Frame renovation

[jpw]

Does anyone know the Serotta charge for the bead blast renovation of a Serotta ti frame, one that was originally a matte finish?

Is there a technical reason why a matte/ painted tube cannot later be polished?

[Bruce K]

I believe the reason is that the polishing would remove too much metal, weakening the overall frame.

BK

[Serotta PETE]

That is what I have been told by Serotta a few years back....Once painted it can not go to POLISH....

[jpw]

So...how is it possible to polish a new frame without removing too much metal?. I can't quite grasp the logic of this notion, i.e. 1. Serotta make a frame and polish it (which I assume removes metal), or 2, Serotta make an identical frame and paint it, and then later the paint is removed and the metal tubes are polished. What is it about the original painting that changes the nature of this second frame such that it can't now be polished just like the first frame?

[Bruce K]

To prep a frame for painting, I believe Serotta applies the matte finish to the whole frame to create a better surface for bonding.

So technically, the frame has already been polished once, removing some metal.

To refinish it, the paint must be then blasted off (not sure if it is glass bead or sand). This process also removes a small amount of metal to prepare the surface for it's new finish.

At least that's my understanding of the process from the Open House tours and having this same discussion when I had my Concours refinished.

BK.

[Serotta PETE]

JPW, give them a call, have your serial #, and maybe they can shed some light on it. (My knowledge is from experience when I was going to have one polished that had been painted).

PETE

[jpw]

Yes I'll see what they have to say.

I realise the tubes are quite thin in places but I am a little bit surprised that matte finishing/ painting and paint removal processes would result in the removal of sufficient metal to reach the safety limit BEFORE a possible polishing stage. These seem like **extremely** tight tolerances.

One might hesitate to 'pledge' clean an originally polished frame for fear of thinning it over time ;)

[David Kirk]

By "matte" do you mean the bead blast finsih or are you talking about the dull polish Serotta most often uses?

Dave

[jpw]

Not sure. It looks 'dull' as compared to the clearly shiny polished finish often seen in the gallery.