bike cosmetics

[Nikki Alexander]

So I was talking with someone at work today and we got into talking about bikes and their colors. I've always had a thing for pink, and one day plan to build up my own PINK bike of some sort (i want to do everything in case anyone wonders...). This guy told me the best way to get a bike painted is take the frame to a place where they do car painting. Is this the best idea to make your bike yours? Or is there a better way to paint frames? Not doing it any time soon but I never hesitate to ask questions.

[Wrenchmeister]

I know of three ways to paint a frame, but keep in mind that painting a frame almost always voids the warranty. Also you'll have to strip all your parts off, then rebuild when it's done. For 1 and 2 you'll also have to prep the frame yourself (sand it, remove all grease, etc.)

1. Spray paint- Costs less than $10. Can look OK if you do it right. Looks terrible if you do it badly. Even done well it will lack the appearance of "depth" that a professional job usually has. Chips somewhat easily. Change colors as often as you want to.

2. Auto body shop- More expensive. Some shops won't do it. Most will only do a color they already are using for a car, which usually means not pink. Not always great looking because auto painters aren't as used to having to paint underneath and in crevasses. Seems like it wouldn't be that different from a car, but I've seen some frames come back from body shops with substantial runs in the paint. Sometimes not though...

3. Send it away to a place that officially paints bikes. CycleArt is the best known. They can reproduce new or old factory graphics, or make custom ones for you, in addition to doing spectacular painting. Usually looks as good or better than factory finish. They can also fill dents, fix chroming on lugs, etc. Can take a month or more. They are expensive. I've seen really nice custom jobs go over $800. Someone in the southeast used to do basic painting for around $150, but I can't remember who. Try searching online. Also, lots of small framebuilders will paint your frame if you ship it to them, although they don't always advertise that.

I like spraypaint best.

[Nikki Alexander]

Well at least no matter what I do, it's not going to be some new excellent top of the line frame, and will most likely be something i can beat around, probably something "cheap" yet reliable that I can find somewhere random. So I am pretty sure I could care less about the warrenty

[YellowLemondTed]

With my recent obsession of track bikes and fixed gear bikes.....it has opened my eyes to a whole new subculture of people and the bikes they ride. I've become fascinated at how much personalization can be done to such a simple version of the bicycle.

I suggest you check out two sites that have thousands of user submitted photos of their own personalized rides.

The first is http://www.velospace.org....click the random button at the top and it takes you to a new bike each time. Below the pictures are descriptions of parts etc. sometimes methods of how they reached the final product.

The second site is http://www.FixedGearGallery.com...daily updates....the format here is the center column is all bikes emailed in....the emails often tell alot about the bikes. You can also contact people if you like to ask questions as I have done a few times.

These are a couple good ways to see lots of custom/personal designs and get some great ideas!

Be careful with spraypaint....unless you know what you're doing it can be very tricky to get a good finish.

[mvi]

Powder coating is another option. Don,t know about pink though. In the 80,s bright pink was "in" for a while as I remember well.
If you cant take the parts off -and on yourself, its going to be expensive. You should be able to get help with that though. There are a couple of people around that got paint jobs on the cheap around here. Think it were car paint jobs too.