this forum somewhere. I painted my A S Gillott after it had been repaired and modified for my regular ride. Then a Claud Butler after a brazing repair, and my latest one was a W F Holdsworth Tornado, with fancy lugs. Apart from the initial cost which I reckoned to be about £150, the biggest problem is getting the paint and then the lacquer to harden. I was even toying with the idea of building an oven out of an old toaster and cooker thermostat. It did eventually harden but it took a while. I personally don't like powder coating I think it makes a frame look cheap, besides, I lug line all my frames, (they are all vintage), and I believe that lining and sticking on decals may be a problem. Best of luck... You will never feel the satisfaction if you don't do it.

a paint process

lots of preparation, its all about elbow grease.
feather out all the edges properly,
acid etch primer ("word corrected to Halfords" do upol acid
high build primer
flat with 400+ grit wet+dry (use it wet)
colour and flat - 1200+. You are using cellulose so do this every coat, as many coats as you can. Several cans worth.
laquer - lots of coats. ideally flat between coats but will be fine provided you get no runs.
flat - 1200+, then compound (t-cut, better use G3)
abrasive polish
polish, several layers. build up some protection.
(this lot will take time and cost more than you might guess)

A proper resprayer will use 2-pack laquer, preferably all of it in 2-pack. Gives a much tougher finish.

theres some great powder coat out there, though paint looks better when new. See if one can be applied over etch pprimer

To summarise, a home respray will look as good as the effort that goes into it, can look as good as a full custom "professional" job.

Its your bike, do what you want !

The only time I ever did it ( as a kid ) the result paint came off easy and chipped easy. get it done professionally

Theres a third way, which I've often used: most professional paint supply places will mix you up an exact mix of the original paint finish of your bike. Not close, or 'near enough' but exact. They'll then put this in a 400ml spray can for use.

A little bit of sanding of the worst areas of your frame, then mask off, carefully overspray and seal with a clear coat. This is the route most professional car restorers take too, which is where I learned it.

A can of exact match should cost no more than £10-15.

I went to a car body shop local to me today, to see if they could mix me some touch up, but they couldn't do it for whatever reason.
However, he did direct me to a massive powder coater round the corner. I visited them and can get the bike shot blasted and powder coated for £60.

Can you powder coat aluminium? Got one I fancy changing the colour of one day.

you can get Alu powder coated but be warned; the ovens they use to bake the powder coat may not be that well controlled and may anyway be well above the ageing temperature of the aluminium alloy. So it is a bit of a shot in the dark; you may degrade the frame's properties in some cases.

cheers